Local people in Tangshan of north China's Hebei Province recently discovered eight abandoned aircraft shelters belonging to the Japanese army that invaded China in the 1930s and 40s. Local villagers have dubbed them "aircraft nests".

Between 1942-45, Japanese troops forced local villagers to build these shelters to accommodate a nearby Japanese military airport which was constructed in 1944.

Some long-time villagers, who were among those forced to work at the time, recalled that they had to work 10 hours and more a day and were paid 250g of corn-flour and 20 cents a day.

Quite a few of those forced to work were young children, they said.

Local experts say it is rare to uncover so many old Japanese aircraft shelters in urban areas.

(Xinhua News Agency April 22, 2002)