The Big City

Ho Chi Min City aka Saigon

By Francisco Morais

March 9^th, 2018

Saigon - The big city

Ho Chi Minh City — still called Saigon by most locals — is Vietnam’s largest metropolis, a place where history and modernity collide at full speed. The first impression is the heat and the traffic: a constant flow of motorbikes, horns, and neon lights that never seems to pause. With more than 8.5 million people, the city is a financial hub of Southeast Asia, but also a stage where the country’s past and future play out side by side..

Evenings belong to the streets. Food stalls line the sidewalks with bowls of hủ tiếu and plates of cơm tấm, while bia hơi corners fill with laughter and conversation. The energy is different from Hanoi: faster, louder, more expansive. Saigon doesn’t invite you to slow down — it pulls you into its current, asking you to keep pace with its constant reinvention.

Before it was Saigon, the area was known as Prey Nokor, a Khmer fishing village annexed by the Vietnamese in the 17th century. Under French rule, it became the capital of Cochinchina, and later, from 1955 to 1975, the capital of South Vietnam. After reunification, the city was renamed in honor of Hồ Chí Minh, though “Saigon” remains the name most often spoken in daily life. This layered history is visible everywhere: colonial boulevards, war-era landmarks, and the rapid rise of glass towers that now dominate the skyline.

Walking through the city, you move between contrasts. The Notre-Dame Cathedral and Central Post Office stand as reminders of French Indochina, while the Reunification Palace and War Remnants Museum recall the turbulence of the 20th century. Just a few blocks away, street markets overflow with fruit, incense, and motorbike parts, while rooftop bars look out over a skyline that grows taller every year. The city is restless, ambitious, and unapologetically alive.