Hanoi is cleaning up its sidewalks

Although street vending has long been tolerated informally, fines are now being enforced and the municipality is considering doubling them.

"Without street vendors, Hanoi is no longer Hanoi. It's a tradition," says Nguyen Thi Hoan, 58, who used to sell flowers at the foot of a large building in the city center.

After working for ten years on the same concrete slab, she was relegated, along with fruit and vegetable vendors, to a less frequented vacant lot.

Her turnover has been cut in half and the woman in her fifties says she doesn't know "what else to do to make ends meet".

Food, but also balloons, mechanics or hairdressers: you could generally find a little bit of everything on the lively sidewalks of Hanoi.

The Vietnamese capital has attracted a record number of tourists in recent years, and many enjoy sitting outside to enjoy street food washed down with local bia hoi beer.

"Small plastic stools, cheap but delicious noodles, cold Hanoi beer," summarized former US President Barack Obama, recalling a meal shared in 2016 with chef and host Anthony Bourdain for a CNN show.

The two men had eaten their bun cha (a pork-based specialty) inside a restaurant. But the episode was a true declaration of love for the sidewalks of Hanoi, where you can find everything from open-air Zumba classes to steaming soup vendors' carts.

Order and cleanliness

This thriving activity has always had its drawbacks: traffic jams, noise pollution, safety and hygiene problems... which are no longer in line with the development advocated throughout the country by the communist leaders.

The Hanoi municipality wants to bring order and cleanliness to this city of eight million inhabitants which is undergoing a major transformation.

She had already conducted sporadic campaigns to clear space on the sidewalks, but this time the efforts have intensified, with the installation of nearly 2.000 surveillance cameras to spot offenders.

Street vendors face fines of 250.000 dong (8 euros) and up to 6 million (200 euros) for those blocking pedestrian traffic.

According to state media, police have issued more than 3.000 fines since December, a number that a new plan aims to double, while also considering allowing vendors to rent authorized spaces on sidewalks.

Le Trung Chien, an employee of a downtown marketing company, says he "fully supports the municipality's efforts to clean up the sidewalks."

"I don't like my city being messy, like it always has been," he explains, tired of street vendors and scooters that sometimes force him to walk in the road to get to his bus stop.

For Tran Trung Van, a cafe manager, this means having to cram more customers inside and refuse those who prefer to smoke outside.

"A third of my customers want to sit on the sidewalk, especially on cool days, in the morning or evening," he estimates, claiming to have lost part of his clientele.

Dinh Tung, an office worker, misses the times spent with his colleagues at tables that spilled out onto the street.

"I hope things will return to normal soon," he says. "Hanoi is only Hanoi if you can drink iced tea on the sidewalk."