Cho Lon Heritage Tour Images

link :http://www.historicvietnam.com/saigon-and-cholon-heritage-tours/cho-lon-heritage-tour-images/

The Arc-en-Ciel Hotel, starting point of the tour (photo by Samuel Maruta)

A colonial-era photograph of rue de Canton (now Triệu Quang Phục street), heart of the original Minh Hương settlement and later home to a large Cantonese community

The Minh Hương Gia Thạnh Communal House, ancestral temple of the original Minh Hương settlement

In 1992, the exterior of 7 Phú Định was used by French filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud as a location for The Lover (Fox Pathé Europa, France)

A traditional medicine wholesale outlet on Lương Nhữ Học street (originally rue Lareynière, later rue Rieunier)

Today’s busy Hải Thượng Lãn Ông boulevard – originally the westernmost stretch of the Bình Dương River and later the Chợ Lớn Creek – was only created in 1925

Hải Thượng Lãn Ông boulevard is now the focus of the traditional medicine quarter in Chợ Lớn (photo by Samuel Maruta)

Another colonial-era view of the Chợ Lớn Creek, now Hải Thượng Lãn Ông boulevard

Colonial shophouse architecture on Hải Thượng Lãn Ông boulevard

The winding lanes near the Bến Nghé Creek specialise in motor boat engine parts (photo by Samuel Maruta)

In the 1860s the French relocated the city market to the site of the current Post Office, where it remained until the construction of the new Bình Tây Market in 1928-1930

Châu Văn Liêm street began life as the Phố Xếp Canal, which was dug in 1778 to connect the river with the original market in the north of the town

Châu Văn Liêm street in the 1950s

The Nhị Phủ Temple was established by settlers from Fujian Province in the 18th century

Before 1975 the area around the Kim Biên Market was the focus of wealthy and influential Minh Hương oil manufacturer Trương Văn Bền’s Xà bông (Savon) Việt Nam business empire

The Canal Bonard, pictured in the 1950s

Fading colonial architecture on what used to be the Canal Bonard wharf (photo by Samuel Maruta)

The rarely-visited Nghĩa Nhuận Assembly Hall of the Minh Hương community, which contains some of the most beautiful artworks in Hồ Chí Minh City (photo by Samuel Maruta)

The first Bình Tây Market was built in the early 1880s

The current Bình Tây Market, built in 1928-1930

Francisco Xavier (Father Tam) Church, built in 1900-1902

A plaque records what happened to South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm and his younger brother and adviser Ngô Đình Nhu after they came to pray in the church during the November 1963 coup

The Sài Gòn-Mỹ Tho railway line once ran down the centre of boulevard Charles-Thomson, now Hồng Bàng boulevard

The colourful Phước An Assembly Hall of the influential Minh Hương community boasts no fewer than four plaques commemorating visits by high-ranking colonial officials (photo by Samuel Maruta)

The intriguing Tam Sơn (Fúzhōu) Assembly Hall once stood right next door to the lost Pagode des Sept Congregations and now contains two of its former shrines