Difference between HCMC and Saigon

Well, HCMC for the viets from the North, and definitely not, but still Saigon, for those from the South. Living in Vietnam, I will not enter in a discussion about the reason why ......

PS 1975 is not the defeat of the Americans (they evacuated the country in 1973), but the "liberation" of the South by the North

Dear Iarsay,
They are the same. After 1975 when the communist government ruled the country, they changed the name of Saigon and it has became Ho Chi Minh City. (same as St Petersburg used to be changed to Leningrad).

Secondly,  you could also use Saigon as an adjective to describe things related to or originated from this city such as: saigon sandwich,  saigon festivals, etc but never ho chi minh city banh mi....you will see all businesses use the word Saigon for their company's name like Saigon tourist,  Saigon pearl, Saigon water park, Saigon Beer.... And never use Ho Chi Minh. Individually, I also prefer the name Saigon.

It's shorter, in both writing and pronunciation :shrug: Even HCMC is four syllables.

In short, Saigon is preferred by those love it the old way by all mean and HCMC is preferred by those love it the new way by all mean.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_City think of it this way,would you like your home occupied by an agressive force, albiet in the name of re-unification, good idea, wrong tactics. It would be good idea to read some history, particulary about Bac Ho, very interesting man and from a poor background, honourable ideals then get a hold of some independent literature, also about the formation of communist party in Paris. Read " reminiscences of HO Chi Mnh", byThe' Gio"i publishers and the Beauty of Humanity ( fiction  based on fact ) the story of Pho

Ho Chi Minh City = Sai Gon

It's pretty simple. Saigon is for people who lost the war and HCMC is for those who won.