Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City? Just so you know!

In Hanoi we never heard the word Saigon, only Ho Chi Minh City. When we reached Hue, Danang and Hoi An in the central part of the country, we rarely heard the city referred to as Ho Chi Minh City. After moving south from those towns to Saigon, we never heard the words Ho Chi Minh City again.
Again from Lonely Planet: " unofficially the city is still called 'Saigon', officially, 'Saigon' refers only to District 1. Southerners certainly prefer the name Saigon, but if you have to deal with government officials its best to use HCMC. "
Our impression is that there still is a very big difference in north and south and strong but rather subdued sentiments accompanying that difference.

(The famous bars and dance clubs of Saigon, the tawdry type hang outs of The Superintendent in Miss Saigon, are still, I believe, very much there, still hot and rowdy, but as we have difficulty going to anything but an afternoon movie and think a.m always follows 11:00, I can't say for sure.)