1st National Congress

The first National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party opened in secret in this building in Shanghai on 23rd July 1921. Mao attended as a representative of the Hunan branch. Sightings of "suspicious characters", possible police agents, convinced the attendees to relocate to a "houseboat" (more accurately a pleasure craft intended for drinking parties and romantic assignations) on Lake Nanhu, on the southern outskirts of the city. Both locations were celebrated on Maozhang, particularly those produced in Shanghai.