Guangzhou, the "meeting point".

The small house on Van Minh Street

In Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, during late autumn and early winter, crowds still throng the tree-lined street called Wenming. In the cool weather, a few rays of sunlight pierce through the foliage, casting a golden glow across the facades of houses 248 and 250 (formerly 13 and 1/13), highlighting the features of a typical early 20th-century Chinese house.

From mid-1925, with the assistance of the Guangzhou City government and the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, that house was chosen to house the headquarters of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association (Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Comrades Association), where Comrade Nguyen Ai Quoc lived, carried out revolutionary activities, taught, and propagated Marxism-Leninism, patriotic ideology, and the revolutionary path to many outstanding young people of the country.

Visiting the old house where Uncle Ho and the older generation of revolutionaries once lived and worked, and listening to tour guide Thang Man's enthusiastic recounting of historical stories through hundreds of photographs and artifacts on display—such as the copper basin, the rice cooker used by Uncle Ho and his students, the guest reception table and chairs (though the paint has peeled off, they are still carefully preserved as they were when Uncle Ho used them), the rows of neatly arranged tables and chairs in the cramped room that was the first political class where Uncle Ho propagated Marxism-Leninism and revolutionary ideas on national liberation to outstanding young people—it's as if everyone is transported back 100 years in time through vivid film footage of the years he worked in Guangzhou.

A high-level delegation from the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence recalled the glorious traditions of the previous generation of revolutionaries after laying wreaths and paying respects at the grave of martyr Pham Hong Thai in Guangzhou City (Guangdong, China) in October 2024.

Guangzhou - a land blessed with favorable geography and harmonious human factors.

The Chinese Revolution in the 1920s saw a strong development, marked by the founding of the Communist Party of China in 1921. During this period, Guangdong was known as the "Moscow of the East," serving as a revolutionary center in China, attracting many revolutionaries from around the world . Many Vietnamese patriots were also active in Guangzhou, including Phan Boi Chau, Le Hong Son, Ho Tung Mau, Le Hong Phong, Pham Hong Thai, and Phung Chi Kien.

In mid-1924, Nguyen Ai Quoc participated in the Fifth Congress of the Communist International, as a member of the Eastern Bureau of the Communist International. On November 11, 1924, in his capacity as an envoy of the Communist International, Nguyen Ai Quoc arrived in Guangzhou. He believed that the Guangzhou route would certainly be the most advantageous. Many Vietnamese patriots were active there.

Immediately upon arriving in Guangzhou, through a series of meetings and vibrant activities there, Comrade Nguyen Ai Quoc simultaneously carried out his international duties and devoted himself to the Vietnamese revolutionary cause. He actively began concrete tasks such as: gathering forces, building organizations, training cadres, and outlining the revolutionary path for Vietnam.

With his extensive experience, deep knowledge of China, and profound foreign language skills, he had favorable conditions for working in China. As his comrades in the Communist International observed: "Nguyen Ai Quoc's return to South Asia was like a fish swimming with the current into a large river" (quoted from the book "Nguyen Ai Quoc on his way back home," by Hoang Thanh Dam).

Meticulously reading each page of documents, gazing at photographs capturing historical moments from President Ho Chi Minh's time in Guangzhou, contemplating beside the typewriter he used to write his first articles for Thanh Nien Newspaper, sitting silently in the old room where President Ho Chi Minh gave lectures... Colonel, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Sau, Deputy Director of the Institute of Military History, General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, a person with many years of research on the history of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and who recently visited historical sites where President Ho Chi Minh and previous generations of revolutionaries worked in China in late October 2024, said: This is a very important period in the life and work of President Ho Chi Minh. This period is crucial for the birth of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Because during this time, he meticulously prepared the necessary prerequisites for the establishment of the Party: in terms of ideology, politics, and organization. He was also the one who directly selected, trained, nurtured, and built the core team of Party cadres later on.

Pointing to a photograph and leading us to a small room furnished with a few tables and chairs and a blackboard, where Uncle Ho lectured to the comrades participating in the first training course, tour guide Thang Manh explained that it was the vibrant revolutionary activities of leader Nguyen Ai Quoc in Guangzhou that attracted Vietnamese youth to follow his example. From the end of 1925 to the beginning of 1927, Nguyen Ai Quoc organized three political training courses. The first course started at the end of 1925 with 10 students. The second course started in September 1926. The third course started at the end of 1926 and concluded in February 1927.

88 issues of Thanh Nien newspaper and 100 years of the mission of the first revolutionary newspaper.

In a passionate conversation, while showing the delegates around the roneo printing press, Thang Manh explained that it was from this machine that the lectures of Comrade Nguyen Ai Quoc were compiled and roneo-printed into a book titled "The Revolutionary Path." This book served as a handbook for many generations of Vietnamese revolutionary cadres, an important training document for early revolutionary cadres; it seamlessly combined the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism with the realities of the Vietnamese revolution, playing a crucial ideological role in guiding the national liberation movement.

Continuing the story about the mission of the roneo printing press, Thang Manh said that to better serve revolutionary propaganda in Vietnam, from a simple, small wooden table, with an old printing press and some neatly arranged publications on it, next to a single bed in this cramped room of a few square meters, on June 21, 1925, the first revolutionary newspaper, Thanh Nien (Youth), was born. The newspaper was printed in a small format, with one issue published weekly.

Pointing to the copies preserved at the memorial house, tour guide Thang Manh enthusiastically recounted: From June 21, 1925, to April 17, 1927, the Thanh Nien (Youth) newspaper published 88 issues. Through the assistance of the Sailors' Union (an organization led by the Chinese Communist Party), a portion of the Thanh Nien newspaper was secretly smuggled into Vietnam... The main content of the newspaper was to propagate Marxism-Leninism, expose the true nature of the colonial and feudal regimes, foster revolutionary spirit and will, and create a solid foundation for the national liberation revolution.

A land that fosters friendship.

Taking us on a tour of the three floors of the house where Uncle Ho once lived and worked, tour guide Thang Manh explained that, due to the difficult living conditions at the time, the first floor was used for business, while the upper floors served as living quarters for Uncle Ho and his revolutionary comrades, where they studied politics, received guests, and wrote articles... Life back then was austere and simple.

Pointing to a photograph of President Ho Chi Minh with his friends, prominent figures of the Chinese revolution such as Zhou Enlai, Li Fuchun, Zhang Tailei, and Chen Yannian, tour guide Tang Min emphasized during his lecture that this friendship, "both comrade and brotherly," had been nurtured during those days of intense revolutionary activity.

On April 15, 1927, reactionary factions within the Kuomintang in Guangzhou openly engaged in counter-revolutionary activities, arbitrarily arresting and massacring communist party members and revolutionary masses. In early May 1927, Nguyen Ai Quoc was forced to leave Guangzhou and return to Moscow. A number of Vietnamese revolutionaries were deported to Hong Kong. Some Vietnamese revolutionaries remained in Guangzhou, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their Chinese communist comrades and the Chinese people, demonstrating a noble spirit of internationalism.

Throughout the vast land of China, historical relics associated with the Vietnamese revolution and President Ho Chi Minh are carefully and respectfully preserved by the government and people, with all due reverence for the revered leader and the preceding generations of Vietnamese revolutionaries. These are truly shared cultural assets of the two nations, invaluable evidence of the Vietnam-China friendship.