CPC memorial increasingly popular with foreign visitors

Zhou Shengjie / SHINE

Overseas visitors, including expatriates and diplomats, are flocking to the memorial where the Communist Party of China (CPC) was born in Shanghai a century ago.

Thirteen early members of the CPC gathered in an 18-square-meter house in Shanghai for the First National Congress of the Party in 1921, triggering overwhelming changes to China and the Chinese people.

The memorial to the historic congress opened in June this year to mark the centennial of the Party's founding.

The Memorial of the First National Congress of the CPC along Taiping Lake in Xintiandi has received more than 400 foreign guests in about 20 groups since it opened in June this year.

"As a key venue about the CPC history, the memorial has taken the reception of foreign guests as one of its main task this year," memorial staff said in an interview with Shanghai Daily.

The overseas visitors include ambassadors, reporters as well as company officials, experts, artists and entrepreneurs living in Shanghai.

The memorial in Huangpu District includes the former site of the congress on Xingye Road and a new exhibition hall opposite Huangpi Road S.

Jiang Xiaowei / SHINE

The memorial features Shanghai's unique architectural structure in accordance with the buildings in the surrounding Xintiandi area. The main exhibition space covers about 3,700 square meters, quadrupling the previous exhibition space.

The exhibition features 1,168 exhibits about the birth of the Party and the revolutionary practices in Shanghai, including 612 cultural relics along with photos, videos, oil paintings, sculptures and multimedia works. Seventy-two versions of "The Communist Manifesto" are on show.

Foreign visitors came to learn the origin of the CPC, and learn how China has been developing rapidly under the leadership of the party.

"Why was the CPC born in Shanghai? Was it accidental or inevitable?" a Japanese reporter asked during a visit to the memorial in June.

Zhang Yuhan, a researcher at the memorial, answered: "Shanghai already had many foreigners at that time due to its favorable port location and it was common to see foreigners walking in the streets. This is the main reason the Communist International chose to hold the First National Congress in Shanghai, the symbol that the CPC was born."

Baudelaire Ndong Ella, Gabonese ambassador to China, said after a visit with a delegation of ambassadors from over 40 countries that: "Shanghai was where the CPC left the seed of the development of China."

"It was important to start here, it was important to have the foundation here," he said. "All the first 13 members of the CPC said never forget why you began, never forget your initial commitment."

Zhou Shengjie / SHINE

Andres Munoz from Columbia said: "the explanation of the CPC is very clear".

"The information, from the dates to the people, involved in important moments, is also very clear," said Munoz, who was with a delegation of spouses of consulate staff in Shanghai.

Kamran Vossoughi, president and chief executive officer of Michelin China, said: I was impressed by the original aspiration of the CPC, the very clear mission and purpose for the better life of Chinese people as well as the Party's capability to adopt and reinvent ideas".

Some overseas visitors visited the site after being impressed by China's effective control and fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Without China, we could not afford to control the pandemic," said ambassador Ella from Gabon. "We've received vaccines, we've received medical support. Most of the countries in Africa have received it."

Nusrat Marat, an Australian who is a Changning District volunteer, said, through the exhibition, he witnessed how the CPC, a party dedicated to serving the people, helped the country develop rapidly.

"The battle against COVID-19 proved the power of the Party and the greatness of China," Marat stated.

Jiang Xiaowei / SHINE