Ho Chi Minh City

Area: 2,098.7 sq. km

Population: 6,105.8 thousand habitants (2006)

Administrative divisions:

Districts: District 1, District 2, District 3, District 4, District 5, District 6, District 7, District 8, District 9, District 10, District 11, District 12, Tan Binh, Binh Thanh, Phu Nhuan, Thu Duc, Go Vap, Binh Tan,Tan Phu.

Rural districts: Nha Be, Can Gio, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, Binh Chanh.

Ethnic groups: Viet (Kinh), Hoa, Khmer, Cham...

Geography

In the core of the Mekong Delta, Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, is second the most important in Vietnam after Hanoi. It is not only a commercial center but also a scientific, technological, industrial and tourist center. The city is bathed by many rivers, arroyos and canals, the biggest river being the Saigon River. The Port of Saigon, established in 1862, is accessible to ships weighing up to 30,000 tons, a rare advantage for an inland river port.

Climate: The climate is generally hot and humid. There are two distinctive seasons: the rainy season, from May to November, and the dry season, from December to April. The annual average temperature is 27ºC. The hottest month is April and the lowest is December. It is warm all year.

History

Many centuries ago, Saigon was already a busy commercial center. Merchants from China, Japan and many European countries would sail upstream the Saigon River to reach the islet of Pho, a trading center. In the year of 1874, Cho Lon merged with Saigon, forming the largest city in the Indochina. It had been many times celebrated as the Pearl of the Far East. After the reunification of the country, the 6th National Assembly in its meeting of the 2nd of July, 1976, has officially rebaptized Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City. The history of city relates closely with the struggle for the independence and freedom of Vietnam.

Tourism

Today, Ho Chi Minh City is the big tourism center in Vietnam, attracting a large of visitors to Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City has various attractions as Ho Chi Minh Museum, formerly known as Dragon House Wharf, Cu Chi Tunnels, system of museums, theatres, cultural houses... Recently, many tourist areas are invested such as Thanh Da, Binh Quoi Village, Dam Sen Park, Saigon Water Park, Suoi Tien, Ky Hoa..., which draw numerous tourists.

Despite its quite recent past, Ho Chi Minh City nevertheless possesses various beautiful buildings, displaying a characteristic combination of Vietnamese, Chinese and European cultures. These include Nha Rong (Dragon House Wharf), Quoc To Temple (National Ancestors Temple), Xa Tay (Municipal Office), Ho Chi Minh Municipal Theatre as well as many pagodas and churches (Vinh Nghiem, Giac Vien, Giac Lam, Phung Son pagodas...). After more than 300 years of development, Ho Chi Minh City presents many ancient architectural constructions, famous vestiges and renowned sights. It is remarkable for its harmonious blending of traditional national values with northern and western cultural features.

Transportation

Ho Chi Minh City is the main junction for trains, roads, water, and air transportation systems for domestic trips and for foreign destination.

- Roads: Ho Chi Minh City is 1,730km from Hanoi, 99km from Tay Ninh, 30km from Bien Hoa (Dong Nai), 70km from My Tho, 125km from Vung Tau, 168km from Can Tho, 308km from Dalat, and 375km from Buon Ma Thuot. The City has National Highway 13 which connects Vietnam with the rest of Indochina.

- Train: Thong Nhat express train connects Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, vie many provinces in Vietnam.

- Air: Tan Son Nhat International Airport, 7km from center of city, is the biggest airport with many domestic and international routes. There are flights from Hanoi and Danang to Ho Chi Minh City and between ?the City to many regions as well a lot of countries on over the world.

Attraction

1)Historical & Cultural Vestiges

• Ben Duoc Monument

Location: Ben Duoc Monument was built in Cu Chi District, about 70km from Ho Chi Minh City centre.
Characteristic: The Ben Duoc Monument to the War Martyrs is a harmonious architectural complex. The monument was built according to the design of a traditional Vietnamese temple.
The monument is dedicated to the war martyrs from 40 cities and provinces, who laid down their lives on the battle fields in Saigon - Cho Lon - Gia Dinh during the anti-French and US resistance wars for national independence and freedom.
It has a three-entrance gate. In the main shrine are worshipped 44,357 martyrs and heroic mothers whose name are carved on marble plates and gilded with gold. On the ground floor, a mini-mock up, pictures, and many other show pieces about the hard life and battles of the army men and local people during the wars are displayed. There is also a nine-storey tower, 39m high, surrounded with gardens with flowers that blossom all the year round and with diverse kinds of ornamental plants.
Since its establishment in 1995 the monument has welcomed thousands of visitors, both domestic and foreign, especially on Martyrs' Day - July 27th - who come to enjoy the local scenery and show their respect to the national heroes.

