in Vietnam

French Illustrated Encyclopedia Paints the Slices of Vietnam Life in the 1900s

"To effectively govern colonial peoples, the foremost requirement is a thorough understanding of the very people one rules over," so believed Paul Doumer, the second Governor-General of French Indochina, who spent his career imposing the imperial French government's agenda on studying the culture of their colonized subjects.

in Saigon

Portrait of a Jubilant Saigon on the Precipice of Tết in 1992

Tết in 1992 was an especially fortuitous time to be a foreign arrival to Saigon. 

in Vietnam

In 1992 Vietnam, the Streets Were Brimming With Love and Life

How has your life been transformed in the past 30 years? Changes might materialize overnight, but some tend to creep up on you at a glacial pace. Through this collection of images from 1992, mull over how Vietnam as a country has grown with every 12-month cycle.

in Vietnam

Vintage French Book Illustrations Depict a Quaint Indochina in 1903

In this rare collection of images from 1903 Indochina, life in the peninsula appears as if in a dream, with rows of colonial-style houses in between heritage trees and natural landscapes that weren’t interrupted by concrete.

Paul Christiansen

in Saigon

Did You Know That There's a Mummy on Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm Boulevard?

Why is there a mummy on display in Saigon?

Brian Letwin

in Heritage

Tàu Cánh Ngầm: The Curious Case of Saigon’s Lost Soviet Hydrofoils

Not long ago, hulking “creatures” glided atop the waters between Saigon and Vũng Tàu. Like the dinosaurs that came before them, they slowly disappeared, until all that was left were their skeletons.

in Saigon

Relive Your Memories of Saigon Water Park via These Photos by One of Its Makers

Although water parks involve a combination of two of the most tedious human experiences, standing in lines and prolonged direct sun exposure, the now-demolished Saigon Water Park was an icon of 2000s Saigon that remains a crucial cornerstone of many city dwellers' memories.

in Vietnam

The Vintage Charm of 1995 Vietnam on Kodachrome Film Slides

While editing a retrospective of my recent work from Vietnam in the summer of 2019, I discovered 50 yellow boxes of Kodachrome slides in my basement that were shot in 1995. The images were from my first trip to Vietnam.

Back Heritage

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

Old Saigon Picture of the Day: Crossroads

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

Old Saigon Picture of the Day: Art Deco

When the French occupied Vietnam, they brought many elements of their home country with them. Even today, from architecture to food, the colonial footprint can still be seen. At the height of French ...

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

Old Saigon Picture of the Day

When Saigon was the city of bikes.

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

12 Old Pictures of Saigon Canals

Canals used to serve as the Saigon's main commercial highway, connecting the city to the Saigon river and in turn the web of rivers that traverse Vietnam. Before the construction of large urban marke...

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

Slideshow: Saigon Past and Present in a Single Image

As we've seen in our slideshows of old pictures, while Saigon is rapidly changing, some things and places stay the same. And what better way to illustrate this change than by overlaying the old with t...

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

Slideshow: 12 Old Pictures of Advertisements in Saigon

Before 1975, large advertisements were commonplace in Saigon. But after the American War and the fall of capitalism in the South, ads were considered a vestige of the old order and were heavily regula...

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

[Video] What Saigon's Streets Looked Like in 1993

Last week we saw some pictures of Hanoi from the mid-90s. Today, we're treated with a video which shows Saigon street life in 1993 captured by Dung Hua. As with all the old Saigon pictures and videos...

Brian Letwin

in Vietnam

Street Signs - Ton Duc Thang

In our last addition of “Street Signs,” we took a look at Nguyen Thi Minh Khia. Today, we’ll tackle the name of one of Saigon’s oldest streets, Ton Duc Thang. Ton Duc Thang was born in 1888 in An Gia...

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

11 Old Pictures of People in Saigon

We spend a lot of time writing about old buildings and changes to Saigon's skyline, but today, we take a closer look at the people of past Saigon. The clothing and hair styles may seem a bit antiquat...

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

The Oldest House in Saigon

While Saigon houses many wonderful examples of colonial architecture, there are few buildings standing that predate the 1880s. After all, the city isn’t particularly old, having been a fishing village...

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

8 Old Pictures of Saigon's Canals

Saigon has long been a city of canals; even Nguyen Hue Street used to be one.  But today, as the city's infrastructure continues to prioritize roads, many canals have ceased to function as comme...

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

8 Old Pictures of Cars in Saigon

Bentleys, BMWs and Mercedes are all over Saigon these days. Though cars have been present in the country since the turn of the 20th century, decades of war (1941 – 1975) and an economic stagnation (19...

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

7 Old Pictures of Saigon Street Vendors

The buildings and streets of Saigon can change in the blink of an eye. Gone are the streetcars, French street names and ox-drawn carts. As the economy continues to develop, the old Saigon is being rep...

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

Can Saigon Preserve its Historical Architecture?

The Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Committee has launched a program aimed at preserving the city's architectural gems. Unfortunately, the focus is on the city's famous buildings rather than sites that ar...

in Saigon

Saigon’s Citadel - Part 1

Hue was neither the first nor only Vietnamese city to house a citadel. Built in the late 18th century, a few years before its counterpart in Hue, the citadel in Saigon proved to be the key to Vietname...

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

The Remarkable Tale of Ben Thanh Market

Large markets have been the cornerstone of many Vietnamese neighborhoods for over a century. When Saigon was still a collection of small towns, central markets acted as vital commerce centers where lo...

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

Nifty Old Map of Saigon

For history nerds like us, there's little better than an old map of Saigon. So here's an old map of Saigon, French street names and all. We're guessing it's from the late 1940s. View the fu...

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

A Look Back at Saigon's Streetcars

As Saigon eagerly awaits its first metro line, we look back at the city's original rail-based transportation - streetcars.

Brian Letwin

in Vietnam

Gangsters of Old Saigon: Binh Xuyen

In the final days of French occupation, the struggle for power in Vietnam, and Saigon in particular, was a free-for-all. As French control waned and the influence of Communism was identified as the “s...

Brian Letwin

in Saigon

Old Vietnamese Sports Center in District 5

Here’s another gem from the Tumblr blog, Old Saigon: "This house is located on Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street, District 5. It is used as a sports and gymnastics center in District 5 for all kinds of popul...