BEIJING, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- People around China held a series of activities Sunday to commemorate the 140th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, a forerunner of the Chinese democratic revolution.

Dr. Sun Yat-sen was born in 1866 in Xiangshan County (now Zhongshan City) in south China's Guangdong Province and died of illness in Beijing (then called Beiping) on March 12, 1925.

Dr. Sun is known in China as a "great revolutionist and statesman" who fought against feudalism and imperialist aggression and for the independence and freedom of the Chinese people.

Solemn commemorative ceremonies were held in Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Shanghai.

At Dr. Sun's hometown of Guangdong, more than 2,500 people from all walks of life gathered at the Memorial Hall of Dr. Sun in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, presented flower and bowed in front of the bronze statue of Dr. Sun.

In Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei province, similar ceremony was held on Sunday at the Memorial Hall of Wuchang Uprising, where the first gunshot of the 1911 Revolution was fired to overthrow China's last feudal regime Qing Dynasty (1616-1911).

Dr. Sun's granddaughter Sun Huifang was presented at the ceremony.

"There are statues and memorial halls for my grandfather at many places on the mainland. It's a great honor and I have been deeply moved," said Ms Sun.

"I hope people can carry on his thought and spirit to realize the rejuvenation of China and the great harmony of the world," she said.

Liu Sheng, a sophomore of the Wuhan University of Technology, came to visit the memorial hall with his friends on Sunday.

"He (Dr. Sun) has been a legend for me since I first got to know about him through a history book as a child," said Liu. "What have impressed me most of his life is this man with great will power never gives up his dream for better or worse."

"That's what nowadays young people should learn from him," said Liu.

While in Shenyang, the provincial capital of northeastern Liaoning Province, an exhibition about Dr. Sun's life opened to public on Sunday at the Shenyang Memorial of Sun Yat-sen, the first of its kind in northeast China.

The exhibition with more than 400 pictures has attracted more than 1,000 visitors by 3 p.m. Sunday since it opened at 8 o'clock in the morning and many of them left remarks about the exhibition on the visitor's book.

"In China, the name of Dr. Sun, among of all the celebrities, has been most frequently used to name streets, parks and even cities. That proves that Chinese people will never forget the immortal feats of Dr. Sun, and this exhibition tells us why," said Zhan Hongge, an organizer of the Shenyang exhibition.