• Betel Hamlets

Location: The Betel Hamlets are situated in Hoc Mon District, about 10km centre of Ho Chi Minh City.
The betel gardens have such lush and green foliage that one can stand under these frames when it is raining without getting wet.

• Cu Chi Tunnels

Location: Cu Chi Tunnels are located approximately 70km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City centre in Cu Chi Rural District.
Characteristic: Cu Chi Tunnels consist of more than 200km of underground tunnels. This main axis system has many branches connecting to underground hideouts, shelters, and entrances to other tunnels.
Cu Chi District is known nationwide as the base where the Vietnamese mounted their operations of the Tet Offensive in 1968.The tunnels are between 0.5 to 1m wide, just enough space for a person to walk along by bending or dragging. However, parts of the tunnels have been modified to accommodate visitors. The upper soil layer is between 3 to 4m thick and can support the weight of a 50-ton tank and the damage of light cannons and bombs. The underground network provided sleeping quarters, meeting rooms, hospitals, and other social rooms. Visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels provides a better understanding of the prolonged resistance war of the Vietnamese people and also of the persistent and clever character of the Vietnamese nation.
For a place that’s physically invisible, the Cu Chi Tunnels have sure carved themselves a celebrated niche in the history of guerilla warfare. Its celebrated and unseen geography straddles – all of it underground – something which the Americans eventually found as much to their embarrassment as to their detriment. They were dug, before the American War, in the late 1940s, as a peasant-army response to a more mobile and ruthless French occupation. The plan was simple: take the resistance briefly to the enemy and then, literally, vanish.
First the French, then the Americans were baffled as to where they melted to, presuming, that it was somewhere under cover of the night in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta. But the answer lay in the sprawling city under their feet – miles and miles of tunnels. In the gap between French occupation and the arrival of the Americans the tunnels fell largely into disrepair, but the area’s thick natural earth kept them intact and maintained by nature. In turn it became not just a place of hasty retreat or of refuge, but, in the words of one military historian, "an underground land of steel, home to the depth of hatred and the incommutability of the people." It became, against the Americans and under their noses, a resistance base and the headquarters of the southern Vietnam Liberation Forces. The linked threat from the Viet Cong - the armed forces of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam - against the southern city forced the unwitting Americans to select Cu Chi as the best site for a massive supply base – smack on top of the then 25-year old tunnel network. Even sporadic and American’s grudgingly had to later admit, daring attacks on the new base, failed for months to indicate where the attackers were coming from – and, importantly, where they were retreating to. It was only when captives and defectors talked that it became slightly more clear. But still the entries, exits, and even the sheer scale of the tunnels weren’t even guessed at. Chemicals, smoke-outs, razing by fire, and bulldozing of whole areas, pinpointed only a few of the well-hidden tunnels and their entrances. The emergence of the Tunnel Rats, a detachment of southern Vietnamese working with Americans small enough to fit in the tunnels, could only guess at the sheer scale of Cu Chi. By the time peace had come, little of the complex, and its infrastructure of schools, dormitories, hospitals, and miles of tunnels, had been uncovered. Now, in peace, only some of it is uncovered – as a much-visited part of the southern tourist trail. Many of the tunnels are expanded replicas, to avoid any claustrophobia they would induce in tourists. The wells that provided the vital drinking water are still active, producing clear and clean water to the three-tiered system of tunnels that sustained life. A detailed map is almost impossible, for security reasons if nothing else: an innate sense of direction guided the tunnellers and those who lived in them.
Some routes linked to local rivers, including the Saigon River, their top soil firm enough to take construction and the movement of heavy machinery by American tanks, the middle tier from mortar attacks, and the lower, 8-10m down was impregnable. A series of hidden, and sometimes booby-trapped, doors connected the routes, down through a system of narrow, often unlit and invented tunnels. At one point American troops brought in a well-trained squad of 3000 snuffer dogs, but the German Shepherds were too bulky to navigate the courses. One legend has it that the dogs were deterred by Vietnamese using American soap to throw them off their scent, but more usually pepper and chilly spray was laid at entrances, often hidden in mounds disguised as molehills, to throw them off. But the Americans were never passive about the tunnels, despite being unaware of their sheer complexity. Large-scale raiding operations used tanks, artillery and air raids, water was pumped through known tunnels, and engineers laid toxic gas. But one American commander’s report at the time said: "It’s impossible to destroy the tunnels because they are too deep and extremely tortuous."
Today the halls that showed propagandas films, housed educational meetings and schooled Vietnamese in warfare are largely intact. So too are the kitchens where visitors can dine on steamed manioc, pressed rice with sesame and salt, a popular meal during the war, as they are assailed with true stories of how life went on as near-normal, much of the time. Ancestors were worshipped there, teaching was well-timetabled, poultry was raised – and even couples trusted, fell in love, were wed, and honeymooned there. But visitors have it easier: those re-constructed tunnels give the flavor of the tunnels but not the claustrophobia and the sacrifice of the estimated 18,000 who served their silent and unseen war there with only around one-third surviving, the rest casualties of American assaults, snakes, rats and insects.
Now the unseen and undeclared No Man’s Land is undergoing a revival, saluted as a Relic of National History and Culture with its Halls of Tradition displaying pictures and exhibits. The nearby Ben Duoc-Cu Chi War Memorial, where the reproduced tunnels have been built, stands as an-above ground salute to a hidden war.

