Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression 中国人民抗日战争纪念馆

About Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression

The gate-like museum building combines documentary history with a memorial setting. Its collections include wartime objects and a panorama presentation; exhibition arrangements have changed over time, so use the current gallery plan on arrival. Pairing the museum with Wanping's streets and the bridge helps distinguish the events explained indoors from the surviving places outside.

The museum originated with an organizing committee formed in October 1984, part of a national-level campaign in which historians Hu Qiaomu and Liu Danian and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences played leading roles; its construction was listed as a key project of the national Seventh Five-Year Plan. Built on the former site of the Wanping county government office, the museum was completed on 6 July 1987 and opened to the public the next day, the fiftieth anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident; Deng Xiaoping inscribed its name.

After a second-phase expansion completed in 1997, the museum's buildings comprised a main hall, an archive center and matching north and south courtyard buildings; the courtyards and archive center were built in a style imitating Ming and Qing architecture, echoing the nearby Wanping city gate tower. The main hall, a paifang-style structure, contains six exhibition halls, a panorama hall, a multifunctional hall and two relic-storage rooms.

The exhibits have undergone several renovations, the largest completed in 2005 for the sixtieth anniversary of victory in the war, adding new facilities such as multimedia displays. From 1993 the museum also ran summer camps recreating the wartime occupied zone for visiting children, a program later discontinued over costs. The museum closed in September 2024 and reopened in July 2025.

What to look for

• Wartime objects and documentary displays explaining the conflict and civilian experience.
• The museum's panorama presentation, when included in the current visitor route.
• The Wanping Fortress setting beside the site of the 1937 Marco Polo Bridge Incident.

Location & getting there

Getting to Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression

The Beijing cultural-heritage authority lists the museum at 101 Lugouqiao Chengnei Street, inside Wanping Fortress in Fengtai.

• Use the museum's full name and this street address for the final approach; Marco Polo Bridge is a separate nearby stop.