In early-Doi Moi Hanoi in the 1990s, the line at Trang Tien ice-cream shop sometimes stretched halfway down the street. VnExpress records the scene in a photographic retrospective of the city. This was not a ration queue but an order for buying a small pleasure returning to everyday urban life.
Economic transition is often told through policy. On the street it was also visible in what people could choose, pay for and wait to taste together. The long line marked not only scarcity, but a new shared rhythm of consumption.