• Duc Ba Cathedral

Location: Duc Ba Cathedral is located on Han Thuyen Street, facing down Dong Khoi Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
Characteristic: The resplendent Governor’s Palace, completed in 1875, symbolized the regime’s political power in Asia. And five years later, the Duc Ba (Our Lady’s) Cathedral was inaugurated, and became the spiritual and cultural crucible of the French presence in the Orient.
After the first French colonizing force arrived in Vietnam in the mid - 19thcentury, it took only 21 years before the country had a cathedral to match the hulking Gothic edifices of France itself. The cathedral is supposed to represent the glory of the French Empire. Yet, as is always the case with colonization, this attempt to import French traditions into Vietnam transformed the colonizers’ culture in the process. Even though the cathedral is built in a Western architectural style, it has a uniquely Eastern aspect.
Several architects put forward design proposals for the cathedral, but in 1877 the authorities selected Mr Bourard, who was famed for his religious architecture. He envisaged, and executed, a basilica-like structure with a square plan. The cathedral is composed of two main central bays with two sidereal corridors, with tall pillars and light coming in through sets of high windows, and a semi-circular shrine. The style follows a Roman pattern, although the outside contains some modifications: the cathedral’s vaults are Gothic, and a modern steel skeleton supports the whole building.
In 1894 a pointed minaret was added to the bell tower, at the behest of an architect named Gardes, who was also responsible for the Xa Tay Palace, the building that now houses the Municipal People’s Committee. The cathedral is a much smaller than those in France, but it was the largest in the French empire. The interior is very large: the principal shrine and two additional bays are 93m long, and reach 35m in width at one point. The semi-circular shrine at the rear seats a choir during services, and there are five chapels. The walls are made of Bien Hoa granite, combined with red tiles from Marseilles, all without coating. Red tiles from France were also used on the roofs, but they were later replaced with tiles of equal quality from Phu Huu. Natural light streams in through stained-glass windows which were made by the Lorin Company from the French town of Sartre.
The whole building is well-ventilated thanks to a system of air-holes placed above and under the windows. The belfry is 57m high. For a long time it was the highest structure in the city centre, and was the first thing an arriving traveller would see when approaching the city by boat. Six bells weigh a combined 25,850kg. In 1885, the floor was taken apart and new pillars were added, because the original foundation could not bear the cathedral’s weight. Stepping inside the cathedral, tourists see a line of Chinese characters eulogizing the Jesus’ mother, "the innocent and unblemished Virgin Mother", and stained-glass portraits of Vietnamese believers amid Asiatic plants. On the square in front of the cathedral, there is a statue of the Virgin Mother made of white marble, symbolizing peace. All told, it’s an unusual building: a Western architectural and religious style that has been transplanted into, and adapted to, the East. The colonizers were trying to impose French beliefs and customs onto Vietnam but once that culture arrived on Asia’s shores, it took on a life of its own. The cathedral is seen as a unique synthesis, adding an unmistakable Oriental flavour to an ancient Occidental recipe.

