Word: hanoi
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Best known for its dignified colonial buildings and staid Communist sensibility, Hanoi has never been a place to go for hopping nightlife. But that was before the Seventeen Saloon rode into town...
...Adjacent to the Vietnamese capital's historic train station, Hanoi's hippest new hangout is a replica of an old frontier watering hole in the American West. A five-meter-tall cowboy stands outside, twirling a neon lasso over the saloon. Inside, the split-rail walls are decorated with cowboy memorabilia?from cowboy boots to a mounted cowskin?and since it opened in October, trendy young Vietnamese have been packing through the Seventeen Saloon's swinging doors and whooping it up with whiskey and tequila served by waitresses in cowboy hats and jeans...
...though, Hanoi?always more dour than gaudy Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in the south?just might be starting to loosen up. "Who cares about the government?" shouts a refrigerator salesman swilling iced gin at the bar and listening to the Filipino country-and-western band. "What matters is what the people like." And the people can't get enough of cowboys. Happy hour at the Seventeen Saloon, from 5 to 8 p.m., is a convivial crush of Vietnamese cutting loose. One tip: if you're planning to pay a visit, make sure to get there early, as the action...
...November, authorities sentenced a Mennonite pastor to three years in prison. Evangelical Christians in the Central Highlands have seen church leaders arrested and at least one church burned down, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch, which released a report last week saying authorities rounded up dozens of evangelicals. (Hanoi hotly denies those accusations...
...paradox is that millions of the faithful have more freedom to worship than ever before-as long as they do it in state-approved churches. Analysts say Hanoi's crackdown on non-sanctioned Buddhists and Christians stems not from godless communist dogma, but from worries about politics. "It is not a fear of religion itself," says Dr. David Koh, a fellow specializing in Vietnam at Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. "It's a fear of the use of religion by outsiders to topple the Vietnamese government...