I lived in Ho Chi Minh City (known as Sai Gon) for more than 30 years. Then, I moved to Orange County in 2010. Whenever I went back to Viet Nam to visit my family, most questions I received from my relatives or my friends revolved around the diversity of life in the United States and Viet Nam. Because I have lived in Little Sai Gon, a Vietnamese local area in Orange County, I have recognized many similarities and differences between Ho Chi Minh City and Orange County. Even though the word "city" in Ho Chi Minh City and "county" in Orange County are not the same, the civil administration unit and the spread of these two places are almost similar. Ho Chi Minh City has 2.095 km2 is roughly as large as Orange County's land area which is 2,044.5 km2. The "district" of Ho Chi Minh City might same unit as the "city" of Orange County. Living in area surrounding Little Sai Gon, Vietnamese people sometimes think it is not necessary to speak English because the majority of people here speak Vietnamese language. Vietnamese food is also popular in many restaurant so that people can have it as easy as in Viet Nam. Although they have some similarities, Ho Chi Minh City and Orange County are different from each other, especially in traffic system, civil construction planning and family culture. .
First of all, the traffic system of Ho Chi Minh City is different from Orange County mainly in means of vehicle, transportation infrastructure and traffic design. People who travel for the first time to Ho Chi Minh City are surprised with large amount of motorbikes, bicycles and others like cyclos, buses, taxies on the road. Comparing to Ho Chi Minh City, people in Orange County mostly drive cars; taxies and motorcycles have been seen rarely. Next difference is transportation infrastructure. People would admire the quality of roads in Orange County, for they are maintained very well; in addition, there are many sections of highways and freeways.