• Giac Lam Pagoda

Location: Giac Lam Pagoda is located at 118 Lac Long Quan Street, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City.
Characteristic: It is one of the city’s oldest pagodas with many Buddha statues made of brass and precious timber.
Giac Lam Pagoda (also known as the Cam Son or Cam Dien Pagoda) was built in 1744, under the reign of Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat. Unlike many other local religious structures, it has not been renovated since 1900; the architecture, layout, and ornamentation remain almost unaltered. The scenery around the pagoda is picturesque and many people come here to write or recite poetry.
Standing in the front garden is a shining white statue of the Goddess of Mercy, perched upon a lotus blossom, a symbol of purity. Inside, on either side of the main altar, are statues of Ameda Buddha and Sakyamuni Buddha, along with more representations of the Goddess of Mercy. Giac Lam Pagoda is open from 6 am to 9 pm.

• Giac Vien Pagoda

Location: Giac Vien Pagoda is located on Lac Long Quan Street, District 11, Ho Chi Minh City.
Characteristic: It has the ancient architecture of the pagodas built in the Nguyen Dynasty of the 19th century, and typical characteristics of the southern area in terms of the architecture, design and arrangement of the worshipping shrines.
In 1798, a monk who was in charge of taking care of the restoration of Giac Lam Pagoda, built a small pavilion for his daily prayers, called Quan Am Cac (Kwan Yin Pavilion). In the third year under king Tu Duc's reign (1850), the pavilion was rebuilt and named Giac Vien Pagoda. When building Dam Sen Tourist Park, the Management Board decided to preserve Giac Vien Pagoda intact and incorporate it into the park, making the park more attractive due to its cultural-historical value.
Giac Vien Pagoda has typical features, of southern Vietnam. The main shrine, also a big hall, is 360m² in area, and used to worship Buddha. To its east and west, there are corridors, a room for the monks to prepare clothing before assisting the Superior Monk, and a large and spacious compartment at the rear. Along the corridors, there are small altars with worshipping items. In particular, there are rows of wooden pillars engraved with parallel sentences. The letters are carved delicately and painted with red lacquer and trimmed with gold. Around them there are decorative designs of leaves and climbing plants. All 153 statues in the pagoda are made of jack wood. The faces and postures of the statues look honest and they are placed low, creating a close feeling between them and the viewers.
The most attractive items are 60 plates, which are engraved on both sides made of jack wood. They are made with gold. The most beautiful plate is engraved with 18 fat, honest and smiling Arhats, with each riding on the back of a buffalo, a cow, a pig, a goat... Some plates are engraved with birds, ducks, fish ... but all looking alive. Other plates are carved with fruits popular in the South, such as coconut, mangos teen, durian, rambutan… These wooden engravings are the only ones that have been kept intact in Vietnam.
The Buddhist spirit of the ancient Viet people, during their migration south, accepted different religious tendencies and sects, on condition that they were useful to society. This is clearly seen through the items preserved at Giac Vien Pagoda. For this reason, Giac Vien Pagoda became a centre for worshipping ceremonies and discussions on Buddhism of the six southern provinces in the 19th century- a prosperous time for buddhist followers and talents whose works remain valuable until today.
Giac Vien Pagoda has been classified by the State as a cultural relic and a mini-museum of wooden engravings of historical and artistic value. For this reason, it attracts a lot of researchers and visitors all year round.

• Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum

Location: Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum is located on 97A Pho Duc Chinh Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
The Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum was set up as the result of a decision made by the City’s People's Committee in September 1987, but it was not officially opened until 1991.
On the first and second floors, there are exhibits of works by Vietnamese and foreign artists. On the third floor are rooms with displays of works from between the 7th and early 20th century, including Champa and Oc Eo art work, Vietnamese antiques (ceramics, red-lacquered and gilded products, mother-of-pearl inlaid wood, etc.), traditional handicrafts of the Vietnamese ethnic groups and Western art.

