in Hanoi

Street Photos in 1973 Capture a Rebuilding Hanoi After Linebacker II

In this collection of black-and-white photos taken by German photographer Horst Faas, Hanoi's streets seem bursting with life, but lurking behind innocent smiling children and packed tram rides are the undeniable remnants of an ongoing war.

in Saigon

A Brief History of Cung Văn Hóa Lao Động and Saigon's First Swimming Pool

Once a fashionable rendezvous for the elite of colonial society, the Labour Culture Palace ( Cung Văn hoá Lao động ) ...

Paul Christiansen

in Vietnam

In Bình Định, a Museum Retells Nguyễn Huệ's Glorious Life via Vivid Murals

About 45 kilometers from downtown Quy Nhơn stands the Quang Trung Museum (Bảo tàng Quang Trung), one of Vietnam’s finest museums.

in Vietnam

Quy Nhơn's Rustic Coastal Charms in the 1960s via Vintage Photos

Saigoneer makes no attempts to hide our love for Quy Nhơn.

in Hanoi

The Rich History Behind One of Hanoi's 2 Remaining Chinese Guild Halls

With the changing gears of history, at times even the oldest layers of a thousand-year-old town must evolve to house new meanings.

in Vietnam

The History of Hanoi's Lost Tramway Network

When they first drew up plans for a citywide tramway network in 1894, it seemed as though the Hanoi authorities would follow Saigon’s example by opting for steam traction. Yet, by the time government approval was forthcoming in 1899, advances in technology made it possible to construct the entire system as a state-of-the-art, one-meter gauge electric tramway.

Back Heritage

in Hanoi

Street Photos in 1973 Capture a Rebuilding Hanoi After Linebacker II

In this collection of black-and-white photos taken by German photographer Horst Faas, Hanoi's streets seem bursting with life, but lurking behind innocent smiling children and packed tram rides are th...

in Saigon

A Brief History of Cung Văn Hóa Lao Động and Saigon's First Swimming Pool

Once a fashionable rendezvous for the elite of colonial society, the Labour Culture Palace (Cung Văn hoá Lao động) at 55B Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai is today one of Hồ Chí Minh City’s most popular spor...

Paul Christiansen

in Vietnam

In Bình Định, a Museum Retells Nguyễn Huệ's Glorious Life via Vivid Murals

About 45 kilometers from downtown Quy Nhơn stands the Quang Trung Museum (Bảo tàng Quang Trung), one of Vietnam’s finest museums.

in Vietnam

Quy Nhơn's Rustic Coastal Charms in the 1960s via Vintage Photos

Saigoneer makes no attempts to hide our love for Quy Nhơn.

in Hanoi

The Rich History Behind One of Hanoi's 2 Remaining Chinese Guild Halls

With the changing gears of history, at times even the oldest layers of a thousand-year-old town must evolve to house new meanings.

in Vietnam

The History of Hanoi's Lost Tramway Network

When they first drew up plans for a citywide tramway network in 1894, it seemed as though the Hanoi authorities would follow Saigon’s example by opting for steam traction. Yet, by the time government ...

in Vietnam

Wander Through the Streets of the Old Quarter in 1995 Hanoi

What do you miss most about the 1990s?

in Saigon

Tân Định Market, D1's Nearly 100-Year-Old Trading Hub

Originally known as the marché de Phu-Hoa, Tân Định Market at 1 Nguyễn Hữu Cầu in District 1 is one of the city’s most historic markets, but it was the opening of the stylish French market building of...

in Saigon

From Vauban Citadel to Modernist Icon: The History of Turtle Lake

The area of Công Trường Quốc Tế and Turtle Lake (Hồ Con Rùa) has been through many changes both in design and function throughout the history of Saigon. First, it housed a gate for a Nguyễn-dynasty ci...

in Saigon

How Nhà Thờ Tân Định, Saigon's Iconic Pink Church, Came to Be

You just have to mention the “pink church” and everyone knows which one you mean. But few are aware that the building in question — Tân Định Church — is one of Saigon’s oldest and most important Roman...

in Saigon

From Swampland to Heartland: The History of Bến Thành Market

From the very first discussions in 1868 regarding a new marketplace for Saigon, it was not until 1914, that Bến Thành Market became a reality. The birth of the market was like a dream come true, one t...

in Saigon

A Brief History of District 1's Collège d’Adran, Saigon's Oldest School

Driving past the Saigon Zoological and Botanical Garden toward Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh Street, many of us might not notice the presence of Võ Trường Toản Secondary School and Trưng Vương High School. The two ...

in Saigon

The Story of Quách Đàm, the Man Who Shaped Modern Chợ Lớn — Part 2

By the 1920s, the old Bình Tây Market and much of the surrounding land had belonged to Quách Đàm, so he proposed to the colonial authorities the demolition of the existing building and the constructio...

in Saigon

The Story of Quách Đàm, the Man Who Shaped Modern Chợ Lớn — Part 1

Hải Thượng Lãn Ông Boulevard (the former quai Gaudot) in central Chợ Lớn preserves several elegant old colonial shophouse buildings, but perhaps the most interesting of all is the one at No. 45, once ...

in Saigon

It's (Almost) Always Sunny in Saigon: A Glimpse Into Street Fashion in the Early 1970s

You can deduce a lot from a photo.

in Hanoi

Once Home to Hanoi's Greatest Tailors, Làng Cựu Is Fading Into History

Làng Cựu, a village about 40 kilometers south of Hanoi, houses nearly 50 mansions that showcase the best of French and Sino-Vietnamese architecture from the turn of the century. It was built with the ...

in Vietnam

From North to South, Glimpses of Street Life in Vietnam in the Early 1990s

If there’s a thing this writer remembers distinctly about the early 1990s, it would be nothing, because I was barely a person that could eat and survive by myself.

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 Saigon

Hidden in the Heart of D5, an Architectural Vestige of 1970s Vietnam-Korea History

For years now, the verdant pine green pavilion in the heart of Hòa Bình Park in District 5 has been a familiar landmark for denizens of Chợ Lớn.

in Vietnam

On the Tourist Trail Across Vietnam in 1996

In 1996, it had been one year since Vietnam officially joined ASEAN, the first legitimate volume of Doraemon was released, and some of us at Saigoneer were actually alive.