A museum in central China's Hunan Province debuted 32 photos on Friday that were donated by a U.S. veteran documenting Japan's surrender in the province in Aug. 1945.
They were among 223 photos of the Chinese Anti-Japanese War donated last November by a member of the Flying Tigers, the 1st American Volunteer Group formed in 1941 to help China drive out invading Japanese troops.
The color pictures showed Japanese representatives riding in cars to designated locations after their plane landed at the Zhijiang airport.
They also showed English newspapers reporting on the Japanese surrender and Chinese celebrations in Zhijiang.
"They are testimonies of history. Thousands of Chinese troops and civilians witnessed the historic moment the plane landed with Japanese representatives aboard," said Wu Jianhong, curator of the Memorial Hall of the Anti-Japanese War and the Acceptance of the Japanese Surrender.
The U.S. veteran said the photos should return to Zhijiang where the event took place and donated them to the museum, according to Wu.
On Aug. 21-23, 1945, Japanese representatives fled to Zhijiang, handed over a map of Japanese troops deployed in China and signed a surrender memorandum.