Pigeons fly over the monument at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu province. Photo: Yang Bo/China News Service, The Paper

Soldiers carry flower arrangements to the hall on Dec. 5 as part of the preparations for the eighth annual National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims, which China marks every Dec. 13. Photo: VCG

Residents bow their heads in silence Monday on a street in Nanjing to mourn the victims of the massacre. Photo: VCG

A student holds a flower Sunday in front of a monument at the hall, the site where thousands of bodies were buried during the massacre. Photo: VCG

A man writes on a graffiti wall designed to mark the day Sunday in a subway station in Nanjing. Photo: The Paper

A child places a flower in front of a monument in Nanjing on Sunday. Photo: VCG

Elementary school students holding flowers stand in silent tribute in front of a monument in Nanjing on Sunday. Photo: Yang Bo/China News Service, VCG

Notes of mourning for the victims rest on a bouquet of flowers Sunday in Nanjing. Photo: The Paper

Residents attend a memorial ceremony Monday in Shenyang, Northeast China’s Liaoning province. Photo: VCG

Residents light candles during a memorial service Sunday in Yangzhou, East China’s Jiangsu province. Photo: VCG

Students and staff from Southeast University hold candles and flowers in honor of the massacre’s victims late Sunday in Nanjing. Photo: Yang Bo/China News Service, VCG

Lights in the shape of a dove carrying an olive branch appear during the university’s memorial service. Photo: Yang Bo/China News Service, VCG