For Everybody

Ben Thanh market has long been one of Saigon's most famous landmark. The market has been in existence since the French occupation. The original market was located on the shores of Ben Nghe river by old fort Gia Dinh. Its proximity to the fort and the river where merchants and soldiers would land was reason for its name (Ben meaning pier or port and Thanh meaning fort). In 1859, when the French invaded Saigon and overtook fort Gia Dinh, Ben Thanh Market was destroyed. It was rebuilt shortly thereafter and remained standing until it was moved to its present location in 1899.

Built on a landfill of what was once a swamp named Bo Ret (Marais Boresse), the new Ben Thanh Market is located in the center of the city. Under the French government, the area around Ben Thanh Market was called Cu Nhac circle (Rond point Cuniac), named after Mr. Cuniac, the person who proposed filling the swamp to create this area. The area was later renamed Cong truong Dien Hong.

  On February 27, 1868, Lagrandiere, French Governor in South Vietnam, laid the foundation stone on the ground of 12 hectares in the center of Saigon City to build the Indochina Governor Palace called Norodom Palace.

   The palace was built according to the classical Western architecture mixed some romatic features of the 18^th century and was  inaugurated in 1871.

   On May 7, 1954, being defeated in the Dien Bien Phu campaign, the French had to sign the Geneva Agreement and withdrew from Vietnam. After that, the Americans tried to implement their intention of invading the South. Vietnam was temporarily divided into two regions: North Vietnamwas Democractic Republic of Vietnam was the Republic of Vietnam.

    On September 7, 1954, Norodom Palace was handed over by the representative of the French government Lieutenant-General Paul Ely, and that of the Saigon authorities, to Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem, who decided to change its name to Independence Palace. Since then, Independence Palace became the residence of Ngo Dinh Diem’s family and a place where several political events happened.

     On February 27, 1962, two pilots of the coup d’etat group who belonged to the Saigon Army, Nguyen Van Cu and Pham Phu Quoc were flying two AD6 war planes. They bombed and completely destroyed the left wing of Independence Palace. Ngo Dinh Diem ordered the demolition of the former palace and the building of a new palace on the same site. It was designed by the architect Ngo Viet Thu who won the Roman Grand Prize. Ngo Viet Thu harmoniously combined modern architecture and traditional architecture. The overall façade of the building is made as to express CAT have meaning good future. The center of the Palace is Credentials Presenting Room, the top floor is “Tu Phuong Vo Su Lau” (The floor of Peaceful Cardinal Points) with the character KHAU in order to highlight education and freedom. The Chinese character KHAU with a flagpole in the middle  like a vertical strait, forms the character TRUNG (center). The 4^th floor called four directions tower was not used for receptions or entertainment. It is reserved only for the Head of State to set his mind at ease when deciding the fate of the country. The horizontal lines created by the eave of the Floor of Four Cardinal Points., the balcony of honor and eave over the entrance to the vestibule form the character TAM, symbolizing three aspects of democracy “Viet nhan, Viet minh, Viet vo” (humanity, wisdom, blodness). The three horizontallines are linked with a vertical line and form the character VUONG (king) flag tower above forms the character CHU (sovereignty) symbolizing the independence of the country. The façade of the palace, the balconies of the 2^nd and 3^rd floor, the eave over the main entrance, and two pillars covered with wood under the eave, form the character HUNG (prosperity), symbolizing the country’s hope for prosperity.

  The architectural beauty of the palace is embodied in the flower stone curtain being shapes of bamboo joints surrounding the second floor. It not only increases the beauty of the palace but also admits sunlight from the East.

     The useable surface area of Independence is 20.000m2 . it includes a basement, ground floor, 3 main floors, 2 mezzanines and 1 terrace with 95 rooms with different decorations. Materials for construction includes 12.000m3 of concrete, 200m3 of precious wood, 2.000m2 glass for doors and windows and 4.000lights of all kinds. Besides the purpose of making the foundation  functional, the architect also created the harmony between the structure and nature in the garden of 12 hectares.

