Street Vendors in Hanoi

“Street vendors, wonder since what time or age they have become a kind of “mental treat”, a part of Vietnamese souls, beath and that cannot-be-replaced culture given away by our ancestors. Those bamboo frames holding with two big baskets carrying from small fruits to huge pots of rib congee have been the daily bread of their whole life. A beautiful culture also means a cruel reality. Whenever a street vendor appears, it also represents an encumbrance of someone as they are carrying the life of their whole families on their skinny shoulders and walk from day to night. That is why sometimes street vendor is also known as ‘burden vendor’. There was a time, probably in the 80s, when street vendors were very popular that they were often seen in each path of our country. And people when looking in those old captures of Vietnam would wonder why the sellers are mostly female. Just imagine when you live in a primitive community or simply recall what you have learnt from the books, men those days would do the hunting while women were in charge of harvesting. That way of thinking still exists until this moment that women are supposed to do small things. And as those glorious days pass by and people begin to prefer shopping in modern supermarkets and big grocery stores, street vendors start to lose their original position. When small streets have no longer been their place, they begin to “withdraw” to the walking street as they hope for something to change, to become better and to help their ‘intrinsically miserable’ life. Those small but firm humans still walk, even on a cold night of New Year; I still see them on the walking street, trying to sell up their baskets to return to their family.” – Trang Nguyen

Here are the street vendors in Hanoi Walking street at weekend

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Words by Trang Nguyen
Photos by Hanh Le