Vietnamese hate the moniker, reports Luke Hunt for The Diplomat. But their feelings about their big neighbor are a lot more complicated.

The rooftop balcony of the Majestic Hotel commands sweeping views across the Saigon River where tinysampans mix with giant cargo ships and ply their trade. Loaded with history and nostalgia, its bar is also a venue for the Old Hacks Reunion—a once-in-five-year affair when Vietnam War era combat reporters get together and trade tales from the past and down a few of their favourite ales.

Great survivors, like Peter Arnett, Jim Pringle and photographers Tim Page and Al Rockoff, were there this year. But their ranks, like their hairlines, are gray and thinning.