For the best part of the past two years, I’ve been living in Vietnam. While most of my time is spent in south and central Vietnam, I have recently been in Hanoi for a couple of months and the air quality has been a consistent issue. While other cities in Vietnam have air quality issues, none of them can compare to Hanoi which was near the top of IQAir’s most polluted cities charts earlier this week (and in the first position for a few days). Below is a screenshot that I took last week.
I was aware of the air quality issue here, especially after writing my post on air pollution in Vietnam (which you can find below) and after visiting the city a few times. However, during this longer stay, I’ve come to realise just how serious the issue is. At least for me personally, it’s the key reason why I could never stay here longer term despite loving the city.
Anyway, as an update to the article linked above, I wanted to share a few photos of the air quality that I’ve taken on my stays in Hanoi. All of these photos were taken in the months of January - April, when the air quality is generally the worst, so please keep in mind that it isn’t always like this!
AQICN actually shows the air quality as being quite good during the summer months, but unfortunately, I haven’t yet had a chance to visit the city during this time. I’ll have to aim to visit in June-August next time!
Below are a couple of photos I took during Tet last year. I find these particularly impactful as the vehicle headlights can be seen showing the extent of the harmful air pollution.
Needless to say, if you’re visiting Hanoi during the winter or spring months you will absolutely want to be prepared with decent respirators. These tend to be quite hard to find in Vietnam, so I would recommend bringing some with you before visiting. If you live here, you can find authentic 3M respirators on Lazada and other platforms, just make sure to shop from the official stores.
I’ve been trying to do some air quality monitoring myself, with my AirGradient Max (which you can learn more about below), but I’m still getting the hang of powering the device. However, I remain positive that I will have some more thoughts and insights to share soon. Hopefully some more pictures, too!
Please note that this post is not intended dissuade anyone from visiting or living in Hanoi - it’s actually a city that I love a lot. However, it is something that you should be aware of. Luckily, there is a lot more attention on air pollution here recently, and hopefully some policy changes will begin to gradually improve the situation.
If you have any questions about the situation, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer!