• Ho Chi Minh Municipal Theatre

Location: Ho Chi Minh Municipal Theatre is located on Dong Khoi Street, Ho Chi Minh City, between the Caravelle and Continental Hotels.
Characteristic: With a rotating stage and a 800 - seat hall, the theatre meets the required standards for various artistic forms such as singing, music, dancing and traditional and modern dramas.
Built at the beginning of 1897, under an original architectural design by French architect Ferret Eugene, who won a prize for theatre designing in July 1895, the Municipal Theatre was restored and renewed to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the foundation of Saigon (1698-1998).
The architectural style and staple material of the Municipal Theatre of the old days are reflected in its stone veranda, a pair of white stone statues of pretty girls at the gate, the colourful granite tiled floors, the chandeliers, the bronze statues in front of the stairs, the audience's hall with its arch engraved with decorative designs and rows of statues on the two sides of the theatre.
In the years of the Second World War, France was involved in many battles. In Vietnam the revolutionary high tide shook the colonial regime. The Municipal Theatre was closed and deserted. During the French re-invasion of the South after 1945, the Theatre was restored. When the French invaders withdrew from the South under the Geneva Agreement in 1956, the Ngo Dinh Diem regime turned the theatre into the headquarters of the lower House, therefore the inside and outside structure of the theatre was changed considerably.
Regaining the power after the Spring 1975 Great Victory, the City authorities allowed a temporary repair of the theatre, returning its function to a central theatre. In 1995, a hundred years after the start of the initial building project, a restoration project was approved by the Municipal People's Committee. Many experienced historians and architects were invited to participate in this project. The theatre was renewed with new materials and equipped with state-of-the-art electric appliances, light and sound systems and fire and safety equipment. With a rotating stage and a 800 - seat hall, the theatre meets the required standards for various artistic forms such as singing, music, dancing and traditional and modern dramas. It is a good place for artistic performances by domestic and foreign art ensembles and well - known artists, who visit Ho Chi Minh City.

• Ho Chi Minh Museum

Location: Ho Chi Minh Museum is located on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
Characteristic: This museum mostly contains pictures and objects relating to President Ho Chi Minh.
The Dragon House Wharf, originally called Nha Rong, is located at the junction of the Ben Nghe Channel and the Saigon River. It was built in 1863 and served as the office of a French shipping company. From there, Nguyen Tat Thanh, later President Ho Chi Minh, set sail on a French ship named Admiral Latouche Treville in June 1911.
In September 1979, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City chose Nha Rong as the Ho Chi Minh Museum–Dragon House Wharf. The name was taken from the two dragon-shaped symbols on the top of the building. Over time, approximately ten million people, local as well as foreign, have visited the Ho Chi Minh Museum. In addition, events such as artistic festivals and the introduction of new members into the Youth Union and Communist Party have been held in this museum.

• Nam Bo Women's Museum

Location: Nam Bo Women's Museum is located on No.202 Vo Thi Sau Street, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City.
Characteristic: The Nam Bo Women's Museum is opened in 1985 as a center for educational and cultural activities, traditional meetings, scientific seminars and cultural exchanges for women.
This building once belonged to Nguyen Ngoc Loan, Director of the General Police Department under the former Saigon government. In 1984, it was turned into the Traditional House of Nam Bo Women. Later, another four-storey building was added and the whole complex became the Nam Bo Women's Museum.
The 2,000m² display areas of the museum is divided into 10 rooms, each showing the tradition of national construction and defense of Nam Bo Women. A 500-seat meeting hall, a movie theatre, a library and a boutique are also included in the complex. The museum aims to preserve and highlight the fine traditions of women.

