Striking modern architecture and the eerie feeling you gel as you walk through its deserted halls make Reunification Palace (Nguyen Du Str) one of the most fascinating sights in HCMC. The building, once the symbol of the South Vietnamese government, is preserved almost as it was on that day in April 1975 when the Republic of Vietnam, which hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese and 58,183 Americans had died trying to save, ceased to exist. Some recent additions include a statue of Ho Chi Minh and a viewing room where you can watch a video about Vietnamese history in a variety of languages. The national anthem is played at the end of the tape and you are expected to stand up - it would be rude not to.

It was towards this building - then known as Independence Palace or the Presidential Palace - that the first communist tanks to arrive in Saigon charged on the morning of 30 April 1975. After crashing through the wrought-iron gates - in a dramatic scene recorded by photo journalists and shown around the world - a soldier ran into the building and up the stairs to unfurl a VC flag from the 4th-floor balcony.

The stunning Sino-French-style building that houses the History Museum ( Nguyen Binh Khiem Str) was built in 1929 by the Societe des Etudes Indochinoises. It's worth a visit just to view the architecture! The museum has an excellent collection of artefacts illustrating the evolution of the cultures of Vietnam, from the Bronze Age Dong Son civilisation (13th century BC to 1st century AD) and the Oc-Eo (Funan) civilisation (1st to 6th centuries AD), to the Cham, Khmer and Vietnamese. 

Built in 1909 by the Cantonese (Quang Dong) Congregation, the Jade Emperor Pagoda (73 Mai Thi Luu Str) is truly a gem among Chinese temples. It is one of the most spectacularly colourful pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City, filled with statues of phantasmal divinities and grotesque heroes. The pungent smoke of burning joss sticks fills the air, obscuring the exquisite woodcarvings decorated with gilded Chinese characters. The roof is covered with elaborate tile work. The statues, which represent characters from both the Buddhist and Taoist traditions, are made of reinforced papier-mache. The pagoda is dedicated to the Emperor of Jade, the supreme Taoist god

Famed as the repository of a sacred relic of the Buddha, Xa Loi Pagoda ( 89 Ba Huyen Thanh Quan Str) was built in 1956. In August 1963 truckloads of armed men under the command of President Ngo Dinh Diem's brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, attacked Xa Loi Pagoda, which had become a centre of opposition to the Diem government. The pagoda was ransacked and 400 monks and nuns, including the country's 80-year-old Buddhist patriarch, were arrested. This raid and others elsewhere helped solidify opposition among Buddhists to the Diem regime, a crucial factor in the US decision to support the coup against Diem. This pagoda was also the site of several self-immolations by monks protesting against the Diem regime and the American War. Women enter the main hall of Xa Loi Pagoda by the staircase on the right as you come in the gate; men use the stairs on the left. The walls of the sanctuary are adorned with paintings depicting the Buddha's life.

This small temple (36 VoThi Sau Str) is dedicated to Tran Hung Dao, a national hero who in 1287 vanquished an invasion force, said to have numbered 300,000 men, that had been dispatched by the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan.