Ho Chi Minh City

Sài Gòn – Communist on paper but at heart a Capitalist

I arrive in what is known by even the Vietnamese as Sài Gòn. I admit I am shocked. The parks, busy shopping streets, tall skyscrapers, familiar brand names, and business complexes are not what I expected. This great city of South Vietnam, “liberated” by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong” in 1975, is much the same as any large American city. America may have fled Vietnam in 1973, but we are back in spirit by way of Pepsi, Barbie, Carl’s Jr., Budweiser, McDonalds and IPhones.
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