Photos

The story goes, the old man was born in the city i live in - Shenyang. but moved to Taiwan some 70+ years ago, and came back for a visit, (for the last time as he put it).
He's 88 yrs old and his wife 14-15 yrs younger than him.
Shenyang - he said was not a good place to live when he was young, and told me about the "Mukden Incident" when he was about fifteen

Encyclopedia: Mukden Incident
The Mukden Incident (September 18, 1931), also called Manchurian Incident, occurred in northern Manchuria when the Japanese blew up a section of a Japanese railroad near Mukden (today's Shenyang). Japan's military accused Chinese terrorists, thus providing an excuse for the Japanese annexation of Manchuria.

After the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), Japan had replaced Russia as the dominant foreign power in Southern Manchuria.

Colonel Seishiro Itagaki and Lieutenant Colonel Kenji Ishiwara planned the incident in which officers of the Shimamoto Regiment, which guarded the South Manchuria Railway, arranged for sappers to place explosives beneath the tracks. After the explosion, the Japanese immediately framed the Chinese soldiers garrisoned nearby and attacked those troops under the justification that Japanese property must be protected from assaults by the Chinese.

Even though the Japanese cabinet opposed the move and the leaders pledged to the League of Nations they would pull out, the army subsequently established the puppet state of Manchukuo in February 1932. Japan subsequently pulled out of the League of Nations.


taken from : http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Mukden-Incident

i had a great time talking to them.. only wish i my chinese was better.. :)