Since the early 1980s, many people in Hà Nội have taken to the pavement to sell goods and services. They include many former state employees, and they do so for basic livelihood and to supplement income. These needs came hard and fast in the mid and late 1980s, the years of hyperinflation and economic restructuring. The biggest blow to the economy then was the drastic reduction of the state sector, which had provided most, if not all, the employment in Vietnam. Here went a four-liner that slightly exaggerated and teased:

People in Hà Nội were joined by roaming vendors (hàng rong), who came into the city from the villages to peddle farm produce, especially after 1988. In addition, though mainly in the older parts of the city where housing space for each family was tight, many Hà Nội residents reluctantly did their personal, family, and business chores on the pavement, including activities such as washing, cooking, recreation, and storing and displaying goods. A journalist of the Hà Nội Moi (HNM) newspaper criticized a typical scene he saw, whereby the pavement, a public space, became a yard for many families: