A name that appeared from the newly formed period of Saigon - Gia Dinh - Cho Lon land, now Ho Chi Minh City, has been reused in the "arrangement of the country's mountain goose".
Cho Lon is a secretive area, with people's lives and trading taking place on every street, from dawn to late night. Life here has a very unique and characteristic flavor, imbued with the character of the Saigon people since the establishment of wards and hamlets.
The outer edge of Cho Lon is the Tau Hu canal, which is over 200 years old, which is a vital traffic and trade channel of Ho Chi Minh City with the provinces in the Southwest. This place has a famous Binh Dong wharf that has created an interesting "on-the-ship wharf" identity of the Tau Hu - Ben Nghe river.
In parallel with the Tau Hu canal, which has now been "petrified" with a beautiful "landscape", is the spacious and spacious Vo Van Kiet Avenue. From here, follow roads such as Hai Thuong Lan Ong with rows of ancient houses with French architectural style on both sides or Chau Van Liem Street, always filled with the strong aroma of medicine, we will enter Cho Lon ward.
The streets in Cho Lon ward are very small, running parallel to the length, forming a chessboard, which at first appeared quite messy but was actually very easy to travel if you could grasp the rules. That is the performance space for the bustling and bustling commercial scene here.
With an area of 1.67km2 and a population of 85,066 people, the main way of life in Cho Lon ward is business, not office workers or administrative agencies. On the streets and sidewalks, there is always a lot of traffic and commercial activities at all levels, from merchant baskets to stalls.
Although Cho Lon ward now does not have famous markets such as Hoa Binh market on Bach Van street (now in An Dong ward), or Binh Tay market (now in Binh Tay ward), the name Cho Lon is enough to ensure the "market" of this ward, with the famous Soai Kinh Lam fabric street, Phung Hung market that has existed for a century, Hoc Lac area with hundreds of shops...
Even the old residential areas that are decades old are still tired of the pace of life of the hammer market. The walls that have been colored by time and decorated with ceramic tiles are still displayed on trading signs in all languages of Vietnamese, Chinese, and English.
Even in small alleys that seem to be only silent, the street vendors are still tired of sneaking into the end to bring a quiet material life on a basket of cars or a pair of light trucks. A small piece of common land is enough space for a convenience store, a bowl of stewed goods shop, and a huge army car.
Therefore, the entire Cho Lon ward is a very large market. That spirit was built 300 years ago, and it still exists strongly despite changes in times, places and administrative management levels. Previously, there was a Big Market and now a Big Market is being reborn, just a name with the land still the same, the people still the same and the sky above the same.
Therefore, when standing at the Phung Hung - Nguyen Trai intersection, holding a glass of ginseng water in hand for only 12,000 VND, I still fully enjoy the wonderful flavor of the drink brewed and served on a basket placed on the sidewalk.
Nearby is Phung Hung market, where Ba Lu coffee shop is famous for its "cocoa warehouse" tricks to create rich coffee. However, every time I come to this area, I have to find a ginseng truck to enjoy the refreshing taste of the drink and the vibrant atmosphere of the sidewalk.
Last time, when my Saigon brother came here to drink ginseng, this was Phung Hung Street, Ward 14, District 5. Now there is a ginseng truck on Phung Hung sidewalk, Cho Lon ward. The old address on the ginseng juice truck has not yet been peeled off and replaced, but, it's okay, the flavor of a glass of ginseng juice is still the same as yesterday, the same as last month, the same as 40 years ago.
For the ginseng juice car owner, all changes on the outside are normal, all but a coincidence. His job is to pay attention to how to keep the flavor of ginseng, sugarcane, chrysanthemum - seaweed unchanged, still suit the taste of customers sitting on motorbikes coming and complaining about a glass of water to drink right on the motorbike, then paying the money and then suddenly going away like a storm.
With just a glass of ginseng juice, we can see many constant values. 40 years ago, many people like my younger brother drank this glass of ginseng juice here. That glass of ginseng juice was mixed and served by a gentle Chinese uncle.
Now, it is still that "uy", that ginseng juice truck, those familiar customers, that refreshing, refreshing, refreshing flavor. What the changes are in the price, from a few thousand dong to a few thousand dong, and the address where the "uncle" places the ginseng.
But whether it is District 5 or Cho Lon Ward, the sky above the ginseng truck that I am comfortable enjoying is still the sky of Cho Lon, of Ho Chi Minh City, of Vietnam. That is an eternal value.
It is a good thing that the place name Cho Lon has been administratively changed, because this is a very good name, imbued with the personalities of the residents who appeared in this land 300 years ago, who took the saying "the rich are ungrateful" as the head. That name also has great historical and geographical significance for the whole Saigon - Gia Dinh and Saigon - Cho Lon regions. And now it is Cho Lon ward, Ho Chi Minh City.
