The Communist Party of China (CPC) celebrates its birthday every July, because the party held the first National Congress in Shanghai 95 years ago. The meeting venues were raided by the police of Shanghai's French Concession on July 30, 1921, so the communist representatives wrapped their conference on a lake in Jiaxing, east China's Zhejiang Province on August 2.

　　Let's take a look at when and where the current 88-million-member party was born.

　　Congress Venue

　　Today, on the meeting site in Shanghai is the Museum of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

　　The brick-and-timber construction on the 76 Xingye Road in Shanghai is where CPC held the first National Congress in 1921.[Photo: zgyd1921.com]

　　The meeting site is a typical Shanghai-style civic residence. Built in 1920, it was rented by the brother of Li Hanjun, a participant in the congress at that time. The architecture has been recognized as a cultural relic by authorities in 1961.

　　The building was then located in the suburb area and faced farmland directly. Its inconspicuousness made the place an ideal choice for the communists' secretive activities.

　　The first floor of the residence had an 18-square-metre living room, which was used as the conference room. [Photo: zgyd1921.com]

　　Accommodation

　　The file photo shows Bowen Girls' School. Most delegates were accommodated at the school's dormitories during the CPC's first National Congress. [Photo: zgyd1921.com]　

　　Photos taken in March, 1971 show the dorm of Mao Zedong, who attended the meeting as a communist representative from central China's Hunan Province. [Photo: zgyd1921.com]

　　Collections

　　The file photo shows the tool kit Li Bai used to fix his equipment. [Photo: zgyd1921.com]

　　The CPC assigned Li Bai to establish a secrete radio station for intelligence service in 1937 after Japan began its invasion of China. After the World War II, Li continued his work as a spy for the party to fight against the Kuomintang, collecting the information on the enemy army. His station was detected by traitors and Kuomintang's intelligence agency in 1948. Months later, 39-year-old Li was killed. Twenty days later, the CPC liberated Shanghai.

　　In 1941, the CPC opened a cigarette store named Rongtai to cover their secrete activities. The file photo shows the shop's seal.[Photo: zgyd1921.com]

　　The file photo shows a store shut its business down during the May 4 Movement in Shanghai. [Photo: zgyd1921.com]

　　The May 4 Movement in 1919 is a Chinese anti-imperialist protest against the government's weak response to the Treaty of Versailles, which allowed Japan to receive territories in east China's Shandong Province.

　　Launched by students, the strike was joined and supported by workers and businessmen. Since June 5, all business had been closed down in Shanghai.

　　The file photo shows the English typewriter that once used by Li Dazhao, one of the main founders of CPC. [Photo: zgyd1921.com]