胡志明市街头 On the Streets of Ho Chi Minh City

出差去越南胡志明市一天,偷空上街看看。趁出差看一个城市总不免走马观花, 但有点时间走出会议室总是好的。这里与我想象中西贡完全不同, 也没有我喜欢的电影《情人》的故事发生地的影子。除了一些零星的建筑外, 看不到法国殖民地的过去。共产党留下的印迹要强的多。几个快速印象：人们非常友善，温和并且特别年轻，好象50%的人口都在十几岁似的；街上的小摩托车象中国的自行车一样多, 过街的时候我的越南同伴说 “闭上眼睛，过”；接头小贩众多，但从不强卖；整个城市杂乱无章，可是人们却能轻松地找到次序。

上载了一些照片在“透过我的镜头中”。

I stole one hour to stroll along the streets of Ho Chi Minh City during my very brief visit to the city. One can never explore any place on a short business trip, but still, some impression outside conference rooms was nice. It was not the "Saigon" I had in my mind or the backdrop of a favorite movie "Lover". I didn't see much sign of a French colonial past except for some sparing apperance of colonial buildings. The communists have left far stronger marks. A few things I saw: people were very friendly, mild and young (as if 50% of the population are teenagers); scooters were like bycicles in China and to cross any street, as my Vietnamese contact put it - "Just close your eyes and go"; and there were many street vendors but I was never met with a hard sell. The city was chaotic but people found their order in a relaxed way.

To share some snapshots, I uploaded a new album in "Through My Lenses" on this blog.