• Phung Son Pagoda

Location: Phung Son Pagoda is located at 1408 Duong 3 Thang 2, District 11, Ho Chi Minh City.
Characteristic: Phung Son Pagoda was established in the early 19th century by Bonze Lieu Thong. Since then, it has undergone two major restorations. Many statues found in the pagoda were created by a group of craftsmen from Sa Dec.
Many years ago, it was decided that it should be moved to a different location. All of the ritual objects were loaded on to the back of a white elephant for transportation. On the way to the new site, the elephant slipped and all of the precious objects fell into a nearby pond. This event was interpreted as a sign that the pagoda should remain at its original location. All of the ritual objects were retrieved, except the bell, which locals say was heard ringing whenever there was a new or full moon up until a century ago.
A number of valuable statues, such as Di Da Tam Ton, Ngu Hien Thuong Ky Thu, a stone statue of Buddha covered with gold leaves, and a ceramic statue of Tieu Dien are also found in the pagoda. The surrounding area is an archaeological site from which many artifacts were excavated, such as a baked earthen head statues and ceramic items belonging to the Oc-Eo culture. The Ministry of Culture has recognized the pagoda as a historical and cultural relic. People pray three times a day from 4 to 5 am, 4 to 5 pm, and 6 to 7 pm.

• Revolutionary Museum

Location: Revolutionary Museum is located on No.65 Ly Tu Trong Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
Characteristic: The Revolutionary Museum used to be enlisted as the Governor of Nam Ky’s residence.
The construction of the museum started in 1885 and was completed in 1890 under the design of French architect Alfred Foulhoux. Following that, the building became the residence of Japanese Governor Minoda. It was also the office of the Nam Bo Provisional Administrative Committee (1945) and of the Republic of France High Commissioner. The building was later reconverted into the residence of the Governor of Nam Ky. Until August 1978, the building was finally turned into the Ho Chi Minh City Revolutionary Museum.
The museum displays items related to the invasion of Vietnam by French colonialists, the founding of the Vietnam Communist Party, the anti-French resistance in Saigon-Gia Dinh (1945 to 1954), the anti-American movement, the national resistance of Saigon-Gia Dinh and the Ho Chi Minh Campaign.

• Thong Nhat Conference Hall

Location: Thong Nhat Conference Hall is located on No.106 Nguyen Du Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
Characteristic: Thong Nhat Conference Hall, also called Reunification Hall or Presidential Palace, was built in 1865 on the grounds of Norodom Palace as a residence for the French Governor General of Cochinchina.
After 1954, Ngo Dinh Diem and his family lived in the Norodom Palace. In February 1963, a dissident launched an air bombardment and heavily damaged it. Diem rebuilt the palace, which was later replaced by another one, called the Independence Palace. It was designed by Western-trained architect Ngo Viet Thu. The construction was undertaken by Saigon engineers and was completed in 1966.
The five-story building consists of 100 rooms and chambers decorated with the finest modern Vietnamese arts and crafts. The ground floor room has a boat-shaped table that was often used for conferences. Upstairs, a room called Phu Dau Rong was where Nguyen Van Thieu received foreign delegations. The residential quarters are in the back of the building. On the third floor, there is a card-playing room. This floor also possesses a terrace with a heliport where a helicopter is parked. The fourth floor was used for dancing, and even had a casino. The most interesting part of the building is probably the basement containing a network of tunnels, a telecommunication centre, and a war room.
At 11h30 on 30 April 1975, the palace was overrun by Liberation Army tanks. Duong Van Minh, who was president at that time, together with his 45-member cabinet, surrendered unconditionally. After the liberation of Saigon, the Independence Palace was turned into the Headquarters of the Municipal Military Administrative Committee. In December 1975, the palace welcomed a conference for national reunification. To mark the historical significance of the event, the building was renamed Thong Nhat Conference Hall (Reunification Conference Hall).

• Ton Duc Thang Museum

Location: Ton Duc Thang Museum is located on No.5 Ton Duc Thang Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
Characteristic: The Ton Duc Thang Museum was established on the occasion of the late President Ton Duc Thang's centennial birthday anniversary (August 20th, 1988).
It was established in the former residence of Tran Thien Khiem, Premier of the Saigon government prior to 1975. The exhibits are a lively reflection of the life and cause of President Ton Duc Thang. The museum has more than 600 items, documents and photos relating to the life of the later president, who is remembered as a great patriot and model fighter. President was the only Vietnamese who participated in the anti-war activities on a French warship on the Black Sea in 1917; these activities supported the success of the world's first proletarian revolution, the Russian October Revolution. He replaced President Ho Chi Minh in 1969.

