Saigon City - Pearl of the Far East Being the biggest tourism centre of Vietnam, Sai Gon is 1,730km south of Hanoi, and about 60km from the coast. Saigon (official name known as Ho Chi Minh city or HCM city) is the centre of commerce, finance, culture and tourism in Vietnam. The city is famous for its bustling metropolis crowded with bikes, motorbikes, numerous shopping areas and streets lined with nice restaurants and sidewalk cafes. Saigon is a combination of neo-classical and international style architecture. Its old streets give a vaguely French atmosphere, other section are obviously American as there is a small American city which still retains many US-era buildings. Saigon is now on the way to regain its heyday when it was known as important trading centre for Chinese, Japanese, and Western merchants and was then praised as the Pearl of the Far East. This process can be seen by ever-fast changing life of the city in which the number of large hotels and office buildings as well as other businesses is multiplying. However, Saigon still has much more to offer with pagodas and temples such as Giaclam Pagoda built from 1744, Giacvien pagoda founded about 200 years ago. In the heart of the city, Notre Dame Cathedral, built between 1877 and 1883 is one of the famous French-era churches around Saigon. Tan Son Nhat International Airport, only 7km from the centre of the city, is the biggest airport in Vietnam. Sai Gon also constitutes the cultural centre of the South and the Mekong Delta.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 13:16:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015