The massacre happened in Nanjing, China. It was the capitol city of China in the 1930's. Nanjing is located on the Eastern part of China. The name is controversial between Nanjing and Nanking. In 1928 China changed its capital city from Beijing to Nanjing. The city normally held about 250,000 people but by the 1930's, it's population was over one million. The map above is a map of the city, and where the massacres took place. (marked by a red "X") There were over thirty-four different massacre locations.