Communist Hanoi gets its first McDonald’s

Get your burgers: Performers beating drums during the opening ceremony of the first McDonald’s restaurant in Hanoi. — AFP

Hanoi: Global burger behemoth McDonald’s opened its first branch in the historic heart of communist Hanoi, a conservative city renowned for its traditional – and cheap – Vietnamese staples beloved by food-obsessed locals.

Hungry customers lined up for Big Macs and Chicken McNuggets at the Vietnamese capital’s first location overlooking the tree-lined Hoan Kiem lake, which draws millions of tourists annually to see French-era colonial buildings and sample street-food favourites like pho noodle soup and banh mi sandwiches.