Formerly Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam’s largest metropolis (with a population of 9 million) and the country’s business and financial center. Though glass towers now line the wide French boulevards, the city still retains a certain Gallic elegance: The Opera House, the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon and a stylish French Colonial post office (adorned with dignified busts of philosophes) recall the age and spirit of Indochine. No visit is complete without a stroll along Dong Khoi Street (formerly the stylish Rue Catinat), a shopping thoroughfare that is regaining its past élan.