Ellie and Ray Williams, World War II veterans from Blairsville, Georgia, celebrated their wedding anniversary and kissed in New York City's Times Square on Aug 14 to re-enact the famous V-J Day kiss captured in an iconic photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt 70 years ago. HAN MENG / FOR CHINA DAILY

Others at the event share it as special moment with a loved one.

Shu Chen and her husband were attending the "Kiss-In" for the first time.

"We have been in New York for four years," she told China Daily. "I traveled two hours from Long Island [to get here], and the event has been interesting and memorable."

"We are both shutterbugs," Shu said. "We saw the picture years ago. It’s romantic and it demonstrates the spirit of patriotism. So we wanted to be here to experience the memorable moment."

The official US celebration of V-J Day is on Sept 2, the date of the formal signing of the surrender by Japan. China will mark the 70th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression on Sept 3.

Contact the writers at jackfreifelder@chinadailyusa.com, hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com and lijing2009@chinadaily.com.cn