Former capital of the French colony of Cochinchina and later of the independent republic of South Vietnam, Saigon is officially called Ho Chi Minh City (after Hồ Chí Minh, the late North Vietnamese leader) for nearly 30 years, ie since 1976, but the old name is more often used than the new one not only in everyday speech, but also by the authorities. A good example is that on the postmark write Saigon, no Ho Chi Minh. Moreover, the inhabitants of the city weren't named ever otherwise than Saigonese. It seems that in this case, either the mercantilism, or the desire to preserve the tradition defeated the ideology.
Located in the downtown, near Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, the city's main church, Saigon Central Post Office was constructed when Vietnam was part of French Indochina in the early 20th century. Designed and constructed (between 1886 and 1891) by the famous architect Gustave Eiffel in Neoclassical style, the building is in harmony with the surrounding area. Entering in the Post Office you are faced with a large portrait of Ho Chi Minh and along the side wall there are old French colonial maps, the first of which titled "Lignes telegraphiques du Sud Vietnam et Cambodge 1936" translating to "Telegraphic lines of Southern Vietnam and Cambodia 1892". The second is titled "Saigon et ses environs 1892", translating to "Saigon and its environment 1892".
About the stamps I wrote here.
References
Saigon Central Post Office - Wikipedia
Saigon Central Post Office Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam Travel Guy
sender: Cătălin Frolov
sent from Ho Chi Minh City (Southeast Region / Vietnam), on 01.04.2013
photo: Hoang Duc Thu
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