Until fairly recently, Chợ Lớn was its own city, long inhabited by người Hoa who carved out an economic hub along the banks of the Saigon River over 200 years ago.

The community's economic prowess filled the neighborhood with stately colonial and modernist architecture. Carefully crafted shophouses, in particular, stand out and thankfully many of the buildings survive to this day, allowing us to gaze upon the architectural gems as we will walk the streets of Chợ Lớn.

While we will focus on buildings, we will also engage with some of the neighborhood's unique human stories including a visit to one of the city's oldest coffee shops where the family has been roasting beans for over 70 years.

The tour continues with a stop at the University of Medicine — a modernist masterpiece — before ending at Thiên Hậu Pagoda, one of Saigon's oldest buildings.