This museum is set in the notorious Japanese Germ Warfare Experimental Base (Division 731). Between 1939 and 1945, prisoners of war and civilians were frozen alive, subjected to vivisection or infected with bubonic plague, syphilis and other virulent diseases. Three to four thousand people died here in the most gruesome fashion. The museum includes photos, sculptures and exhibits of the equipment used by the Japanese. There are extensive English captions and an audio guide is available for ¥15.
The base is in the south of Harbin and takes an hour to get to by bus. In the alley beside the Kunlun Hotel on Tielu Jie, catch bus 338 or 343 (¥2). Get off at the stop called Xinjiang Dajie. Walk back 500m along Xinjiang Dajie and look for the base on the left-hand side of the road. If you get lost, just ask the locals the way to ‘Qī Sān Yī’ (731).
