District 5 () was an urban district (quận) of Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. The district notably accounted for a significant population of Chinese people in Vietnam; hence its territorial extent still comprises a majority of Chợ Lớn quarter today.
As of 2010, District 5 had a population of 174,154 people, and covered an area of 4.27 km2. District 5 was bordered by District 10 & District 11 to the north, District 8 to the south, District 1 & District 4 to the east, and District 6 to the west.
Administrative divisions Immediately prior to its dissolution, the district was divided into 10 wards (phường), numbered: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14.
History
The history of District 5 is deeply associated with the founding and development of the Chợ Lớn area, as well as the more than 300-year long history of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).
Feudal era In 1623, Lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên (also known as Chúa Sãi / "Lord Sãi") established the "Prey Nokor tax post" (also referred to as the Sài Gòn tax post) in modern-day District 5. As such, the name "Saigon" — in the strictest sense — is said to have originally referred to District 5’s Chợ Lớn area (alongside District 1's Bến Nghé).http://gslhcm.org.vn/libol/attach/doc/doc20070509SDPP.pdf
In 1820, the area was part of Tân Lông district, Tân Bình prefecture, Phiên An township. By 1836, Tân Lông district eventually became a constituent division of Gia Định province, which had been established 3 years prior.
Under French rule
On the 6th of June, 1865, a minuscule part of modern-day District 5 was part of the city of Chợ Lớn, which was established following a decree ratified by Pierre-Paul de La Grandière (then interim Governor of Cochinchina), on the territories of numerous villages situated in 3 cantons: Tân Phong Thượng, Tân Phong Trung, and Tân Phong Hạ – all of which were then part of the Tân Long district, Tân Bình prefecture of Gia Định province.
On the 27th of April, 1931, the French president signed a decree merging the cities of Saigon and Chợ Lớn into a new division, named the "Sài Gòn-Chợ Lớn Area" (Région Saigon - Cholon).
On the 31st of August, 1933, the French established the historic "District 5" under the Sài Gòn-Chợ Lớn Area, which then encompassed the entirety of pre-1931 Chợ Lớn City (modern-day Districts 5, 6, and 11 of Ho Chi Minh City).
On the 30th of June, 1951, the Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam signed Decree No. 311-cab/SG, renaming the "Sài Gòn - Chợ Lớn Area" to the "Sài Gòn - Chợ Lớn Capital City" (Đô thành Sài Gòn-Chợ Lớn).
Under South Vietnamese rule The administrative boundaries of District 5 prior to and after 1959 were, evidently, completely different to one another.
A series of reforms were enacted by South Vietnamese president Ngô Đình Diệm on the 27th of March, 1959 under Resolution No. 110-NV on dividing the existing 6 districts of Sài Gòn into 8 new districts, now consisting of: 1 (Nhứt), 2 (Nhì), 3, 4 (Tư), 5, 6, 7, and 8. Excluding districts 1-3, all other districts were renamed and their administrative boundaries altered accordingly.
At this point, the newly-established, post-1959 District 5's boundaries overlapped with that of the archaic, pre-1959 District 7 and District 4, north of the Tàu Hủ Channel. District 5 then had 6 wards of its own: An Đông, Chợ Quán, Trung Ương, and Minh Mạng.
In 1962, Trung Ương Ward was dissolved in favor of 5 new wards: Đồng Khánh, Hồng Bàng, Khổng Tử, Nguyễn Huỳnh Đức and Trang Tử; District 5 was now divided into 10 wards.
In 1969, parts of districts 3, 5, and 6 were divided amongst each other to form the newly-established District 10 with 4 wards; this reduced the number of wards in District 5 from 10 to 7.
Following the establishment of the final, eighth ward: Nguyễn Trải in 1974, District 5 would maintain the current number of wards until the 29th of April, 1975 (An Đông, Chợ Quán, Đồng Khánh, Hồng Bàng, Khổng Tử, Nguyễn Huỳnh Đức, Nguyễn Trãi, and Trang Tử).
From 1975 to 2025 After the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam took over "Saigon Capital City" (which they'd renamed to "Sài Gòn-Gia Định") on the 30th of April, 1975, reforms were simultaneously made across several districts whose wards had populations / sizes deemed "too little"; one of them being District 5, where wards Hồng Bàng and Khổng Tủ were merged into Nguyễn Trải and Trang Tử, respectively. This narrowed the number of wards down to 6.
