NANJING, April 3 -- In the lead up to Tomb Sweeping Day, people in the eastern Nanjing City gathered at a cemetery on Friday to pay respect to the aviation martyrs in the anti-Japanese War.

At the Nanjing Memorial Cemetery to the Anti-Japanese Aviator Martyrs in Jiangsu Province, the mourn was started with the National Anthem when over 600 people, including veterans and martyrs' families, stood in a silent tribute.

Zhu Yaquan, a 98 years old aviation veteran, laid a wreath in front of the monuments and uttered the famous line, "Old soldiers never die. They just fade away."

Zhu entered a Sino-American aircraft manufacturing plant in Hangzhou City of Zhejiang Province in 1935. He served the Chinese air force as a machinist during the anti-Japanese War.

"This year is the 70th anniversary of the victory of anti-Japanese war. Looking at the statues and the names engraved on the monuments, I feel as if I am back in the war years. Pitifully we had too few planes at that time and our air force was still too weak," Zhu sighed.

Huang Yuefu, 60, placed a bouquet on the monument of his great-uncle Huang Yuquan. After years of study in the U. S. and Soviet Union, Huang Yuquan went back to China in 1932. Newly married, he applied to join an air battle against Japanese in February 1932 and lost his life when trying to protect companions.

"My great-uncle is the first one who sacrificed his life during the air war. I am so proud to be his family. Time flies and it has been 70 years since the victory. However, Chinese people's spirit to resist foreign aggression is never outdated," Huang Yuefu said.

The Nanjing Memorial Cemetery to the Anti-Japanese Aviator Martyrs was built in the 1930s, in which more than 3,000 pilots from China, the former Soviet Union and the United States were buried.

During the Second World War, Japanese forces massacred over 300,000 civilians and unarmed soldiers after capturing China's then-capital Nanjing on Dec. 13, 1937.

The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders on Friday received a delegation of Japanese mourners. The group is made up of more than 20 people aged from 18 to 83.

The Japanese mourners expressed respect for the massacre victims by planting and trimming trees at the memorial site and a local park.

It is the 30th time for such mourning activities to be organized. During the past 30 years, more than 1,000 Japanese planted over 50,000 trees in Nanjing.