Secret Base of the Saigon – Gia Dinh City Party Committee

The house at 91 Pham Van Chi with two secret hideouts, now the Chinese-Vietnamese Revolutionary Tradition House

The house at 91 Pham Van Chi looks like any other shophouse in Cho Lon, but it was once a secret base of the Saigon – Gia Dinh City Party Committee. Its owner was Luu Vinh (also known as Luu Vinh Phong), an ethnic Chinese businessman who had joined the Overseas Chinese Liberation Federation in 1949. His manufacturing and trading business was both his livelihood and a cover that allowed him to build networks, raise funds and supply medicine to the T4 Chinese Mobilisation Committee. What makes this place remarkable is its location: the house stood directly opposite the District 6 police station and beside the District 6 Administrative Building of the time. Even so, Luu Vinh built two secret hideouts to shelter cadres, following the idea that "the most dangerous place is also the safest": one under the kitchen, 2 m² in size, with its entrance where the firewood was kept; the other in the mezzanine, sandwiched between two partition walls, just 0.54 m² — room enough for two people. The house sheltered many cadres, including Tran Bach Dang, Nghi Doan (Sau Lam), Ngo Lien, Lam Tu Quang (Ba Toan) and Tran Van Tuu. From late 1968 to 1975, it was where Tran Bach Dang lived and worked, as did Mai Chi Tho and several leaders of the Chinese Mobilisation Committee. After 30 April 1975, Luu Vinh donated the house to the State. On 27 April 1997, the house was officially named the Ho Chi Minh City Chinese-Vietnamese Revolutionary Tradition House, telling the story of the ethnic Chinese community through the two wars of resistance. In 2008, it was designated a City-level Historical Relic. The tradition house mainly receives groups and visitors on the tour programme "District 6 – Small Stories in the Heart of Cho Lon", together with Binh Tay Market, Giac Hai Pagoda and the Chinese quarter. No opening hours have been published for individual visitors, so call ahead before visiting.

English text: machine translation from the Localis platform — proper names kept in Vietnamese.