Mark Zuckerberg vacations in Vietnam, Facebook not welcome
(CBS) - His company may not be welcome there, but that didn't stop Facebook's chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg from spending Christmas in Vietnam.
Zuckerberg and his girlfriend Priscilla Chan arrived in the Southeast Asian country on Dec. 22 on a two-week visa.
Vietnam Net reports, "[Zuckerberg] and his group of nine members spent a night on the Ha Long Bay, which has been recognized as one of the new natural wonders of the world. The Facebook's CEO rowed a kayak himself to make an excursion on the bay and then visited some caves of the bay."
Full coverage of Facebook at Tech Talk
According to the Associated Press, "Zuckerberg spent Christmas Eve in the popular tourist destination Ha Long Bay, local official Trinh Dang Thanh says."
The visit raises questions of whether or not this trip mixes business with pleasure. Vietnam is a communist country that censors Internet usage, blocking its citizens from accessing Facebook. However, Vietnam Net claims there are 4 million Vietnamese citizens that have found a way onto the social network.
While it seems like Zuckerberg is relaxing, it's no secret that the young CEO wants Facebook to be welcome in communist countries, like China and Vietnam.
As a matter of fact, it was this time last year that Zuckerberg and Chan paid a visit to China. That trip included a meeting with Robin Li, the chief executive officer of popular Chinese social network Baidu.
There is no evidence that Zuckerberg is meeting with any Vietnamese officials while on vacation, but he did meet with web entrepreneur Nguyen Trong Khoa, who has been called the "tycoon of domain names" in Vietnam.
Facebook was co-founded by Zuckerberg in 2004. The world's biggest social network currently has 800 million active users.
