Jade Emperor Pagoda (Chùa Ngọc Hoàng)

In front of you is the Điện Ngọc Hoàng, the Jade Emperor Pagoda, one of the most atmospheric temples in the city. As you cross the courtyard, incense smoke wraps around everything.

1A temple with a false bottom

It was founded in the early twentieth century by a Cantonese immigrant named Lưu Minh; many guides give the year as 1909. According to the Saigon scholar Vương Hồng Sển, Lưu Minh was a strict vegetarian, followed the Minh Sư sect and dreamed of overthrowing the Manchu Qing dynasty, so the temple served both for worship and as a place for secret meetings. It blends Taoism, Buddhism and Chinese folk religion. In 1982 a Buddhist monk took charge of it, and in 1984 it was given the name Phước Hải Tự. Barack Obama visited in May 2016.

2Hells and midwives

The main hall is ruled by the Jade Emperor, sovereign of the Taoist heaven, surrounded by papier-mâché guardians. In a side hall, carved wooden panels show the ten hells and their punishments. In another, people venerate Kim Hoa, goddess of fertility, surrounded by twelve “midwives”, each responsible for one aspect of raising a child; many women come to ask them for a baby. In the courtyard, people release turtles into the pond as a gesture of good fortune.

Nobody here will ask you to believe: it is enough to look, and to breathe in the incense.

3What to look for

• The ceramic figures on the roofs.
• The turtle pond at the entrance.
• The incense coils hanging from the ceiling.