VIETNAM: Ho Chi Ming City, Formerly Known as Saigon

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), also commonly known as Saigon, is the most populous city in Vietnam, with a population of around 9.3 million in 2023. 

Saigon was called "the Pearl of the Far East" or "Paris in the Orient".

In 1976, upon the establishment of the unified communist Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Saigon was renamed Hồ Chí Minh City in honour of the late communist leader.

Bustling with energy, innovation and traffic (for more on that see https://lindaofnofixedaddress.blogspot.com/2024/04/vietnam-traffic.html) Ho Chi Minh City is the economic heart of Vietnam and the main hub of the southern region.

The city is a combination of old and new in a compact space where old buildings sit beside modern skyscrapers. 

There are reminders of its past.

Ironically, the street with uber upscale shopping, the height of consumerism and materialistic behaviour, is beside a monument of Ho Chi Ming himself.

Ho Chi Ming City/Saigon is emerging as a cosmopolitan and modern city with the construction of many mega-malls, entertainment complexes and an enhanced public transport system. It looks like it has a bright future due to their hard work toward a vision.

P.S. I was first in HCMC/Saigon in October 1999 when I turned 40 by myself, so needless to say, I have a soft spot for the city and country. Some day, somewhere in the Digital Archives, I will find photos of me heading to the airport with a backpack on my back and I will insert it. But that is for another day of reminiscing.