Hanoi Tours - Vietnam Travel Services

The Second largest city in Vietnam is also its commercial capital and is fast becoming the nation’s window to the world. Buzzing with frenetic activity, cosmopolitan Ho Chi Minh City(or formal name Saigon) looks outward, listens to jazz, and drinks French wine. Existing alongside the highrise hotels, shopping malls, and cbic restaurants, are ancient pagodas and colonial buildings, recalling a checkered but vibrant past.

Originally established as a Khmer trading post, more than 300 years ago, Ho Chi Minh City was destined for greater things. By the 18th century, the city, then named Saigon, had become the provincial capital of the Nguyen Dynasty. However, in the second half of the 19th century, control over the city passed to the French, and Saigon became the capital of French Cochinchina. This was a period of much infrastructural and architectural development, during which Saigon earned the epithet, “Paris of the Orient.” Many buildings of this era are in good condition even today. In 1954, the city was proclaimed the capital of South Vietnam. The ensuing war with the US lasted until 1975, when North Vietnam took over Saigon and renamed it Ho Chi Minh City.

Today, under growing economic and cultural liberalization, the city has entered a period of modernization and is constantly evolving and reinventing itself. Populated by an estimated 8 million people, the city is rapidly becoming the hub of manufacturing, entertainment, and cuisine in Vietnam. Upscale restaurants and cafe  offering a range of international delicacies are opening every day, while bars, clubs, and discos are at the center of a thriving nightlife. The best place to catch the action is Dong Khoi. Attracting many tourists, the area is home to historical buildings and museums, sophisticated shops, and roadside cafes, as well as people of all ages zipping around noisily on motorbikes that often cause gridlock on the streets.