In September 2023, customers queued from around midnight outside Bao Phuong, a long-established mooncake shop in Hanoi. VnExpress reported that a family arriving at 1 a.m. found hundreds already ahead of them. Paid proxy buyers took places from midnight and enlisted relatives to help fill orders. When purchases are limited, several people may enter the same line to satisfy one client’s demand.
The shop counts the people standing at the counter one by one, but family requests and customer orders sit behind those visible bodies. Everyone follows the same sequence, while a single place may represent very different numbers of people.