Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City is a city in southern Vietnam on the Saigon River, north of the Mekong Delta. Its central district is still called Saigon, the name the whole city carried until the 1970s. The Saigon Central Post Office, designed by Alfred Foulhoux in the late 19th century, still sells stamps under its vaulted iron hall.

The site was the Khmer fishing village of Prey Nokor before Vietnamese settlers arrived in the 17th century. The Nguyễn lords set up an administration there in 1698, and the town grew as a river port for rice from the delta. France took the city in the 19th century and made it the capital of the colony of Cochinchina, laying out boulevards, villas and the red brick Notre-Dame Cathedral. The city took the name of Ho Chi Minh in 1976. Since the economic reforms of the 1980s it has grown into the business center of southern Vietnam, with office towers along the river.

Vinamilk, the dairy company known for its fresh milk and yogurt, has its headquarters in the city. Sabeco brews Bia Saigon and 333 beer, and Masan Group makes Chin-su fish sauce and Omachi noodles. The port at Cát Lái on the Đồng Nai River handles container ships for southern Vietnam.

The Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon was built with bricks shipped from Marseille and has two bell towers over the square in front of the post office. Bến Thành Market, under a clock tower at the end of Lê Lợi Boulevard, sells food, fabric and handicrafts. The Saigon Opera House was finished at the end of the 19th century in the style of the French Third Republic. The Jade Emperor Pagoda, built by the Cantonese community in the early 20th century, is filled with carved wooden figures of Taoist and Buddhist deities.