Saigon in old pictures

100 rare black and white pictures depicting the landscapes and people of Saigon in the past were displayed at Le Van Tam Park in HCM City, at the HCM City Book Fair in March. Below are some of them:




A music band in Saigon in 1900.


A music troupe of Saigon at the Marseille Fair in 1906.


Costumes of Saigoneese women in the early 20th century.

Cyclos appeared in Saigon in 1939. The first cyclo was invented by a French man
named Coupeaud. The first city using this vehicle was Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
This vehicle then came to Saigon. In late 1939, Saigon had only 40 cyclos.
The number rose to 200 in 1940.


On the bank of Saigon River in 1880.


Saigoneese women play cards.


Miss Saigon 1925.



Saigon Botanical Garden was built in 1864 on 12 hectares. In 1865, it was expanded to 20 hectares,
managed by the Saigon Council. A French man, Mr. Jean Baptiste Louis Pierre, was the founder
and the first director of the garden. There are two special construction works in the garden – the
Hung Kings Temple (built in 1926) and the History Museum, which opened in 1929.


A coach running from Saigon to Vung Tau in 1925.


A Chinese mission arrived in Saigon in 1920 by boat.

Gia Dinh Hospital in the early 20th century. This hospital was built by the French, named
Hospital de GiaDinh. In 1945, it was renamed into Nguyen Van Hoc Hospital. In 1968,
it was re-built and named Gia Dinh Medical Center. After 1975, it has become
the Gia Dinh People’s Hospital.


A passenger carriage in Saigon.


A street of Saigon in 1915. 

Boats on Saigon River in 1920.


Ben Thanh Market was built before the French came to Saigon. The market was firstly
situated along Ben Nghe River and then it was moved to the southern bank of a canal named
Kinh Lon. In 1887, the canal was filled in so the market was moved to nearby My Tho railway
station or the current location of Benh Thanh market.
The market was built in 1912 to March 1914 and it is still called Ben Thanh market.



The Tax Trading Center was built in 1880. It was called les Grands Magazins Charner for a long time.
This center mainly sold imported products from Europe for rich people. In 1942, the center had one
more floor. In 1960, it was re-named Tax Trading Center.


The first coffee shop in central Saigon in 1915.



Xa Tay Palace was built in 1898-1909, designed by French architect Gardes, featuring bell tower
in northern France. Under the Saigon regime, it was the town hall. Today, it is the office of the
HCM City People’s Committee.


Boy-Landry, a famous French company, is located in Saigon’s hub in the early 20th century.


Grand Hotel was built in 1930 in French style. Located in the center of Saigon, the hotel
welcomed international businessmen and visitors.


The court of Saigon is now the Sunwah building in District 1.


Miss Cavell Road in the French ruled period was named Princess Huyen Tran road in 1955.

L’Avenue Jaccareo road is now Tan Da road.

The Peace Square in 1958, which is now the Paris Commune Square.

Via VietNamNet Bridge 

Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as it is still known to many, is Vietnam’s largest city with a growing population of around 7 million. This is a city on the go 24 hours a day, where everybody seems to be busy either buying, selling, studying, working or just enjoying themselves. 

Despite the fact that modern high-rise buildings have begun to dominate the skyline in recent years there are still many fine examples of French colonial architecture in Ho Chi Minh City such as theNotre Dame Cathedral, the Old Saigon Post Office and the former Hotel de Ville. A stroll down Dong Khoi Street, the Rue Catinat of Graham Greene’s ‘The Quiet American’, will reveal more colonial classics like the Continental, Grand and Majestic hotels as well as dozens of tempting boutiques and galleries.

Ho Chi Minh City is a real shopper’s paradise with modern shopping centers and trendy boutiques rubbing shoulders with traditional street markets. The city’s best-known market is Ben Thanh Marketwhere you can buy anything from fresh fruit and flowers to the latest imported electronics and cosmetics.

One of the most interesting places to visit in Ho Chi Minh City is the former Presidential Palace, now renamed the Reunification Hall. This building remains almost exactly as it was on the morning of 30th April 1975 when the Saigon regime surrendered to the victorious liberation forces and the country was reunified for the first time since 1945. For more war-related history the War Remnants Museum with its thought provoking display of weapons and photographs is also worth visiting.

 

Cholon, Ho Chi Minh City’s Chinatown, is the frenetic commercial centre, where every building has a shop or workshop on the ground floor. Cholon also has the city’s largest market, Binh Tay Market, and some fine pagodas including Thien Hau Pagoda, with its huge incense coils suspended from the ceiling.
A visit to the 15 May School, where disadvantaged children have the opportunity to study subjects as diverse as Vietnamese, English, mechanics, sewing and circus performing is a very worthwhile option during a Ho Chi Minh City tour.

For wining and dining it is hard to beat Ho Chi Minh City. The city is crammed full of restaurants and bars ranging from simple pavement stalls where you can buy a bowl of noodles for a few cents to sophisticated restaurants serving fine European cuisine at a fraction of the price you would pay in Europe. Ho Chi Minh City’s nightlife has become very cosmopolitan in recent years and there are literally hundreds of bars, pubs, night clubs and discotheques to pick from for a night on the town. Further afield, popular day trips from Ho Chi Minh City include the incredible Cu Chi Tunnels built by Vietnamese resistance fighters during the long years of struggle for independence and the bizarre Cao Dai Temple at Tay Ninh.