During morning rush hour and the evening commute, major arteries including Le Van Luong, Nguyen Trai, Huynh Thuc Khang, Tran Duy Hung, La Thanh and Giang Vo have been choked with vehicles, with congestion stretching for kilometres.
On Le Van Luong Street in Thanh Xuan Ward, cars and motorbikes jostled for space in bumper-to-bumper traffic during the early morning peak. Motorcyclists attempted to weave through narrow gaps in search of a way out of the gridlock.
Even outside peak hours, Giang Vo Street remained heavily congested, as residents headed out to buy Tet decorations and gifts while delivery drivers struggled to navigate the clogged roads.
Amid the dense flow of traffic, branches of peach blossom and pots of kumquat trees, traditional symbols of the Lunar New Year, could be seen balanced on motorbikes or carried by hand through the streets, adding flashes of pink and orange to the grey tangle of vehicles.
Towards the end of the year, increased demand for travel, shopping, and home renovations for Tet significantly worsened traffic congestion.
On Truong Chinh Street, congestion extended for several kilometres throughout the day, not just during rush hour.
As traffic intensified, officers from the Hanoi traffic police were deployed across key intersections to direct vehicles and ease bottlenecks in the run-up to Tet.
In the evening rush, Le Van Luong Street leading from the city centre towards the outskirts was packed solid.
Some residents pulled over at the roadside to purchase peach branches and kumquat trees to decorate their homes for the holiday.
With demand for Tet shopping at its peak, delivery drivers remained active late into the night, threading their way through crowded streets in a race against time before the holiday begins.
By 8 pm on Tran Duy Hung Street, traffic was still heavy heading from the city centre towards Thang Long Boulevard.