Chợ Lá»Ân (, ), usually anglicized as "Cholon" in English sources, is a quarter of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It lies on the west bank of the Saigon River, having Bình Tây Market as its central market. Chợ Lá»Ân consists of the western half of District 5 as well as several adjoining neighborhoods in District 6 and District 11, the extended area of Chợ Lá»Ân is included part of District 8 (along the Tàu Hủ Canal), District 10 in older time and wards of An Lạc, Bình Trá» ÃÂông of Bình Tân district in modern time. The quarter has long been inhabited by Chinese people and is considered the largest Chinatown in the world by area.
The Vietnamese name Chợ Lá»Ân literally means "big" (lá»Ân) "market" (chợ). The Chinese (and original) name is (In Cantonese, , Yale romanization: Tàihngohn), which is occasionally rendered in Vietnamese orthography as Thầy Ngòn or Thì Ngòn, and in Mandarin, Dë'àn), which means "embankment" (French: quais). The Sino-Vietnamese reading of the Chinese name is ÃÂê Ngạn, but this is rarely used. Vietnamese speakers exclusively use the name Chợ Lá»Ân, while Chinese speakers (both inside Vietnam and in China) are the only users of the original Chinese name.
The city of Chợ Lá»Ân was established by the Hoa community. The Lê dynasty which was the ruling family in the sixteenth century began to decline in power and two rival families, the Trá»Ânh and Nguyá» n families began to vie for power to fill in the void of the Lê. The Nguyá» n lords were then appointed as Viceroy of the South with headquarters at Huế where they encouraged Chinese immigration to settle down into the area.
In 1778, Hoa people living in Biên Hòa (mostly in City Isle; Cù lao Phá» of Hiá»Âp Hòa ward nowadays) had to take refuge in what is now Chợ Lá»Ân because they were retaliated against by the Tây Sán forces for their support of the Nguyá» n lords. In 1782, more than 10,000 Hoa people were again massacred by the Tây Sán and had to rebuild. They built high embankments against the flows of the river and called their new settlement Tai-Ngon (ÃÂê ngạn; meaning "embankment" in Cantonese).
Chợ Lá»Ân was incorporated as a city in 1879, from Saigon. By the 1930s, it had expanded to the city limit of Saigon. On April 27, 1931, Chợ Lá»Ân and the neighboring city of Saigon were merged to form a single city called SaigonâÂÂCholon. The official name, however, never entered everyday vernacular and the city continued to be referred to as Saigon. "Cholon" was dropped from the city's official name in 1956, after Vietnam gained independence from France in 1955.
During the Vietnam War, soldiers and deserters from the United States Army maintained a thriving black market at Chợ Lá»Ân, trading in various American and especially U.S. Army-issue items. This was the area, near the Quan ÃÂm Pagoda where photojournalist Eddie Adams took his famous execution photograph. Four Australian journalists were also killed in Chợ Lá»Ân during the Tet Offensive in 1968.
Today, Chợ Lá»Ân attracts many tourists, especially mainland Chinese and Taiwanese.
book contains many situations and photos in Cholon (in German)