On the 20th of May, 1976, however, the administrative body of Sài Gòn-Gia Định (modern-day Ho Chi Minh City) notably changed course by undergoing a second period of administrative reforms (under Resolution No. 301/UB) which lead to the dissolution of all of District 5's 6 former wards in favor of 24 new wards, numbered '1' to '24'.
On the 26th of April, 1986, under Decision No. 51-HĐBT of the Council of Ministers, District 5's 24 wards were once again rearranged to form 15, which included the following changes:
The merging of wards 19 and 20, to form 'Ward 1'. The dissolving of wards 21, 22, 23, and 24 to form wards '2', '3', and '4'. The merging of wards 17 and 18, to form 'Ward 5'. The dissolving of wards 13, 14, and 16 to form wards '6' and '7'. The dissolving of wards 11, 12, and 15 to form wards '8' and '9'. The dissolving of wards 7, 8, and 9 to form wards '10' and '11'. The dissolving of wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10 to form wards '12', '13', '14', and '15'.
On the 9th of December, 2020, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly passed Resolution No. 1111/NQ-UBTVQH14 (effective on the 1st of January, 2021), merging District 5's Ward 15 into Ward 12.
On the 14th of November, 2024, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly further passed Resolution No. 1278/NQ-UBTVQH15 (effective on the 1st of January, 2025), merging wards 3, 6, 8, and 10 into 2, 5, 7, and 11, respectively.
On the 16th of June, 2025, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly — as part of the 2025 Vietnamese administrative reforms — ratified Resolution No. 1685/NQ-UBTVQH15 (effective on the 1st of July, 2025), which was set to dissolve all district-level subdivisions (including urban districts and District 5), as well as enact the following changes locally:
(The dissolution of District 5 as a whole)
The merging of wards 5, 7, and 9 to form the newly-established An Đông ward. The merging of wards 11, 12, 13, and 14 to form the newly-established Chợ Lớn ward. The merging wards 1, 2, and 4 to form the newly-established Chợ Quán ward.
Culture & tourism
Idioms 4 notable idioms related to District 5 exist in Vietnamese literature:
"Ăn Quận 5, nằm Quận 3, xa hoa Quận 1, trấn lột Quận Tư." () "Giao thừa ra Quận Nhất, Nguyên Tiêu về Quận 5." () "Quận 5 lộng lẫy dáng hào hoa." () "Sài Gòn có ông bánh bao, Quận 5 có bà há cảo." ()
Notable cuisine / dishes
Roasted duck, more specifically Peking duck Steamed buns, more specifically multi-colored buns & Cả Cần steamed buns. Dim sum, consisting of dishes such as har gow (蝦餃; há cảo), shuijiao (水餃; sủi cảo), and wontons (雲吞; hoành thánh) "Lão Mã" salt-steamed chicken Satay venison hủ tiếu (rice noodle soup) Stir-fried Hokkien noodles Stinky tofu Steamed chicken feet, often braised with fermented soybean paste. Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Varieties of chè: black sesame chè (chè mè đen), tea egg chè (chè trứng hồng trà), papaya chè (chè đu đủ tiềm), tangyuan, almond tofu, guilinggao, Hong Kong–style milk tea, etc.
Historical and architectural sites Architecture of historical significance are prevalent across District 5, and are often religious sites / places of worship.
National relics NameAddressNotesMinh Hương Gia Thạnh Communal House (Đình Minh Hương Gia Thạnh)380 Trần Hưng Đạo, Ward 11Chợ Quán Hospital Detention Camp (Khu trại giam Bệnh viện Chợ Quán)190 Hàm Tử, Ward 1Prominent for being the place of confinement of revolutionary Trần Phú.No. 5 Châu Văn Liêm ("Uncle Hồ's House")5 Châu Văn Liêm, Ward 14Former residence of Hồ Chí Minh (also known as by his other alias, Nguyễn Tất Thành) in Saigon, prior to his journey of "setting out to find a path to national salvation" in 1911.Hà Chương Assembly Hall (Hội quán Hà Chương)802 Nguyễn Trãi, Ward 14Places of worshipLệ Châu Assembly Hall (Hội quán Lệ Châu)586 Trần Hưng Đạo, Ward 14Ôn Lăng Assembly Hall (Hội quán Ôn Lăng)12 Lão Tử, Ward 11Nghĩa An Assembly Hall (Hội quán Nghĩa An)676 Nguyễn Trãi, Ward 11Nghĩa Nhuận Assembly Hall (Hội quán Nghĩa Nhuận)27 Phan Văn Khỏe, Ward 13Nhị Phủ Assembly Hall (Hội quán Nhị Phủ)264 Hải Thượng Lãn Ông, Ward 14Quỳnh Phủ Assembly Hall (Hội quán Quỳnh Phủ)276 Trần Hưng Đạo B, Ward 11Thien Hau Temple of Cholon (Miếu Thiên Hậu)710 Nguyễn Trãi, Ward 11
City-level relics NameAddressNotesThiên Tôn Pagoda (Chùa Thiên Tôn)117/3/2 An Bình, Ward 5Tân Kiểng Pagoda (Đình Tân Kiểng)718 Trần Hưng Đạo, Ward 2Phước An Assembly Hall (Hội quán Phước An)184 Hồng Bàng, Ward 12Also known as "Minh Hương Pagoda"Lý Family Ancestral House (Từ đường họ Lý)292 Hải Thượng Lãn Ông, Ward 14Hokkien Ancestral House (Từ đường Phúc Kiến)314 Nguyễn Trãi, Ward 7Located within Nguyễn Trãi Hospital
Tourism District 5 is said to best attract tourists during celebratory events such as the Lantern Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Well-known activities among tourists in District 5 consist of: watching lion / dragon dances, martial arts performances (often performed using a variety of weapons), musical performance variety shows, directly participating in cultural practices such as releasing sky lanterns, putting fai chun, visiting religious temples / pagodas, writing traditional calligraphy, etc.
