1931, Sep 18 the Mukden Incident which started WW II in Manchuria

The image below is one of a set of brilliant photography by Big Picture, my all time favorite source of excellent and memorable images. It shows the current state circa 2010 of the monument in Shenyang memorializing the Mukden Incident which was the first action of WW II in SE Asia:

This was the flash point in Manchuria which lit into a savage Sino-Japanese conflict which is still ill-remembered in China, 79 years after that event.

Update 2010/11/17

I travelled to Shenyang by train two weeks ago. The day was overcast in Dalian, but our air seemed clear enough. I can’t say as much for the air within 100 kms of Shenyang (the city of Anshan) and in Shenyang. Dark, foul looking and not a pretty site!

Is that bad air a relic of Shenyang’s heavy industry past, or just a continuation of a malign and ghostly Japanese presence? The last time I flew into Narita Airport, this past February, its air looked and smelt clean. So what is it about Shenyang? I guess it’s just dirty Chinese industry!

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

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