Cholon

Cholon (堤岸) is historically the Chinese area of Ho Chi Minh City. The settlement was founded in 1778 by Hoa refugees fleeing the Tây Sơn wars, who built embankments against the river floods and established tight-knit communities based on their Chinese provinces of origin.

Cholon was incorporated as a separate city in 1879 and merged with neighboring Saigon in 1931. Under French rule, the Chinese community dominated regional commerce, controlling the majority of wholesale and export-import trade. Prior to the 2025 administrative reorganization, the area roughly corresponded to the western part of District 5 and fragments of District 6 and District 11.