By Xinhua Writer Zou Xuemian

As a Chinese journalist newly stationed in Vietnam, I was invited to a remarkable reunion of Vietnamese alumni who studied in China between the 1950s and 1970s.

Although it has been a while since the gathering, I can still recall the touching scene at the event, which offered an intimate glimpse into the enduring "comradeship and brotherhood" between the two nations.

In the reunion hall, old photographs adorned the walls, capturing moments from the past as dozens of silver-haired alumni gathered, exchanging stories and reminiscing about the days of their youth.

Nguyen Thien Nhan, aged 72, a former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, started the conversation by sharing his experience of studying in China during wartime in Vietnam.

During Vietnam's war against French occupation and its war against U.S. aggression to save the nation, over 10,000 Vietnamese students received education at Yucai School in Guilin, South China's Guangxi. Nhan was one of them.

"I remember when I came to China, our country faced significant hardships and food shortages. Upon arriving there, I observed that China was also experiencing difficulties," Nhan said. "Nevertheless, they generously shared food and clothing with Vietnamese students and comrades."

Echoing the same sentiment, Lu My Niem, who was an interpreter for Vietnamese students at the school, expressed her strong sense of familial connection between the two peoples.

Niem remembered that at that time, Guilin was a very poor place. The people living near the school wore patched, tattered clothes and had very simple meals. "However, the people from the office gave us priority to dine. They gave us the most desirable food," she recalled.

"The teachers and principal of the school treated me as a member of their own family out of traditional hospitality and the wartime solidarity of comrades," Niem added.

"We dined in the kitchen, where Chinese students ate from large bowls, with all their food put in one bowl. In contrast, Vietnamese students were served on trays, with four to six people sharing, each receiving an individual portion," said Nhan, noting that China provided the best conditions for the Vietnamese students back then.

"Some of those people later became generals in the Vietnam People's Army, others became professors or leaders of the Vietnamese Party and State," he said, his eyes crinkling with pride as he gently tapped a black-and-white photo of his 1966 class at Yucai School.

"All of us, when we returned to our country, no matter what we did, we always remembered China as a friendly neighbour, an important part of Vietnam's revolutionary history," said Nhan.

Just as the gathering was about to end, an elegant elderly lady in her beautiful Ao Dai, the traditional Vietnamese dress, pulled out her smartphone and asked me to take a photo of her and her classmates.

As a journalist, I was more than happy to help and lingered for a chat with her.

"Every time we have such a gathering, the emotions come back to us," she said, her voice tinged with nostalgia, noting that they always carry a deep affection for the Chinese people, especially those who took care of them and helped them grow during the difficult times in their country.

"We lived together from a young age, eating and staying together. The 'uncles' and 'aunts' from China often cooked for us, which left the deepest impression on us," she said in Chinese about her experience more than 60 years ago.

Her rusty Chinese surprised me. Her "uncles and aunts" carried the cadence of a child. I imagined her as a young girl, studying in a foreign land, homesick yet cradled by the love of strangers.

In that expression, I saw the essence of China-Vietnam relations, which is not just about diplomacy, but the deep emotional connections that bind two nations as neighbours, partners, and family./.