This HCMC's District 5 aka Cholon, originally a suburb of Saigon proper (though still connected by Nguyen Trai street) and the center of Chinese merchant life. As such, the name 'Cho lon' literally means 'big market'.
For much of the 20th century the district had something of a checkered past, gaining a reputation for shady casinos, brothels, and opium dens frequented by sailors and foreign pleasure-seekers and other unsavory characters.
After Reunification the Vietnamese government moved to nationalize most of the businesses, including those controlled by the Chinese community. This eventually led to the Chinese invasion of Vietnam in 1989, partly in response to the alleged persecution of the Hoa Chinese and also in retaliation to the Vietnamese for toppling the Khmer Rouge.
Nowadays Cho lon isn't terribly distinct from the rest of the city. Sure, they have alot of pagodas and narrow, winding streets - but so does practically every other place in town.
2 comments:
Is this from our trip or have you been back since? Dad
Foreign Pleasure? Yes please...
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