If you've visited Ho Chi Minh City during the past 3 decades, there's a fair chance you'll have run off a souvenir shot with the statue of Ho Chi Minh, that graced this small, downtown park in front of the French colonial era City Hall - known since 1975 as the People's Committee Building. The statue was removed in 2014 to make way for a bigger and better Ho Chi Minh statue to be unveiled on April 30 to mark the 40th anniversary of the "fall" or "liberation" of Saigon - depending on which side you were on. Labourers are hard at work along the central Nguyen Hue boulevard putting the final touches on a new pedestrian strip over which the enlarged 6 metre Ho Chi Minh statue will preside. Decorations, parade rehearsals and street closures suggest the government is planning big things for this anniversary. Take note if you're planning to be in Saigon in the week before, or the days immediately after April 30.
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