As we have pretty much covered the sights in Ho Chi Minh City, which are mainly located in District 1, we tried to look for sights outside of District 1. At the time of my planning, I chanced upon the rich Chinese Culture in District 5.
Temple Hopping in District 5 – Into the Spiritual Culture
District 5 is where the Chinese immigrants from yesteryears settled down and called this part of Ho Chi Minh City home. There weren’t many sights in District 5, other than several significant Chinese temples and a market that is similar to that in District 1. After visiting the temple, as we were making our way to Binh Tay Market, we noticed District 5 seemed to be a wholesale centre. The interesting thing is that there seems to be some form of organisation of the shops in District 1. We noticed that shops selling the same or similar things tend to be grouped in the same cluster, creating a street that only sells clothes, and yet another with all the shops selling scissors.
Thien Hau Pagoda – The Anchor of Chinese Culture
We took a Grab from our hotel to our first stop of the day, Thien Hau Pagoda in Chinatown. Built around 1760, Thien Hau Pagoda is one of the oldest and most historically significant Chinese temples in the city. Almost all original building materials, including the ornate ceramic tiles, reliefs, and incense burners, were imported directly from China. Thien Hau Pagoda is dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea – Mazu. The Chinese believed the Goddess protected them when they traversed the seas. The age of the temple is inscribed on its facade in its exposed red brick dressing and the roof that is marinated with time. The temple is topped with intricate carvings of Chinese mythological characters and animals that are typical of a Chinese temple. Thien Hau Pagoda is a relatively smaller temple with one main hall and an open courtyard in the centre of the temple. A deity sits on each side of the wall after its main entrance. In the centre of the courtyard lies a furnace and a large incense burner. The furnace was believed to have originated from China when the temple was built. From here, we could see more intricate carvings of deities and Chinese mythical animals crowding on the rooftop. In the centre hall sits the deity of the temple – Mazu, dressed in red and elaborately gold-ornamented garments that devotees probably donated. Behind the main hall, the two small side halls worship Guan Gong and the God of Fortune. As Thien Hau Pagoda was not large in size, we left after offering our prayers.
Quam Am Pagoda – The Red and Yellow Temple
Our next sight in District 5, Quam Am Pagoda, is a 7-minute walk from Thien Hau Pagoda. Decked in a bright red facade, Quam Am Pagoda look newer than Thien Hau Pagoda. But don’t be fooled by the newer facade; Quam Am Pagoda is 20 years older than Thien Hau Pagoda. Built in 1740, it served as a gathering place for the Chinese immigrants to discuss public affairs, help one another, worship gods, and meet their spiritual and cultural demands. Quam Am Pagoda is a bigger temple compared to Thien Hau Pagoda. The interior of this temple looks brighter thanks to its open concept on the sides of the temple that lets a lot of natural light in. The bright red and yellow seen in its facade is also used throughout the temple, contributing to the brightness, together with the LED lights used. In the centre of the front hall is the Goddess of Mercy statue with a more solemn expression. There is a bigger back hall with lots of deities installed along its parameters, where we saw locals coming to pray. The biggest statue is the other Goddess of Mercy with a benevolent expression, and shares the same wall as the one in the front hall. Like the locals, we offered our prayers to the gods in Quam Am Pagoda.
Binh Tay Market – The Chinese Market
Binh Tay Market is our last stop in District 5, about 10 minutes on foot from Quam Am Pagoda. Along the way, we walked past many shops and realised that most of the shops selling similar items seem to congregate on the same street. Playfully, as we walked past shops selling packaging items, we named the street “Packing Street”, and the one that consists of shops selling toys as “Children Street”. These are, of course, not the official names of these streets, but just us having fun when walking along the street. Other than Quam Am Pagoda, the rest of District 5 seems quiet. Perhaps today was Vesak Day, a day that celebrates the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha, explaining why more locals are gathering inside the Buddhist temple.
While District 1 has Ben Thanh market, mainly catering to tourists, District 5 has Binh Tay market, which mainly caters to the locals. Binh Tay market is one of the oldest markets in Vietnam, having been around since 1930. Dressed in beige colour, the main building has Chinese elements like dragons and porcelain, topped with Chinese-style roofs. Other than the stalls in the front that see more human traffic flow, the inside of the market is dead, with sparse people shopping and only a handful of shops on the ground floor open for business. However, we noticed the stalls in the surrounding extension of the market seem to have more locals shopping for their daily needs. Seeing there is nothing much we can do here, we got a Grab and went back to our hotel to rest a little and offload the shopping that my friends bought.
Back to District 1 – Relaxing Shopping Time
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and shopping in District 1. One of the things that we came to know before visiting Ho Chi Minh City is its famous hair spa. The Vietnamese hair spa is famed for its deep scalp cleansing, followed by a hydrotherapy (a semi-circular gadget that the masseuse uses to apply warm water over our hair like a waterfall). Numerous wellness centres in District 1 offer this service. Before starting the session, the therapist used a microscopic device to show the status of our scalp and promised that our scalp would be clean after the treatment (we did not get the post-treatment scalp scan). The session was relaxing, but I thought hydrotherapy was rather gimmicky. Nonetheless, we had a relaxing time as these packages usually come with a head, neck and shoulder massage. After our hair spa treatment, we walked to the Saigon Centre to do some shopping. There are numerous shops, from luxury to sports brands, in this huge building. However, the supermarket here seems a tad more upmarket and caters mainly for foreigners. Subsequently, we headed to the Winmart (local Vietnamese supermarket) in Vincom Centre, just a 5-minute walk from Saigon Centre. We found Winmart to be a better place to stock up on Vietnamese snacks, as it is better stocked and the prices are lower. We returned to our hotel after some shopping and ordered our dinner via GrabFood.
Thoughts on Ho Chi Minh City
I thought there were very limited attractions in Ho Chi Minh City, mainly situated in District 1, which we managed to visit within one afternoon. Having said that, these attractions are located near each other, making it very easy to see them within a short period of time. For those who like to experience the hustle and bustle of the city, cafe hopping, or body wellness massages, Ho Chi Minh City would be a great destination. The city is famed for its many Koi Cafes, where one would literally sit in a sunken pod with koi swimming around them. These Koi Cafes are located a little further from the city centre, but with the affordable cab fare, they are easily reachable. I also thought the cost of the wellness massages was rather affordable, and the quality is good. History buffs or people who want to understand the unification history of the country or the Vietnam War would find this city interesting, with the War Relic Museum and the Independence Palace. However, for those of us who wanted to see more than the city would find it disappointing. There was nothing much nearby to visit, other than Ba Den Mountains and Cu Chi Tunnel. Unlike Hanoi, which has the scenic Halong Bay, Sapa, Ninh Binh, or Danang with Ba Na Mountains, Monkey Hill, and the historic Hue and Hoi An, which make perfect day trips that could extend the trip for additional days. I reckon a three-day trip to Ho Chi Minh City would be sufficient.
