In mid-March, the municipal government of Nanjing, the capital of East China's Jiangsu province, announced that seven shabby buildings, numbers 2 to 18 in Liji Alley, would become subject to the laws related to the preservation of cultural relics.

The houses were once home to Asia's biggest "comfort station" for Japanese Imperial Armed Forces during World War II. Women from China and neighboring countries and regions, such as the Korean Peninsula, were forced to provide sexual services for the Japanese soldiers. However, instead of "comfort women", the expression "sex slaves" is a more accurate description of the women's plight. The "comfort station" was a legitimate center for rape.

Yuan Zhulin from Wuhan in Hubei province was abducted to a "comfort station" in Ezhou in 1940 at age 18. She was housed in a small room that contained just a bed and spittoon. On the first day, she was raped 10 times.