BERLIN — Red paper lanterns and blinking neon signs adorn the halls of Berlin’s Dong Xuan Center, a sprawling Vietnamese shopping market in eastern Berlin’s Lichtenberg neighborhood. Small children run past, shouting in a mix of German and Vietnamese. A hairstylist belts along to a Vietnamese ballad.
A blinking sign advertises a hair and nail salon at the Dong Xuan Center, a Vietnamese market in Beriln’s Lichtenberg neighborhood. (Photo: Dana Dela Cruz)
Ho, who wished to withhold his first name, goes to the center for haircuts. Today, he and his brother carry grocery bags filled with greens and canned goods.