Courageous spirit of Zhoushan's wartime fishermen lives on

Eighty years ago, the fishermen of Zhoushan put their lives on the line to save hundreds of British prisoners of war. That spirit of courage and self-sacrifice lives on to this day.

"Fishermen on Dongji Island of Zhoushan risked their lives to conduct a rescue 80 years ago," Li Hui, a 22-year-old guide at a museum in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, said in introducing the exhibits to visitors dedicated to the memory of those fishermen.

"The fishermen saved 384 British soldiers from the sea but 381 of them were captured by the Japanese troops again. This cave was where they hid three soldiers and protected them from being captured," Li said, pointing to a small cave in a picture.

A 200-square-meter exhibition hall in the Dongji History and Culture Museum in Dongji town keeps a record of that great rescue. Over 400,000 visitors have visited the museum since it opened in 2009, and over 30,000 people came in July and August this year.

In October 1942, the cargo ship Lisbon Maru, which was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Army to ferry more than 1,800 British prisoners of war back to Japan, was torpedoed by a US submarine off the Zhoushan Islands. The Japanese tried to prevent the prisoners from escaping before abandoning the ship.

Around 198 fishermen on Dongji Island rescued the 384 British POWs using their small fishing boats.

President Xi Jinping replied to a letter from the families of the survivors of the Lisbon Maru on Saturday. In the letter, Xi encouraged them to continue to actively commit to China-Britain friendship and looked forward to more British friends making contributions to bilateral relations.

Liang Yindi, head of the Dongji Town Cultural Center and guide of the Lisbon Maru Exhibition Hall in the museum, said her grandfather and uncle participated in the rescue.

"All the people that grow up in the town know the history," says Liang. "The older generations have told it many times."

In 2008, she was involved in the construction of the Dongji History and Culture Museum.

"As I learn about more deeply the history, I notice that we should share the story with more people," she said. "The kindness and courage of the fishermen are never out of date and should be passed down generation by generation."

Seventy-year-old Guo Guohua also remembers clearly the rescue story that his late father Guo Ade told him.

"Despite the shifting wind and waves, my father and grandfather carried a load of British soldiers on fishing boats with other fishermen. Women on the island were divided into groups to take care of the emaciated soldiers. Some cooked for them and others prepared warm clothing and quilts."

"But two days later, the Japanese came to the island to search for these soldiers and captured almost all of them. Luckily, three soldiers hid in the cave, which had been used as shelter for children in the old times. They escaped."

"Villagers delivered meals to them every day but one soldier was ill with a fever several days later. Due to the poor medical services on the island, villagers planned to send the three British away from the island."

Guo's relatives took on the task. His grandfather contacted people outside the island; his father and two relatives were responsible for protecting them on the boat at night. Owing to their help, the three British soldiers arrived safely at Hulu Island.

Wu Aizhen, 68, said her grandfather and uncle were at the rescue and delivered their only clothes and food to the soldiers.

"I am deeply touched by their kindness." said Wu, who runs a homestay, adding that she has been telling the story to all the visitors she has served.

The spirit of the Dongji fishermen has also been passed down.

Zheng Xianchang, a 68-year-old fisherman in the town of Dongji, has saved 12 people from the sea over the past three decades.

"Kindness and courage are ingrained in the culture of the Dongji fishermen," said Ren Di, Zheng's wife.