Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City
Trading the strict sense of tradition for a cosmopolitan flair, Ho Chi Minh City offers a more progressive, entrepreneurial demeanor than its northern counterpart, Hanoi. Maintaining its former identity as Saigon by the majority of its inhabitants, Ho Chi Minh City’s modern dynamicism is largely due to its port locale, convenient to the outside influences of its various visitors. However, while Ho Chi Minh City boasts enterprising evolution, soaring skyscrapers and energetic commerce, it maintains the classic charm of its established Southern Vietnamese charm and enthusiasm.
A lasting trace of its French imperialism past reigns supreme throughout Saigon, primarily in its grand architecture. Explore Notre Dame Cathedral, donned in proud red brick, or the Hotel de Ville, a town hall that would blend as well within the city structures of a traditional French Province as it does in its native Saigon home, or the Central Post Office, where the iron and glass ceiling is the product of the prolific Gustave Eiffel.
Throughout Saigon find a plethora of inspiring pagodas including Giac Lam Pagoda, Saigon’s oldest and arguably the finest; Jade Emperor’s Pagoda, uniting the Buddhist and Taoist iconography in the flawless design courtesy of Saigon’s Cantonese community; or the Cao Dai Great Temple, which boasts a glittering technicolor ceiling, a statue of Jesus, Lao Tse, Confucius and Buddha standing at each other's shoulders, and the ever present Caodaist symbol of the triangle holding the holy eye.
