China will open a newly expanded war memorial in Taiyuan today (August 15th), the 60th anniversary of its victory over Japanese aggressors during World War II.

The memorial of the Eighth Route Army in the Taihang Mountains, a major fighting force under the leadership of the Communist Partyof China (CPC) against Japanese invaders, was built in 1988 in Wuxiang county, north China's Shanxi Province, and has become the biggest of its kind in China following a major expansion that lasted for 10 months, said its curator Wei Guoying.

The newly expanded memorial covers 148,000 square meters, including a 16,000-square-meter main exhibition hall that gives a vivid display of China's eight-year-long war against Japanese aggression, particularly by the Eighth Route Army men.

State-of-the-art techniques have been employed to reproduce in artistic forms -- including oil paintings and sculptures -- army officers and soldiers and the major campaigns they fought, Wei told Xinhua.

The memorial has a collection of more than 8,000 pieces of wartime heritage, including old-time photos and archives of the Eighth Route Army and weapons they used.

CPC's Central Military Commission regrouped the major force of the Red Army into the Eighth Route Army in August 1937 to promote inter-party cooperation with the Kuomintang, or the Chinese nationalist party, and to jointly fight against the Japanese invaders. The 46,000-member army contributed tremendously to China's victory over Japan in 1945.

Chinese President Hu Jintao recently visited to the memorial of the Eighth Route Army to mark the Aug. 15 anniversary of Japanese surrender in 1945.

Editor: Wing