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Street vendors – a very familiar sight to the people of Hanoi.
The cries of the street vendors in the night have become a cherished memory for those living far from home…
Or, waking up each morning and opening the door to the street, we encounter vendors selling seasonal flowers. Amidst the bustling traffic, we still see mothers and sisters diligently carrying their baskets on their shoulders.
…with all kinds of fruits and flowers from every region.
Walking leisurely through the streets...
Regardless of sunny or rainy days, regardless of the biting cold of winter or the scorching heat of summer, street vendors tirelessly struggle with the worries of making ends meet.
Among those stalls, there were delicious things and not-so-delicious things...
Like tofu pudding, some vendors sell it very well, with the aroma of pomelo blossoms and a delicate sweetness, while others make it intensely sweet with a jasmine fragrance.
This is also a profession, a way to make a living like the other three. People become street vendors because they have little capital and are mobile... Street vending doesn't yield much profit; it depends entirely on luck. On lucky days, everything sells out quickly, but on other days, they bring back exactly what they brought in.
There are so many people like that in Hanoi. They really struggle, not knowing how much they earn, but they have to toil on the streets every day, rain or shine.
Most of the vendors are from provinces or areas surrounding Hanoi. Every day, in the early morning before dawn, the vendors wake up and carry their goods out in all directions.
Behind those street vendors' carts lie diverse lives and destinies. Day after day, they persevere with their calls and tireless steps, wearing worn-out sandals.
With the meager earnings from their street vending, these fathers and mothers shouldered the heavy burden of their children's lives and futures.
Hanoi may get older or more modern, but street vendors never go out of style. No one knows exactly when street vending originated.
All we know is that in Hanoi of the past and Hanoi of the present, street vendors have become something very familiar, everyday, a beautiful cultural feature that anyone far from Hanoi can never forget.
While upscale restaurants, cafes, and all sorts of brightly lit establishments spring up like mushrooms in this bustling city, street vendors, like a chain of time, preserve the rich cultural traditions and the soul of the Vietnamese people in the capital.
