Vietnam may block its citizens from using to Facebook, but that didn't stop website founder Mark Zuckerberg from spending his holiday there.

Zuckerberg spent Christmas Eve in the popular tourist destination Ha Long Bay, local official Trinh Dang Thanh said.

State-run media say Zuckerberg arrived in Vietnam on December 22.

Zuckerberg spent Christmas Day at an ecolodge in the northern mountain town of Sapa and rode a buffalo, said Le Phuc Thien, deputy manager at Topas Ecolodge.

Zuckerberg, Facebook's 27-year-old CEO, founded the popular social networking site in 2004.

Vietnam's aggressive internet censors block access to Facebook and other websites, but young Vietnamese easily bypass the restrictions.

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