• Tran Hung Dao Temple

Location: Tran Hung Dao Temple is at 36 Vo Thi Sau Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
Characteristics: It was first erected in 1932 as a Buddhist pagoda bearing the name of Van An. In 1958, it was entirely rebuilt, featuring the architecture seen today, forming a T-shape with two-piled up roofs and eight curved corners adorned with dragon and phoenix figures.
It is styled after northern Vietnamese temples and communal houses. Inside, there are many horizontal and vertical lacquered boards, as well as carved and meticulously inlaid incense tables. On the wall, there are pictures of Tran Hung Dao as he chased away Kublai Khan’s Mongol aggressors in the 13th century.
The greatest ceremonies at the temple occur over the New Year and on the 20th day of the eighth lunar month to celebrate Tran Hung Dao. The temple is open daily from 6 to 11am and from 2 to 6 pm.

• Van Hanh Monastery

Location: Van Hanh Monastery is situated near the road between Phu Nhuan and Go Vap Districts.
Characteristic: It includes the imposing Tam Quan (three-entrance gate), the main court hall, Vietnam Buddhism Higher College office, the Institute of Buddhism Research office and the Translation Council of Vietnam Prayer Books office.
Van Hanh Monastery regularly welcomes international Buddhist delegations and other foreign visitors. Devotees from all over the country come to this monastery to celebrate Buddha’s birthday and to take part in preaching sessions.

• Vietnam History Museum

Location: Vietnam History Museum is located on No. 2 Nguyen Binh Khiem Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
Characteristic: Through the different exhibits that can be seen, the museum portrays Vietnam’s history from ancient times (approximately 300,000 years ago) up to the 1930s, when Vietnam’s Communist Party was founded.
The History Museum in Ho Chi Minh City was built in 1929 and was called "Musée Blanchard de la Bosse". Until 1956, it was renamed Saigon National Museum, and finally in 1975, after some renovations, the museum was expanded and became the Ho Chi Minh City History Museum.
The museum’s exhibits are divided according to the following topics:
- Rise of the Hung Kings
- Fight for Independence (1st-10th centuries)
- Ly Dynasty (11th-13th centuries)
- Tran Dynasty (13th-14th centuries)

Ho Chi Minh Airlines  

Air France

130 Dong Khoi, District 1

Tel : 84.8.829 0981/2

Fax : 84.8.823 0190

Aeroflot

4H Le Loi, District 1

Tel : 84.8.829 3489 / Fax : 84.8.829 0076

Asiana Airlines

141-143 Ham Nghi, District 1

Tel : 84.8.822 2663 / Fax : 84.8.822 2710

British Airways

58 Dong Khoi, District 1

Tel : 84.8.829 1288 / Fax : 84.8.823 0030

Cathay Pacific Airways

58 Dong Khoi, District 1

Tel : 84.8.822 3203 / Fax : 84.8.825 8276

China Airlines

132-134 Dong Khoi, District 1

Tel : 84.8.825 1388 / 825 1389

Fax : 84.8.825 1390

China Southern Ailines

52B Pham Hong Thai, District 1

Tel : 84.8.829 1172 / 829 8417

Fax : 84.8.829 6800

Emirates Airlines

5B Ton Duc Thang, District 1

Tel : 84.8.822 8000 / Fax : 84.8.822 8080

EVA Air

32 Ngo Duc Ke, District 1

Tel : 84.8.822 4488 / Fax : 84.8.822 3567

Garuda Indonesia

132-134 Dong Khoi, District 1

Tel : 84.8.829 3644 / 829 3645

Fax : 84.8.829 3688

Japan Airlines

143 Nguyen Van Troi, Phu Nhuan District

Tel : 84.8.824 4462 / Fax : 84.8.842 1289

KLIM Royal Dutch

Ground Floor, Saigon Riverside Office

Building, 2A-4A Ton Duc Thang, District 1

Tel : 84.8.823 1990 / 823 1991

Fax : 84.8.823 1989

Korean Airlines

65 Le Loi, District 1

Tel : 84.8.824 2878 / Fax : 84.8.824 2877

Lauda Air

9 Dong Khoi, District 1

Tel : 84.8.829 7117 / Fax : 84.8.829 5832

Lufthansa

132-134 Dong Khoi, District 1

Tel : 84.8.829 8529/49

Fax : 84.8.829 8537

Malaysia Airl

132-134 Dong Khoi, District 1

Tel : 84.8.829 8529

Fax : 84.8.824 2884

Pacific Airlines<