A city pack for the Moonlit Atlas book

Ho Chi Minh City

Saigon on one shelf: Landmark 81 over the red-brick cathedral and the lotus bud of Bitexco, with the old yellow Post Office in front and the river below. Put it in your Moonlit Atlas, press the brass button, and Ho Chi Minh City stands up under the moon.

The Moonlit Atlas book, closed: 8.1 × 6.7 × 2.5 in. With this pack, Ho Chi Minh City is what folds flat inside it. Scroll to open it at dusk, as the sky turns apricot over the river.

Press the brass button. Two torsion springs lift the lid, a gear damper keeps it slow, and three rows of the city stand up with it, upright at 90°, the crown of Landmark 81 highest of all.

Landmark 81: a bundle of blue glass shafts stepping up to a slim crown, the tallest point of the set. To its left, the red-brick cathedral rises on two square towers under gray spires.

To the right, Bitexco's tapering lotus bud with its round helipad, Ben Thanh Market's clock tower under a terracotta roof, and the long white Independence Palace behind its screen of fins.

One row down, the old heart of the city: City Hall in yellow and white with its clock tower, the cream Opera House under its great arch, the long yellow Post Office with green shutters, and a stand of tamarind trees.

On the street, narrow tube houses in mint, pink, yellow and blue stand at both ends, shops under red awnings line the pavement, a food cart waits under the trees, and scooters ride past.

At the front, the Saigon River fills the tray in blue. The white Ba Son Bridge hangs from its one tall pylon, the Dragon House Wharf wears two gold dragons on its roof, and a water bus and a sampan cross the water.

Lights out. Landmark 81's windows and crown, Bitexco's bands, the cathedral's rose window, Ben Thanh's gate, the palace, City Hall, the Opera, the Post Office, the tube houses, the bridge's lamps, the wharf and the water bus all glow, and the moon and stars come out over the river. They glow in the dark: no batteries, no wires.

The four pieces of the Ho Chi Minh City set out of the book, seen from the front right and a little above: in front, the bright blue river plate with white waves, a brown sampan with a rower in a conical hat at the left, a white water bus with a yellow band, a white cable-stayed bridge on one tall pylon and a yellow riverside house with a terracotta roof and two gold dragons on its ridge; behind it the street row, a dark road with white dashes, narrow mint, pink, yellow and blue houses at both ends, low shops under red awnings, green trees, a food cart and red and blue scooters with riders; then the middle row with a yellow hall with white trim and a clock tower, a cream theater under a dark slate roof, a long yellow building with dark green shutters and a terracotta roof and a park of trees; at the back two red-brick towers under gray spires, a very tall blue stepped tower, a tapering blue tower with pale bands and a round helipad, a cream clock tower under a terracotta roof and a long low white building with vertical fins — The four pieces of the set out of the book: the river nearest you, Landmark 81 and the cathedral at the back.

On the river

An old quarter under a glass skyline

Saigon grew up on a bend of the Saigon River, a port where boats came upriver to trade. Its old heart was built within a few minutes' walk: the red-brick cathedral, the long yellow Post Office beside it, the Opera House, City Hall at the head of a wide boulevard, and Ben Thanh Market under its clock tower. The glass towers rose a century later, first the lotus bud of Bitexco and then Landmark 81, while the narrow tube houses still put a shop on the street and a garden on the balcony. This set stands them all on one shelf, with scooters on the street and a water bus on the river.

The riverBlue water with white waves, the Ba Son Bridge on its one pylon, the Dragon House Wharf, a water bus and a sampan.
The streetTube houses in mint, pink, yellow and blue at both ends, shops under red awnings, a food cart, tamarinds and scooters.
The old quarterCity Hall, the Opera House, the Central Post Office and a stand of tamarind trees.
The skylineThe Notre-Dame Cathedral, Landmark 81, Bitexco and its helipad, Ben Thanh Market and Independence Palace.

