Chinese Visa in Saigon

What is the history behind the closure of the HCMC consulate closing?  Did it close during the oil derrick incident a few years ago?  I was living in Vietnam then but I don't recall the closure being part of that crisis.  It's not like China has no money to keep it open.

For your immediate situation, I would suggest that you buy your airline tickets from a mainline travel agency like Vietravel and let them handle the visa too.  Be prepared, however, to surrender your passport for a few days while it is parceled back and forth to the Chinese embassy in Hanoi.

175 Hai Bà Trưng, phường 6, Hồ Chí Minh, phường 6 Quận 3 Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam. Thats where my wife got her chinese Visa, she travel to China more than 4 times every year for business and she got a visa from there with no problem.

Interesting.  The old one was on Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai in the general area where most of the consulates are located?  Is this the official consulate or a kind "interest office" as they are sometimes called.