Heritage status for forgotten grave site offers solace to survivors of 'ugly era'. Peng Yining reports from Chongqing.

Few visitors wandering through Chongqing's sprawling Shapingba Park would instantly spot the gray, stone steps hidden by a copse of trees off a main pathway. The stairway snakes up a hillside and finishes at a gloomy brick enclosure surrounded by camphor trees and bamboo.

On the wall is an inscription covered partially by creepers that reads: "Wen ge mu qun" -"cultural revolution cemetery".