Drag to turn the book. Tap a number for its story.

14 landmarks, from the spires to the river

Walk the set the way the film did, from the cathedral and the towers at the back down to the boats on the river. Pick a landmark to see where it stands and what the model shows.

Up close

A glass crown, two brick spires and a river with a bridge

The skyline of the Ho Chi Minh City set under a large pale moon and cream stars on a dark indigo panel: at the left two red-brick towers banded in cream under gray spires with crosses, a round rose window between them; a cream filler tower; a very tall stepped tower of blue shafts with pale yellow-green windows rising to a slim crown; a tapering blue tower wrapped in pale bands with a round pale helipad on its right; a cream clock tower under a terracotta roof; a long white building with rows of windows and a small pavilion on top; in front, the top of a yellow hall with a clock tower and terracotta roofs, a cream theater under a dark slate roof and a yellow building with a terracotta roof — The skyline: Landmark 81's crown under the moon, the cathedral's spires, Bitexco's helipad and Ben Thanh's clock tower.

The middle and front rows of the Ho Chi Minh City set: at the left a long yellow hall with white trim, terracotta roofs and a yellow clock tower; in the middle a cream theater under a dark slate roof with a great arch, columns and a flight of steps; at the right a long yellow building with arched windows in dark green surrounds and a terracotta roof, and a park of round green trees; behind, red-brick towers under gray spires, blue towers and a cream clock tower; in front a street of narrow mint, pink, yellow and blue houses at both ends, low shops under red awnings, green trees, a white food cart and three scooters, one red and two blue, on a dark road with white dashes — City Hall, the Opera House and the Central Post Office, over the street with its tube houses, shops and scooters.

The river plate of the Ho Chi Minh City set in the cream tray of the open book, seen from above at the front: bright blue water with white wave strokes; at the left a brown wooden sampan with a rower in blue under a conical straw hat; a white water bus with a yellow band and a row of pale windows; a white bridge deck hung from fanned cables on one tall pylon with a pale yellow-green strip and tip and pale lamp caps along the deck; at the right a yellow riverside house with arched windows, a terracotta roof and two gold dragons on its ridge, on a gray quay; behind, the street row with tube houses, red awnings, trees and red and blue scooters — The river in the tray: a sampan at the left, the water bus, the Ba Son Bridge on its one pylon and the Dragon House Wharf.

The open Moonlit Atlas book with the Ho Chi Minh City pack standing in a room by day — At home: the Ho Chi Minh City pack in the book, by day.

The open book with the Ho Chi Minh City pack on a bedside table in a dark bedroom, its moon, stars and windows glowing — Lights out at bedtime: the moon, the stars and the city's windows glow.

Already have the book?

New York off, Ho Chi Minh City on

Say your book holds New York. Each row clicks onto its frame with two magnets and two V-keys. Lift it straight up and it comes free.

Once New York's three rows are off, lift its harbor plate out of the tray.

Drop in the Ho Chi Minh City plate: the blue Saigon River, with its white bridge, the wharf and a water bus.

Set the Ho Chi Minh City rows on, back to front, Landmark 81 and the cathedral first. The magnets pull each row home. New York goes back on the same way whenever you want it.

What's in the Ho Chi Minh City pack

The set

Three building rows and a river plate that drop into your book and click onto its frames with magnets. No batteries: after a lamp has charged them, the windows, the bridge's lamps and the water bus glow brightest for 30 to 60 minutes.

Weight: about 4.8 oz
Made from: PLA
Building depth: up to 0.47 in, so the rows fold flat

The closed Moonlit Atlas book: navy cover, cream page block and a brass button

Add-on: needs the Moonlit Atlas book

Ho Chi Minh City needs a book to stand in

This pack is the city only. It stands up inside the Moonlit Atlas book, which is sold separately. The rows click onto the book's frames, so Ho Chi Minh City swaps with New York or any other city set in seconds.

See the Moonlit Atlas book