Ho Chi Minh, formerly known as Saigon, the south’s capital prior to the Vietnam reunification in 1976. It is here where most international flights land and depart, and where the main transportation hubs are located. Named after the revolutionary leader and North Vietnamese president Ho Chi Minh, the city being an important port and a major commercial and industrial center boast of sophisticated hotels and restaurants, and fine tourism facilities.

Ho Chi Minh is relatively young city. Established only in the 18th century by Vietnamese refugees fleeing the civil war in the north, the small settlement on the banks of Tau Ho River, a branch of the main Sai GHon River, was soon shared with migrating Chinese merchants. The place, which was christened Gla Dinh by the ruling Nguyen Dynasty, became a beehive of commercial activities and government operations. After the French conquest in 1859, the city was re-named Saigon and turned into the capital of French colony of Cochin China.

Presently, the city’s urban landscape is dotted with a conurbation of early colonial (what were left unscarrred after the Vietnam War) and modern buildings and structures. The first of the Vietnamese religious temples and government buildings still standing are typically made of  hard woods swathed with intricate carvings and sheltered by tiled roofs-an architectural style adopted from mainland China. The French left their design imprints in the Mediterranean inspired villas scattered around the city and its suburbs, in Catholic churches, and in wide tree-lined boulevards leading to the city center.

Ho Chi Minh is an extremely huge city, it covers an area  of 2356 square kilometers, which is divided into 12 urban wards (quan) and six rural districts (huyen). The later occupies 90% of the total land area, but the former counts for almost 75 percent of the population.

To discover the many facets of the city, it is best to start at the Ward One, or Saigon proper. This downtown area is where the most of the city’s foremost attractions are located. The DaiLo Le-Duan is a picturesque avenue straddled by foreign consulates and is abutted by important destinations. At its acme is the 143-year old French-established and tree-canopied Zoo & Botanical Garden. Inside the zoo’s main gate is the History Museum, a repository built by the Societe des Etudes Indochinoises in 1929 to house Vietnamese artifacts dating back as far back as three millenniums ago. Ensconced at the southern end of Di Lo Le Duan is Reunification Palace, a mute witness to the dramatic conclusion of the Vietnam War on 30 April 1975. The first communists tanks to enter Saigon went straight to the courtyards of this former presidential palace.

The war Remnants Museum a block west from here is next. Formerly known as the Museum of American War Crimes, the name has been changed to avoid upsetting the burgeoning American tourist market. This museum is very popular because of its graphnic renditions on how gruesome the Vietnam War was.

Adjacent to Reunification Palace is Cong Vien Van Hoa Park, once upon a time a sports club exclusively for the colonial elite. A neat column of benches under the shades of centuries-old trees beckon for tranquil afternoon and early evening respites.

The pulse of Saigon is felt strongest at the nearby Dong Khoi a ratherf short street with a long record of legendary entertainments. Referred to by the French as Rue Catinat, and Tu Do by American GIs, this most famous, sometimes infamous, Vietnamese strip (immortalized by Graham Greene in his novel The Quiet American) is dotted with bars, restaurants, shops and hotels. Ironically, this vibrant capital of earthly undertakings commences right after the doorsteps of the neo-Romanesque styled Notre Dame Cathedral. Built between 1877 and 1883, this Roman Catholic Church, whose 40-meter-high twin towers with iron-tipped spires lording over the skyline, is sometimes a little off-sync in the area.

There are litany of place to try in Dong Khoi. For a night of revelry with the city’s expatriate and “pretty people” community, the Underground is the pub to go to. In the nearby Pham Ngu ZLao street, the Allez Boo Bar offers sundown to sunrise partying with fellow night owls.

Cholon, a busy suburb west of downtown Saigon, is the city’s closest version to Chinatown. It has narrow streets teeming with commercial activities and a horde of shops selling everything., from souvenirs and garments to high-tech toys and appkliances. Cholon is also home to some of the oldest structures in the city. Buddhist pagodas straddled near each other at the heart of Cholon-Quan Am, Phuoc An Hoi and Thien Hau-are testaments to the pioneering presence of the ethnic Chinese merchants who settled in this area more than two centuries ago. Of the three, the more ancient is Quan Am Paghoda, which was built in 1816. On the outskirts of Cholon district, some two kilometers from Quan Am, is another Buddhist temple considered to be the oldest in ther city Giac Lam is a splendid pagoda dating to 1744, perhaps an era when the first wave of Fujian Chinese arrived by boat in the banks of Tau Hu River