In the past few days Da Nang City has been in the international spotlight after Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates and his girlfriend Paula Hurd came for a four-day vacation at a luxury resort on Son Tra Peninsula.
In this picture Gates (R) plays tennis at the resort on Thursday before flying back home on his private jet the same night.
City leaders sent him a welcome letter and thanked him for choosing Da Nang for his holiday.
Photo by Nguyen Dong
In 2012 American billionaire George Soros and his family stayed at InterContinental Da Nang Resort on Son Tra Peninsula.
He booked VIP rooms at the resort with a listed price of US$1,200 a night.
When he landed at Da Nang airport, Soros was immediately escorted by a team of bodyguards to a car and taken straight to the isolated resort.
Photo courtesy of the resort
In December 2011 Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife (then girlfriend) Priscilla Chan made a secret trip to Vietnam, visiting two famous places: Ha Long Bay and Sa Pa.
He rented a kayak to explore the bay and visit some caves around it.
To shake off the media, Zuckerberg hired cruise vessels in Ha Long and booked rooms at several famous hotels such as Hon Gai and Novotel.
The couple spend the night on the bay in the Fire Phoenix ship.
From Ha Long, they took a helicopter to Sa Pa and stayed at Topas Ecolodge and explored the local cultures in the northern highlands.
He took a buffalo ride around a stream (pictured). Arriving at the village center, he, his wife and a group of friends played blindfolded goat catching, a traditional game.
Photo by AFP
British billionaire Joe Lewis (L), the owner of English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, visits the Golden Bridge on Ba Na Hills in Da Nang in 2019.
He also visited Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, Phu Quoc, and Ha Long.
Lewis has visited Can Tho in the Mekong Delta, famous for its floating markets, three times in his yacht, the most recent time being in 2022.
Photo courtesy of Joe Lewis's Instagram
Former U.S. President Obama's trip to Vietnam in 2016 sparked special attention among Hanoians. During his two-day visit, Obama had many interesting experiences such as trying Vietnamese specialties like bun cha (Vietnamese grilled pork with rice noodles) at a local stall, drinking draft beer and buying green rice in Vong village.
In this photo, Obama (L) eats bun cha and drinks draft beer with the late chef Anthony Bourdain.
Bun cha is a bowl of savory, sweet and sour fish sauce with meatballs and thick pork slices served with a plate of white vermicelli. The dish is typically served with seafood spring rolls and grilled skewers and has become an iconic Hanoi dish.
Photo by Instagram/anthonybourdain
Jensen Huang, CEO of U.S. semiconductor giant Nvidia, last year arrived in Vietnam and explored Hanoi street foods like snails, egg coffee, Vietnamese rolls, and beef noodle soup.
Huang was dressed comfortably in a T-shirt and jeans as he walked the old streets of Vietnam's historic capital.
He first decided to try a busy sidewalk restaurant on Luong Ngoc Quyen Street in the Old Quarter.
He sat on a plastic chair and ate snails and rolls while drinking beer with staff members he brought on the trip.
He then visited a restaurant on Hang Non Street to eat pho bo (beef noodle soup) and drink coconut water. He also tried egg coffee at Café Giang on Nguyen Huu Huan Street, one of the oldest coffee shops in Hanoi, and took photos with Hanoians.
Photo by Hoang Anh Tuan
Before their divorce Hollywood actor couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie visited Vietnam several times.
The first time they came was in 2006 before they married. The two were seen going around Ho Chi Minh City on a motorbike.
The next time Jolie came to Vietnam was in 2007 when she adopted Pax Thien. The third time the couple brought Pax Thien to visit his hometown and enjoyed a vacation in Con Dao in 2011.
In 2015 they secretly visited Vietnam, hiring a private jet to explore Ha Long Bay and then stayed in Hanoi for a day.
Photo by AFP
In 2022 Grammy-winning American singer Christina Aguilera explored UNESCO-recognized Ha Long Bay by helicopter and cruise ship on the occasion of her birthday.
The pop star Instagrammed a photo of herself with a birthday cake on a cruise ship in Ha Long Bay with the caption: "Birthday Wishes."
After arriving in Hanoi, she and her fiancé booked a helicopter service to Ha Long Bay, around two hours east of the capital.
She described the airborne view of the mountains and waters in the area as "spectacular."
Photo by Instagram/xtina
