Participants at Martyrs' Day commemoration inspired by spirit of fallen heroes

Participants at a Martyrs' Day commemoration event in Chinese capital Beijing said they were inspired by the fallen heroes, and would strive to make greater contributions to China's development.

Held on Monday, China's 11th Martyrs' Day, the commemoration event was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the state, as well as representatives from different walks of life.

During the event, Xi and other leaders laid flower baskets at the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tian'anmen Square, paying their tribute to fallen national heroes. Other participants also laid flowers at the foot of the monument.

"Today is Martyrs' Day. When I stood before the Monument to the People's Heroes, I reflected on how countless revolutionary heroes sacrificed their lives for the happiness we enjoy today, for the strength of our country, and for the well-being of our people," said Lu Shengmei, who received a medal for the national honorary title of "People's Health Worker" from President Xi at a grand award ceremony on Sunday.

Xu Zhenchao, who received a medal for the honorary title of "People's Craftsman" at the same event, said the fallen heroes inspired him to build China into a better place.

"The heroes laid the foundation for us by sacrificing their lives and shedding their blood. What we should do now is to defend our country and build it into an even better country," said Xu.

"I am from a special education school in Nagqu, the highest city in China. Xizang is different from other provinces and municipalities as it transitioned directly from a serfdom society to a socialist society. Our happy and beautiful life is the result of the sacrifices and blood of our martyrs, and we will always remember them," said Tsering Lhamo, the principal at the Nagqu Special Education School in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

"We sang the national anthem and the anthem for the Chinese Young Pioneers today with great excitement and reverence. To be a hero is to make contributions to the society, and to sacrifice oneself for the good of others," said Liu Guanruo, a primary school student.

"Participating in this event as a volunteer makes me feel the honor of serving my country. There are many heroes, role-models, and offspring of martyrs around us that inspire us all the time. I think that as a reserve police officer of the People's Republic of China, I should do some practical and good things for the people with the spirit of selfless dedication and serving the people," said Chu Tianyu, a student from the People's Public Security University of China.

"I believe that in the new era, we should inherit the spirit from the martyrs and continue their greatness. Let's do our work better with inexhaustible motivation to repay the martyrs for their sacrifices for us," said Guo Peng, a representative of grassroots people.

"I teach children with intellectual disabilities. In addition to love for them, we also need to teach them with slower, more detailed, and more specialized methods. We should embrace the differences and diversity of special children with an open mind, just like a sea can accept all rivers, and tap all their potential, so as to contribute to the high-quality development of special education," said Tsering Lhamo.

"I now often visit the seniors' home, and I think I will be able to do more when I grow up, and make more contributions to the society. I want to be a doctor in the future to help more patients," said Liu.

"I exchanged letters with renowned teacher Zhang Guimei, [who has spent her entire career providing free education to girls from poverty-stricken families], and we said in the letters that we have one thing in common, answering the call of our motherland to come to the places with the toughest conditions. In the future, we will continue to learn from the revolutionary martyrs and devote everything to the Party and to the motherland," said Lu.

"A nation cannot exist without heroes. In recent years, the Party and the state have been advocating that everyone should learn from heroes and be heroes. Because only when we have a huge group of heroes, our Chinese nation can flourish and be invincible in this world," said Xu.

Participants at Martyrs' Day commemoration inspired by spirit of fallen heroes

Major floods and landslides triggered by relentless rainfall have battered Nepal, killing almost 200 people and causing widespread destruction.

Officials reported on Monday that the death toll from the monsoon floods and landslides has risen to 193 across the Himalayan nation, with at least 31 people still missing and many others injured.

The catastrophic floodwaters have destroyed many homes, cut off highways, and downed power lines.

Almost one-third of the country’s power supply, around 1,100 MW of electricity, was shut down by flooding and nearly all the country’s highways, including those connecting the capital city of Kathmandu to the rest of the country, have been blocked by flooding, landslides and debris, according to police.

Maya Hhapa Magar, a resident of Balkhu, a suburb of Kathmandu, recounted the terrifying moment the floodwaters arrived and wreaked havoc.

"It was around 4:30 in the morning. The flood entered here and swept away everything. Everything is destroyed. There is nothing out here. We don't have anything to eat. Everything is swept away by the flood. We were at least able to escape and save ourselves," said the survivor.

Rainfall of this intensity has not been seen in over a decade, with some of the worst-hit areas reporting up to 322.2 mm over the last few days.

"Compared to last year, the water level has increased. It has reached the highest level. I had seen such a flood around 15 to 20 years ago. This flooding is something unimaginable for us," said Rajesh Kumar Maharjan, a resident of hard-hit Lalitpur.

Nepal has seen higher than average monsoon rainfalls since the monsoon started in early June.

Nepal floods wreak havoc, killing nearly 200