SOARING dragons danced early yesterday on the site of what was once Saigon's biggest casino in the heart of Cholon, the city's Chinatown, now booming once more.
In a special late night state-organised parade, thousands of local ethnic Chinese watched teams of dragon dancers compete to mark the anniversary of the fall of the city 20 years ago - a move that marked the end of the decades-long struggle for independence.
The casino, once surrounded by brothels, opium dens and loan-sharks, represented all that the new northern-inspired socialist rulers despised and was one of the first 'pillars of decadence' to fall.
Now a community centre, the old site has dance halls and discos - but the action is far less sober in the surrounding streets as the mysterious old quarter reclaims its former footing.
Glitzy Taiwanese joint-venture karaoke bars and dance halls featuring hundreds of local women have replaced the old red-lantern streets, with cognac - not opium - the drug of choice.
Gold shops once again abound and recent months have seen a boom in traditional medicine shops and tropical fish sellers, with overseas Chinese flocking in to snap up bargains.
'I've never found these items so cheap anywhere in Asia,' said one Hong Kong businessman, eyeing a pair of preserved testicles allegedly cut from one of the last surviving Indochinese tigers.