A display of postcards and pictures featuring images of old Saigon a century ago has opened in Ho Chi Minh City.

The ‘Saigon through Old Postcard and Photos” exhibition, organized by the Xua va Nay (Then and Now) Magazine, showcases 116 old pictures and postcards depicting the architecture, culture and lifestyle of Saigon’s past.

The images have been assembled from various sources including the collection of the Ecole Francaise d’Extreme-Orient at the Library of the Vietnamese Institute of Information for Social Sciences, the vaults of the National Archives, as well as private contributions and books and periodicals published in the early 20th century.

The exhibition has brought back old Saigon and the history of southern Vietnam’s greatest city. Old shots of common contemporary sights such as Ben Thanh Market, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the municipal theatre, the Grand and the Majestic hotels, Nha Rong Port, and the city Post Office reveal that while HCMC has an ever changing face, some pieces of history do remain.

The exhibition also represents the old-fashioned lifestyles of traditional Saigonese that are slowly fading away, such as images of a tea vendor, a women on a rickshaw going to the market, a Vietnamese-Chinese marriage ceremony, and an art troupe.

The ten-day exhibition is due to run until May 8 at Xua va Nay Magazine’s office, 181 De Tham Street, Pham Ngu Lao Ward, District 1.