Nightlife was revived on many streets in Hanoi on Tuesday after authorities lifted an order requiring food and beverage establishments to close before 9:00 pm, which had been in place since November last year.

Hanoi chairman Chu Ngoc Anh approved a new fiat on the prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic and tourism reopening in the capital city on Tuesday.

Accordingly, the municipal administration allowed F&B establishments to offer sit-down services after 9:00 pm every day after imposing the 9:00 pm curfew for four months and a half. 

City eateries must meet all of the COVID-19 safety criteria promulgated by health authorities.

Following the removal of the curfew, F&B establishments on famous nightlife streets in Hanoi such as Ta Hien, Luong Ngoc Quyen, and Tong Duy Tan were full of diners, especially young people, on Tuesday night.

“The past months were very tough for us,” said Vu Hoang, manager of three eateries on Luong Ngoc Quyen Street in Hoan Kiem District.

“I still had to pay the staff, with a lower salary, though.

“The eateries remained operating in moderation.

“Electricity and water bills still came monthly. 

“I had to spend my own money to make up for incurred expenses several times.”

While expecting moderate numbers of customers in the first few days of the full-swing reopening, Hoang hopes his eatery chain will rake in higher revenue, giving the employees more stable income in the near future.

“I was very happy upon the announcement of the 9:00 pm curfew removal as I have been waiting for this day for so long,” said Le Thanh Hang, the owner of another eatery on Luong Ngoc Quyen Street. 

“Today, customers have come in a lot, just like in the old days.”

Hang’s place remained busy even after 11:00 pm on Tuesday, as observed by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper correspondents.

Not only F&B business operators but many residents also expressed their joy at the nightlife revival in the city.

“I’m excited to be hanging out with my friends this late,” Vu Quynh Huong, a 23-year-old resident of Cau Giay District, said while having a coffee with her friends at a café on Tong Duy Tan Street on Tuesday night. 

“Previously, we had to leave before 9:00 pm. 

“Now life has been back to the way it was.”

Nguyen Thu Trang, a 31-year-old resident of Hai Ba Trung District, spent Tuesday night taking her children to Hanoi Old Quarter for their very first night out after a long time.

“The children have stayed at home and studied online for so long that they have not met their friends and enjoyed fresh air,” Trang said.

“Now they can play and eat street snacks, so they laugh and talk a lot.”

Hanoi has recorded 865,127 cases of COVID-19 since the fourth wave of the pandemic broke out in Vietnam in late April last year.

Some 6.2 million people of the city’s eight million population have received two doses of vaccine, according to the national COVID-19 vaccination portal. 

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