Cho Ben Thanh Market . However give yourself more time to stop into galleries or buy a classic piece of communist propaganda along the way . The hundreds of stalls at Cho Ben Thanh offer a mix of traditional culture and tourist kitsch . You can sit with the locals and sip a solid jolt of Vietnamese coffee then move on to shopping for touristy T-shirts and `` authentic chopsticks '' . Many of the stalls feature signs saying the prices are fixed . But if you 're prepared to drive a hard bargain , or buy in bulk , that idea can be amended . It 's also worth a return trip later on in the evening when the market closes and street side restaurants spring up , offering great meals at cheap prices . If you 're looking to get away from the strip of Western hotels in the city center , hail a cab and head over to Cholon , or Ho Chi Minh City 's Chinatown . In the late 18th century , this enclave was actually a separate city from old Saigon but the two were united in the early 1930 's . Today Cholon
HO CHI MINH CITY , Vietnam -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- To feel the vibrancy of Ho Chi Minh City , all you have to do is step out onto a bustling city street . Step to it : Walking through the city 's streets is the best way to see it . Negotiating the roads , chock full of motorbikes and an increasing number of cars , can be daunting . But copy the fearless locals -- they do n't break stride and never retreat -- and put your fate in the hands , or throttle , of the city 's drivers who seems masterful at avoiding each other . A good place to kick off a visit is on one of the main drags , Le Loi , a street that runs through the heart of the city . Near one end is the picturesque Opera House , as well as the majestic City Hall or `` People 's Committee Building '' -LRB- this is still a communist country of course -RRB- . You should n't have to do too much motorbike dodging down Lei Loi and after just a 15 minute stroll from City Hall is the famed