In Saigon, people answered the name is Saigon, but most of them also accept HCMC. A few locals answered, the only name is Saigon, and HCMC is the name given by the North Vietnamese, winners of the war.
Saigon is the former name of the biggest city in Vietnam - now called "Ho Chi Minh City." There's history about it being anti-communist along with the rest of South Vietnam but then it became communist when the South was overtaken by the north and became one whole communist state.
Old people tend to used Saigon to talk about a specific location in Ho Chi Minh City, like where it used to be Saigon before city and districts expand. Ho Chi Minh City used to be smaller.
Saigon is loads more fun and international and delivers much better versions of the Viet food that was exported abroad. Hanoi is the cultural and political capital with a lot of quasi-old stuff to see but ultimately doesn't have all that much to do for tourists. From Hanoi you can easily reach Ninh Binh which you really should however.
District 1 (D1) is located in the heart of the city and is the financial hub of Saigon. Its central location makes it ideal and convenient to travel to the other districts in the city.
I know that Saigon was the previous name before being renamed to Ho Chi Minh City after the Vietnam war. My mother, born in the south of Vietnam, and some of my relatives in Vietnam refer to the city as Saigon. But officially and by Vietnam nationalist, they refused to refer to it as Saigon due to the historical context of that name.
I use "Saigon" in casual conversation and "Ho Chi Minh City" in all formal communications or during interviews or while speaking to someone in office. On envelopes it's TP.HCM which is short and easy.
Saigon today is very similar to any modern large Asian city, so it basically has everything, but it also doesn't feel as unique or "Vietnamese" as Hanoi. Hanoi is nice to visit, and the streets/architecture are beautiful.
Hi, I am currently travelling in Vietnam with my girlfriend and want to end our trip with a nice fine dining experience in Saigon. I saw that just recently Saigon has one 1-michelin star restaurant called Anan Saigon however the reviews on Google got me thinking twice. What is a fine dining restaurant that you would recommend to me? Archived post.
