Cholon, Ho Chi Minh City
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Cholon (Vietnamese: quoc ngu ; chu nom Missing image
Cholon.png
) is the name of the Chinese district of Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon), the largest such Chinatown district in Vietnam. The Vietnamese name Cholon literally means "big" () "market" (). The Chinese name (and original name) of Cholon is 堤岸 (pronounced Tai-Ngon in Cantonese and in Mandarin), which means "embankment" (French: quais). The Vietnamese reading of the Chinese name is , but this is rarely used. Vietnamese speakers almost only use the name , while Chinese speakers (both inside Vietnam and in China) almost only use the name 堤岸.
In 1778, the Hoa (Chinese minority of Vietnam) living in Bien Hoa had to take refuge in what is now Cholon because they were retaliated by the Tay Son forces for their support of the Nguyen lords. In 1782, they were again massacred by the Tay Son and had to rebuild. They built high embankments against the flows of the river, and called their new settlement "Tai-Ngon" in Cantonese, which means "embankment".