Formerly, this city was the capital of Republic of Vietnam. Saigon was called "the
Pearl of the Far East" or "
Paris in the Orient". In 1976, upon the establishment of the unified
communist Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the city of Saigon (including Cholon), the province of Gia Ðịnh and two suburban districts of two other nearby provinces were combined to create Hồ Chí Minh City in honour of the late communist leader. Now, Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Sai Gon, is very cosmopolitan. Here in HCMC, you can find a lot of communities such as the Chinese one in
Cho Lon area, the working-classes near the industrial zones, the upper class in District
7, to name but a few.
You call those things
happiness", the Vietnamese said, "then you two still
don't understand life at all. Imagine this. You are sleeping soundly at night in Saigon. Then suddenly you loud voices of the friends, 'man, wake up and open the door!'. Awaked with curiosity, you rush out and open the door. Right there, your pals ask you to join them and drink at a pavement diner over
night.