The historic role played by a Chinese veteran of World War II went unacknowledged for more than 60 years, until a chance discovery brought it to light, as Zhao Xu reports.

For Zhao Zhenying, from west Beijing, the second half of 2014 has been incredibly busy, perhaps a little too busy for a 98-year-old war veteran.

On July 7, Zhao was invited to attend a memorial ceremony at Lugou Bridge, often known as the Marco Polo Bridge, in Beijing's southwestern suburbs, to meet with President Xi Jinping.