    President oh the Republic of Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem, decided to rebuild the Palace on July 1^st 1962. However, he was assassinated on November 2^nd 1963 by coup d’ etat. The chairman of the inauguration ceremony day on October 31^st 1966 were Lieutenant – General Nguyen Van Thieu (Chairman of the National Leadership of Committee) and Major – General Nguyen Cao Ky (Chairman of the Central Executive Committee). From that time, the Independence Palace was a central organ of the Saigon Administration, where president Nguyen Van Thieu made many policies against the Vietnamese people.

      But significant events happened.

     On April 30, 1975, the 1^st tank of Liberation Army No.390 crashed through the main gate of Independence Palace. At 11:30am, Lieuternant Bui Quang Than, Company Chief commanding tank No.843 lowered the three – striped flag of the Saigon govement and hoisted the flag of Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Vietnam. It ended the arduous and heroic 30 years’ war of the Vietnam people under leadership of the Vietnamese Communist Party and carrying out the wish of of Presidence Ho Chi Minh: the people of North and South regions were reunited.

     In November 1975, the Political Consultative Conference for the national reunification was held in here. Since then, Independence Palace has become the Reunification Meeting – hall. Nowadays, Independence Palace is used for many functions: Government’s meetings, receptions of Heads of State and national cultural historical relic where many domestic and foreign visitors pay to visit to.

    How ever been you come to Vietnam? I want to invite everybody come to visitc my country have many landscape, cultural, histprical relic,… It’s very nice… i’ll talk to you about my country everyday!

                Wish everybody have a good time!

Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, and Cambodia to the southwest. On the country's east coast lies the South China Sea. With a population of over 85 million, Vietnam is the 13th most populous country in the world.

Vietnam is divided into 59 provinces. There are also 5 centrally-controlled municipalities existing at the same level as provinces.

The provinces are further subdivided into provincial municipalities, townships and counties, and then, subdivided into towns or communes.

The centrally-controlled municipalities are subdivided into distrists and counties, and then, subdivided into wards. And have many landscape in Vietnam.

In these, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon, i live in this place) is special place.

SAIGON

Like many cities in Vietnam, Saigon did not escape the wrath of war. Since the beginning, Saigon has had quite a traumatic history. There are many citations to the birth of Saigon and the origin of its name. In the 15th century, this area were swamps, marshes and thick forests. By the early 17th century, a small township was formed. According to one theory, Saigon or Sai Con has its root in a Khmer word Prei Kor (Kapok Tree Forest).
           The name Saigon was used officially in 1698, when Lord Nguyen Phuc Chu sent Mr. Nguyen Huu Canh to this region to create various districts and to form a government for this southern outpost. Because of its strategic location for trade and commerce as well as military importance, Saigon continued to grow and became a bonafide city. By 1772, Mr. Nguyen Cuu Dam began to fill many of the canals to form streets.

In the mid 19th century, the French with the aid of the Spanish invaded this port city and destroyed the fort. This event was the precursor to the long struggle between the people of Vietnam and France leading to the historical defeat of the French in 1954. In the years after the defeat of the French, Vietnam was divided into two separate countries and Saigon became the hub of resettlement for many as people from north and central Vietnam immigrated south.

In the 60's and 70's, Saigon was bustling with commerce and business. It was the cultural center and the capital city of South Vietnam. Already heavily influenced by the French in terms of culture and style, the city had an air of a French provincial town with a Vietnamese twist. Saigon was dubbed the "Pearl of the Orient" by the foreign press. The city was alive with activities and cultural diversity that rivaled any Asian city at the time.

After the fall of South Vietnam to communism in 1975, the city and many of its inhabitants were in a state of chaos and turmoil. In 1976, the new government renamed the city Ho Chi Minh City and shut its door to the rest of the world. Although recognized world wide as Ho Chi Minh City, to the people of Vietnam, the city is still lovingly referred to as Saigon.