Cholon guide: Saigon's Chinatown temples, Binh Tay Market and food

Where Cholon is, and whether to sleep there

Cholon is not a neighbourhood with a gate or a clear edge. It spreads across what the city has long called Districts 5 and 6, with Chinese restaurants and family businesses reaching into Districts 10 and 11 as well. The temple strip on Nguyen Trai Street sits in District 5; Binh Tay Market, about seven kilometres southwest of the city centre, is further west in District 6. Plan it as two clusters joined by one short ride rather than a single walk.

Most first-time visitors are better off sleeping in District 1, where the national tourism site's own hotel list is concentrated, and coming out for half a day. Staying in Cholon pays off for travellers who want to be in the temples soon after they open, eat breakfast dumplings among locals and avoid the evening ride back. The same official list includes large hotels in District 5, on Tran Binh Trong and An Duong Vuong, so a Cholon base is a real option rather than a compromise.

The assembly halls on Nguyen Trai Street

The temples of Cholon are mostly hoi quan, assembly halls built by merchants from one region of southern China as a place to worship, meet and lodge. Vietnamese call many of them chùa (pagoda), which is why the same building often has two or three names. Start with Tue Thanh Assembly Hall, better known as Thien Hau Temple or Ba Thien Hau Pagoda, at 710 Nguyen Trai Street. It was founded by Cantonese traders who arrived in the 1760s and dedicated it to Thien Hau, the sea goddess who protected them on the voyage. Look up at the ceramic roof figures added in 1908, then at the brick reliefs in the courtyard and the incense hung high above the floor, each offering carrying a visitor's written wishes.

A short walk along the same street, at 676–678 Nguyen Trai, Nghia An Assembly Hall (Ong Pagoda, or Quan De Shrine) was built in the 19th century by Chaozhou and Hakka migrants and is dedicated to the red-faced general Quan Cong (Guan Yu). Beside the altar stands his red horse; after the Lunar New Year, local families crouch beneath it for luck. The hall was listed as a national architectural and artistic relic in 1993.

These are working places of worship, not museums. Dress modestly, keep your voice down, do not step in front of people praying and ask before photographing anyone at an altar. Lunar New Year, full-moon days and Thien Hau's festival on the 23rd day of the third lunar month bring crowds, lion dance troupes and a lot of incense smoke; come on an ordinary weekday morning if you want to look at the carving in peace. We could not find official opening hours or admission rules for these halls, so check on arrival.

Binh Tay Market and the streets around it

Binh Tay Market was built in 1928 with money from Quach Dam, a Chinese rice trader whose statue still stands inside, and it is the landmark most people mean by Cholon. The building is laid out around a central courtyard under a clock tower, in a plan that reflects the eight-trigram bagua motif. It closed in November 2016 for a two-year restoration and reopened on 15 November 2018 with around 1,500 stalls, newly painted interiors, new wiring and fire-safety equipment.

This is first a wholesale market. The stalls sell textiles, clothing, cosmetics, packaged goods and Chinese-style delicacies, with some souvenirs, but this has long been the busiest wholesale market in the city, so expect sacks being carried and deals being done more than browsing. Walk the courtyard and the outer corridors, keep out of the way of porters, and look for packaged delicacies if you want something to take home.

City authorities have discussed a pedestrian night street on the four streets around the market to grow the evening economy; we could not confirm whether it is running now, so do not plan an evening around it. The national tourism site describes Cholon simply as an area that is "great for exploring on foot", and the streets between the market and Nguyen Trai, including the rows of old Chinese shophouses on Hai Thuong Lan Ong, are the best argument for walking at least part of the way.

Getting there and getting around

From District 1, a taxi or ride-hailing car is the simplest way to reach either cluster. The national tourism site recommends Vinasun and Mai Linh as trusted taxi companies, and notes that ride-hailing apps such as Grab work once you have a Vietnamese SIM card. Ask for Thien Hau Temple (Chùa Bà Thiên Hậu, Nguyễn Trãi) or Binh Tay Market (Chợ Bình Tây) by their Vietnamese names; show the written name if the driver hesitates.

Between the temples and the market, a car ride is short; walking takes longer in the heat but passes through shophouse streets you would otherwise miss. A sensible order is temples first, while the halls are calm, then the market, then food. Local buses cover much of the city, and a private hop-on hop-off route links District 1 with Districts 5 and 6, stopping at Thien Hau, Nghia An, Cha Tam Church, the Cho Lon Mosque and Binh Tay Market; check the operator's current route and ticket before relying on it.

Traffic in Cholon is dense. Cross streets slowly and steadily, carry water, and treat a shophouse café as part of the visit rather than wasted time.

A half-day or evening plan

This is an editorial suggestion, not a timetable. Opening times for the temples were not published on an official page we could read.

• Late morning: Thien Hau Temple on Nguyen Trai, then Nghia An Assembly Hall a short walk away.
• Lunch: wonton noodles, hu tieu or a plate of steamed buns and chive cakes in the streets nearby.
• Early afternoon: a ride to Binh Tay Market; walk the courtyard and the surrounding lanes.
• Evening (optional): stay on for a Hoa dinner — tam tinh hotpot, roast meats or dim sum — before a taxi back to District 1.
• Lunar New Year: expect crowds and lion dance troupes at the halls; leave more time for everything.

What to combine it with

Cholon pairs naturally with a District 1 morning of the cathedral, post office and Ben Thanh Market, but not with Cu Chi or the Mekong Delta on the same day: both are long trips out of the city and deserve their own day. If Hoa food is the point of your trip, pair Cholon with a separate evening for the city's broader street food, from banh mi to banh xeo and com tam.

If you are heading on to the Mekong Delta and Can Tho, Cholon makes a good last afternoon in the city before you leave: it needs no early start, and it ends naturally with dinner. Keep the delta itself for days of its own.