Fushun War Criminals Management Centre, War criminals museum in Xinfu District, Fushun, China

The Fushun War Criminals Management Centre occupies a dark grey brick building in Xinfu District, Fushun. Its projecting entrance portico is carried on two red brick pillars, each bearing a vertical white plaque with black Chinese characters: the left reads "抚顺战犯监狱" and the right "抚顺战犯管理所". Above the portico runs a band of vertical grey ribs, and a taller tower section with a narrow blue-framed window and a rooftop flagpole rises on the left.

The Japanese occupying forces built the Fushun Prison in 1936; it later served as Liaodong No. 3 Prison. In July 1950, 969 Japanese detainees and 71 Manchukuo officials arrived by train from Khabarovsk, joined by prisoners from Taiyuan, bringing the Japanese total to 982. Between 1959 and 1975 the Manchukuo and Kuomintang inmates were released in stages under special pardons.

The centre's name comes from its 1950 conversion into a management centre for war criminals. Its best-known inmate was Puyi, the last Qing emperor and former Manchukuo puppet ruler, held here until his 1959 pardon. The museum also presents the thought-reform programme, in which Japanese detainees studied texts such as Lenin's Imperialism and confessed their wartime acts.

The centre stands on the northern edge of Fushun, in Xinfu District; the first train of prisoners reached Fushun station at 15:00 on 21 July 1950 and was then bussed the short distance to the prison. The older section now serves as a museum, while part of the prison site remains in use, so check which buildings are open before setting out.

The 1987 Bernardo Bertolucci film The Last Emperor, which won nine Oscars, was partly shot here, with the site standing in for Puyi's prison years. Puyi was held at Fushun after his return from the Soviet Union, and the centre later became a museum in 1986.