It is common to see rice drying on some roads by the Red River in Vinh Ngoc Commune in the outlying district of Dong Anh. Rice even covers the majority of some road sections.
Rice is put on pieces of canvas consolidated by bricks. By-passers have to slow down at the roads or in many cases drive into oncoming traffic lanes.
“Our family have harvested four tonnes of rice, but the house is quite narrow, so we have to use the road,” a local farmer said.
This is banned in Hanoi, but violators are rarely fined as local authorities often sympathise with their difficulties.
Under the government’s regulations, the fines would be up to VND400,000 (USD17.39) for drying rice and straw and agro-fishery products on roads.