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Photo: DoktorMax, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
The oldest pagoda in town, dedicated to the Buddhist Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (known as Quan Am in Vietnamese), home of a lot of incense and a cheerful puppy. It was built by Hokkien immigrants in the traditional Hokkien architectural style.
The Ôn Lăng Assembly Hall, also known as the Quan Âm Temple (Chùa Quân Âm), is a Chinese-style Buddhist temple located on Lão Tử Street in Chợ Lớn ward, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Founded in the 19th century, it is dedicated to Guanyin, the Chinese goddess of mercy and the Chinese form of the Indian bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.
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Dedicated to Lady Thien Hau, the Chinese sea goddess (known as Mazu in Chinese), who left two giant turtles to keep an eye on things in her absence. A festival is held in her honour on the 23rd day of the March lunar month. Don't miss the gorgeous sculptures in the walls of the courtyard outside the temple. It was built by Cantonese immigrants in the traditional Cantonese architectural style.
A small museum owned by the FITO company (they produce traditional pharmaceuticals) about the history of traditional medicine in Vietnam. The rooms are filled with items ranging from ingredients to tools used to produce and prepare Vietnamese medicine. Each ticket includes an informative tour of the museum and the opportunity to sample some products. The bottom floor also has a gift shop with competitively priced and high-quality traditional remedies.
Close to the city centre. This water park offers some unique water slide experiences, including the amazing "Space Bowl". Restaurant, health services and animatronic dinosaurs are on the premises.
Chùa Giác Lâm
Built in 1744, this is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Ho Chi Minh City. On the temple grounds is a bodhi tree that was gifted by a Sri Lankan monk in the 1950s. There is also a 7-storey tall pagoda that is said to house relics of the Gautama Buddha that were gifted by the same monk that gifted the bodhi tree.
A monument dedicated to the Buddhist monk Thich Quảng Đức, who self-immolated at the site in 1963 in protest against the persecution of South Vietnam's Buddhist majority by the Roman Catholic-dominated Ngô Đình Diệm government.
Running along Phan Ngu Lao St are a number of parks which fill up with locals before sunset, after work. They play a variety of games which you can participate in: badminton, kicking a shuttlecock and women's group aerobics to music are all very popular, and are great to watch. If you sit down by yourself in the open area near the Ben Thanh market a number of young university age locals will come and ask to practice English with you, this is a great way to spend an evening and the best way to meet intelligent interesting youth, they will question you either individually or in groups and share with you a lot about their country. Beware of those men who want to introduce you to their "sister" who's working as a nurse and wants to move to your country. They will try to make you come into their home so you can reassure their parents, but will actually gamble and cheat at cards with you and/or ask you for money after telling a sad and fake story about some dying relative.