The city is located by the Hâu River and Vinh Te canal. Châu Đốc is situated 250 kilometres west of Ho Chi Minh City. It takes about six hours to travel by bus from Hồ Chí Minh City.
The site of Châu Đốc was long in history a territory of the Kingdom of Funan (Vietnamese: Vương quốc Phù Nam). The territory became Vietnam’s around the 17th century. The town is near the picturesque mount of Sam where the Sam Mountain Lady (Vietnamese: Bà Chúa Xứ Núi Sam) is worshipped. The Sam Mount Lady Ceremony is held every April of lunar calendar (May) every year.
"Mort Chrouk"(Khmer:មាត់ជ្រូក) was the Cambodian name Vietnamized in Chau Doc.
In 1957 the town was the site of the Châu Đốc massacre.
Vietnamese, Cham and Khmer live together in harmony. The three main religions in this region are Mahayana Buddhism (Kinh/Vietnamese); Theravada Buddhism (Khmer), and Sunni Islam (Chams).
As of 2003 the district had a population of 112,155. The district covers an area of 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi).
In July 2013, the city had a population of 157,298.
Châu Đốc is famous for its variety of fish sauces (nước mắm) and mainly "mắm tai", a kind of anchovy. The local economy is based on culture of basa catfish export and on tourism. The town is a busy trading center due to its border position with Cambodia.
The Phước Điền Temple is located in Châu Đốc. It is an official historic monument of Vietnam. The Victoria Hotel is the only notable hotel in the area. There are also many hotels in the center near the main market area, where you can get good value for money accommodation. There are other hotels that are situated near Nui Sam. There are a couple of new hotels on the road to Sam mountain. A worthwhile option to consider is a night (or two) on one of the floating hotels (there are 2, one reachable via footbridge, the other via boat).
Sam Mountain, whose summit is about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above sea level, is a famous mountain in Châu Đốc, about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from the city.
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