Famous landmarks NameAddressWebsiteAn Đông Market (Chợ An Đông)34–36 An Dương Vương, Ward 9Bình Tây Market (Chợ Bình Tây)57A Tháp Mười, Ward 2Kim Biên Market (Chợ Kim Biên)37 Vạn Tượng, Ward 13Văn Lang Park (Công viên Văn Lang)238 An Dương Vương, Ward 9Thăng Long Park (Công viên Thăng Long)Hải Thượng Lãn Ông St., Ward 13Windsor Plaza Hotel18 An Dương Vương, Ward 9Hải Thượng Lãn Ông Old Street(Khu phố cổ Hải Thượng Lãn Ông)Hải Thượng Lãn Ông St.Hào Sĩ Phường Alley206 Trần Hưng Đạo, Ward 11District 5 Cultural Center (Trung tâm Văn hóa Quận 5)105 Trần Hưng Đạo, Ward 5
Health
District 5 has a plethora of healthcare institutes, some of which vary in size. Name of hospitalAddressNotesAn Bình Hospital (An Bình Hospital)146 An Bình, Ward 7Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD) (Bệnh viện Bệnh Nhiệt đới)764 Võ Văn Kiệt, Ward 1Hospital for Traumatology & Orthopedics (Bệnh viện Chấn thương Chỉnh hình)929 Trần Hưng Đạo, Ward 1Chợ Rẫy Hospital (Bệnh viện Chợ Rẫy)201B Nguyễn Chí Thanh, Ward 12University of Medicine & Pharmacy Hospital (Bệnh viện Đại học Y Dược Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh)215 Hồng Bàng, Ward 11Campus 1201 Nguyễn Chí Thanh, Ward 12Campus 2Đức Khang Hospital (Bệnh viện Đức Khang)500 Ngô Gia Tự, Ward 9Gate 1129A Nguyễn Chí Thanh, Ward 9Gate 2Hùng Vương Hospital (Bệnh viện Hùng Vương)128 Hồng Bàng, Ward 12Nguyễn Trãi Hospital (Bệnh viện Nguyễn Trãi)314 Nguyễn Trãi, Ward 7Nguyễn Tri Phương Hospital (Bệnh viện Nguyễn Tri Phương)468 Nguyễn Trãi, Ward 7Phạm Ngọc Thạch (Bệnh viện Phạm Ngọc Thạch)120 Hồng Bàng, Ward 12District 5 Hospital (Bệnh viện Quận 5)642A Nguyễn Trãi, Ward 11National Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology (NHOS) (Bệnh viện Răng Hàm Mặt Trung ương Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh)201A Nguyễn Chí Thanh, Ward 12Blood Transfusion and Hermatology Hospital (BTH) (Bệnh viện Truyền máu - Huyết học Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh)118 Hồng Bàng, Ward 12
Education
Higher education
Universities & pre-universities Name of institutionAddressWebsiteNotesPre-University of Ho Chi Minh City (Trường Dự bị đại học Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh)91 Nguyễn Chí Thanh, Ward 9Hùng Vương University, Ho Chi Minh City (Trường Đại học Hùng Vương Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh)736 Nguyễn Trãi, Ward 11Main campus28–30 Ngô Quyền, Ward 5Campus 1National University – Ho Chi Minh City University of Science