Home to Chinese traders and merchants for more than three centuries, Cholon, which means big market, has long been one of Ho Chi Minh City’s most vibrant commercial centers. Also known as District 5, its markets are always busy and brimming with a wide range of specialty shops selling everything from silks, spices, and medicinal herbs to hats, jade curios, and ceramics. With much of the city’s vast ethnic Chinese or Hoa community concentrated here, Cholon is a religious hub and home to several Chinese-style pagodas and temples. These striking buildings are concentrated on and around Cholon’s main street, Nguyen Trai, which runs through the heart of the area. The narrow streets of this bustling district are best traversed on foot.

Phuoc An Hoi Quan Pagoda

The Fujian community built this pagoda in 1902, dedicating it to Quan Cong. The ancient spears displayed before the main altar represent the cardinal virtues.

Quan Am Pagoda

The only temple complex in the city bisected by a street, this pagoda, also known as Ong Lang, has a colorful façade and an exquisitely detailed ceramic-tiled roof

Thien Hau Pagoda

Perhaps the most outstanding feature of this pagoda is the finely carved frieze along its roof, depicting detailed scenes from Chinese legends

Nghia An Hoi Quan Pagoda

Lavishly decorated in red and gold, and embellished with elaborate woodwork, the main altar of Nghia An Hoi Quan is dedicated to Quan Cong, a revered Nguyen lord

Cholon Mosque

Built in the early 1930s, this unassuming little mosque has a serene charm. Its modest and simple architecture is in contrast to the ornate pagodas in the area.

Tam Son Hoi Quan Pagoda

Dedicated to Me Sanh, the Goddess of Fertility, this 19th-century pagoda is colorfully deco rated, with a number of shrines to various deities. Me Sanh’s image graces a small altar at the back of the pagoda, and is worshipped by women hoping to conceive.