Cu Chi Tunnels in Ho Chi Minh City

Cu Chi Tunnels are located about 60 km Northwest of the center of Ho Chi Minh City. They are a miniature place where the army and people of Cu Chi district battled in the Vietnam War.

The Cu Chi Tunnels have a more than 200 km long system that can withstand heavy bombs.

At present, the tourist area consists of 2 parts 13km apart with much shorter tunnels:

Ben Duoc Tunnels are situated in Phu Hiep Hamlet, Phu My Hung Commune, Cu Chi District, and
Ben Dinh Tunnels are in Nhuan Duc Commune, Cu Chi District.

The pronunciation of Cu Chi Tunnels:

Cu Chi's pronunciation is tricky to read for foreigners because of its intricate accents. Its correct word in Vietnamese is "Củ Chi". And you may pronounce it: "Ku Chi" [ku tʃi].

However, many people misspell it as Chu Chi, Co Chi, or Chi Chi Tunnel.

The story of creating these undergrounds:

The secret tunnels originated from underground passages with lids stretching 3-5 meters long. They date back to the nation's resistance against French colonialism, which began in 1946.

However, there was no way out of the secret bunkers. People extended the short tunnels until exitance, short or long ways depending on the terrain allowed; then they had the tunnel system.

The tunnel system has many entrances. If the enemy detects one gate, the people can exit through another and come back to attack them later.
The basic principle of the tunnels is to avoid the isolation of the secret underpasses and to create flexibility to attack the enemy effectively.

From 1961 to 1965, people of the northern communes of Cu Chi completed the backbone tunnel. Then, they developed into many long, short branches connected, with some extending to the Saigon River.

Above the tunnels are many battle mounds, minefields, nail holes, and bunkers arranged in continuous clusters to create a solid battlefield in guerrilla warfare.

At the end of 1965, about 200km of the tunnels had been dug, forming a tunnel system running deeply into the earth.

In terms of structure, Cu Chi Tunnels have three different levels. The upper layer is about 3m from the ground, the middle floor is about 5m from the ground, and the bottom floor is 8 to 10m deep.

At this time, Cu Chi Tunnels became living areas and places for storing weapons, documents, ambulance rooms, and meetings, and they served soldiers fighting in wartime.