Shanghai residents salute a memorial wall of the Sihang Warehouse, where Chinese soldiers defended against the invading Japanese army, to remember the 75th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

Shanghai's Sihang Warehouse, known as a memorial hall for commemorating "Eight Hundred Warriors," was listed on Wednesday as one of the communication bases between Shanghai and Taiwan island, thanks to its wide recognition on the island.

Opened as a museum in 2015, Sihang Warehouse has received over 230 batches of visitors from Taiwan island, with more than 6,000 visits. "Besides Taiwan residents, people from Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions also came to visit the hall and communicate with us," Ma Youjiong, curator of Sihang Warehouse Memorial Hall, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Many of them were interested in the history of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), Ma noted.

The story of "Eight Hundred Warriors" is "widely known by many Taiwan residents" and easier to be recognized by them at a cultural level, Ma said.

The memorial hall has acted as a bridge to help residents from home and abroad to "better communicate from the perspectives of people-to-people exchanges," Ma noted. 

In the past two years, the museum has promoted cultural and historical exchanges between the mainland and Taiwan island, and collected over 100 pieces of original archives and photographs about the history of the Chinese Army defending the Sihang Warehouse under the leadership of General Xie Jinyuan.

Along with Sihang Warehouse, other units were also listed as communication bases for the mainland and the island. In December 2020, Shanghai Songhu Memorial Hall for the war of Resistance against Japanese Aggression was listed as one of the bases.