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Cho lon is the name of the Chinese district
of Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon), the largest such Chinatown district in
Vietnam. It lies on the West bank of the Saigon River, having Binh Tay Market as
its central market. Cho Lon spans across, and consists of, Districts 5 & 6 of Ho
Chi Minh City. Quan Am Pagoda, a famous Chinese temple in Cho Lon
The Vietnamese name Cho Lon literally means "big" (lớn) "market" (chợ). The
Chinese name (and original name) of Cho Lon is 堤岸 (pronounced Tai-Ngon in
Cantonese and Dī 'àn in Mandarin), which means "embankment" (French: quais). The
Vietnamese reading of the Chinese name is Đê Ngạn, but this is rarely used.
Vietnamese speakers exclusively use the name Chợ Lớn, while Chinese speakers
(both inside Vietnam and in China) are the only users of the latter. In 1778,
the Hoa (Chinese minority of Vietnam) living in Bien Hoa had to take refuge in
what is now Cho Lon because they were retaliated against by the Tay Son forces
for their support of the Nguyen lords. In 1782, they were again massacred by the
Tay Son and had to rebuild. They built high embankments against the flows of the
river, and called their new settlement Tai-Ngon (meaning "embankment" in
Cantonese). Incorporated in 1879 as a city 11 km from Saigon, it had expanded
and became coterminous with Saigon by the 1930s. On April 27, 1931, the two
cities were merged to form Saigon-Cho Lon by the French colonial government. By
1956, the name Cho Lon was dropped from the city name and the city was known
primarily as Saigon. During the Vietnam War, soldiers and deserters from the
United States Army maintained a thriving black market at Cho Lon, trading in
various American and especially U.S Army-issue items. Today, Cho Lon especially
attracts many Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese tourists. This place is also known
as a scenario of Marguerite Duras's autobiographical novel The Lover (1984),
where the young French girl makes love for the first time with her Chinese
lover.
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