The Vietnam School Memorial Hall stands in Guangxi Normal University in Guilin city, Guangxi province.

The Vietnam School Memorial Hall stands in Guangxi Normal University in Guilin city, Guangxi province. Handwriting on the walls leading to the Memorial House show that this was a place where students of several Vietnamese schools were evacuated during Vietnam’s resistance wars against the French and American imperialists. More than 10,000 Vietnamese cadres were trained here during the war years.

The Vietnam School Memorial Hall was inaugurated on the occasion of the 60^th anniversary of Vietnam-China diplomatic relations in 2010. Mr. Ruan Zhong Yuan is the Director of the Vietnam School Memorial Hall: “I’m so proud that the Hall has welcomed many Vietnamese leaders, including former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, former National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, and former Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan. The Hall is a memorial to the fine relations between Vietnam and China”.

The Hall displays many photos and objects such as clothes, backpacks, desks, and chairs used by Vietnamese students in China. Each object is associated with a moving memory. Mr. Yuan said the small stools were used by Vietnamese children who were looked after here while their parents were fighting in Vietnam. Many Vietnamese students who studied here later became senior State officials in Vietnam. Mr. Yuan remembered doctor Deng Hai Dang who saved a Vietnamese student who fell into a pit of animal waste and a Beijing chef who cooked Vietnamese dishes here.

Many Vietnamese and Chinese students visit the Vietnam School Memorial Hall to understand more about the time-honored friendship between Vietnam and China.

Ms. Luu Mei Nian, a teacher at Guangxi Normal University, said it was an unforgettable time in her teaching career when she taught at the Vietnamese Schools in Guangxi.  Now, in her lessons, she still recalls the Vietnamese and Chinese teachers and students, who helped to foster friendship and solidarity between the two nations: “The Memorial Hall is important to Chinese and Vietnamese students. Generations of students feel pride and cherish the memory of that historic period, and honor their responsibility for developing the traditional relations between the two nations”.

Since its establishment, the Vietnam School Memorial Hall has welcomed 50,000 visitors.