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"During class time, we teach our pupils about the friendship between Vietnam and China," said Dang Thi Lan Huong, principal of Kim Dong primary school in Vietnam's northern Yen Bai province on Friday.
The same day, a delegation of Chinese embassy officials in Vietnam, Chinese companies, institutions, students and media representatives, together with accompanying Vietnamese officials, observed the graves of Chinese martyrs in Yen Bai province on the occasion of Tomb Sweeping Day, or Qingming Festival.
While talking with Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Hong Xiaoyong, Huong said in order to help nurture the friendship between the two countries in the young generation, her school has also organized groups of pupils to visit the cemeteries of the Chinese martyrs in the province to pay their respects.
More than 50 years ago, during the war against the U.S. invasion of Vietnam, upon the request of the Vietnamese communist party and the people, over 320,000 Chinese troops were sent to Vietnam to help defend its independence and unity.
During the war, more than 1,400 Chinese soldiers lost their lives in Vietnam, said Chinese Ambassador Hong.
The Chinese martyrs are buried in 40 cemeteries in 22 provinces across the northern and central region of Vietnam. There are three cemeteries of Chinese martyrs in Yen Bai province, some 120 km northwest of the capital Hanoi, where 293 Chinese martyrs have been laid to rest.
For decades, the traditional friendship between China and Vietnam has been maintained and passed on by generations of people of the two countries.
"Taking care of the cemetery is my responsibility. Vietnam's late president Ho Chi Minh and Chinese leaders laid the foundation for the friendship between Vietnam and China, and our responsibility is to continue nurturing the fine relationship," Vu Xuan The, a 62-year-old custodian at the Thinh Hung cemetery, told Xinhua.
According to Pham Tuan Chung, Deputy Director of Yen Bai Department of Labors, Invalids and Social Affairs, in the past years, the province has upgraded the cemeteries of Chinese martyrs in Yen Bai several times, the latest being in 2012.
Each tomb is built with granite and inscribed with the name of the martyr, native place, and dates of their birth and death. Standing in the middle of each cemetery is a monument carved with the words: "Vietnamese people keep the merit in mind," inscribed in both Chinese and Vietnamese.
Chung said the Department of Labors, Invalids and Social Affairs, in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs of Yen Bai province, welcomes delegations of Chinese veterans and relatives of the Chinese martyrs annually.
There were around five to six delegations of Chinese veterans and relatives of Chinese martyrs who come to visit the cemeteries in Yen Bai annually, Chung told Xinhua.
"Vietnam will never forget the sacrifice of the Chinese martyrs. We (local residents) often come to the Chinese cemetery to offer incense and flowers, especially on Vietnamese War Invalids and Martyrs Day on July 27," Pham Van Vu, a local resident in Yen Bai' s Thinh Hung, told Xinhua.
"For us, Chinese martyrs are just like Vietnamese martyrs. We have responsibilities to take good care of the cemeteries. This is the relationship between the two countries," Hoang Xuan Nguyen, Vice chairman of Yen Bai Provincial People's Committee, said to the visiting Chinese ambassador.
Vu Quang Hop, a 69-year-old cemetery custodian told Xinhua that "When relatives of Chinese martyrs come here, they cry a lot. I was really moved." Hop has worked as a cemetery custodian at Lang Dat cemetery in Yen Bai for around 20 years.
"They hug me, take photos with me and tell me that we should continue strengthening Vietnam-China relations," he said.
"I promise to take good care of the cemetery."
