Loudspeakers in Vietnam’s capital will blare propaganda once more
The city’s residents hate it
The streets of Hanoi are not quiet. Hordes of motorbikes race suvs down narrow side lanes. Their horns and engines compete with the din from drills, hawkers and squawking livestock. So raucous is Vietnam’s capital that entrepreneurs can do well from selling silence. Patrons in Tranquil, a café, are instructed to speak only in whispers, if they must talk at all.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “A noisy noise annoys Hanoi”
From the September 10th 2022 edition
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