Hello All!
My partner and I are looking to move to Vietnam and begin teaching English in September. We have always heard that the pollution is a problem, but we have recently become aware of just how bad the pollution is while monitoring the AQI on qivn.org/en/.
Numbeo also has a feature that allows you compare various aspects of cities, one of them being pollution. It lists Hanoi as being worse than Shenzhen, Shanghai, Bangkok, Seoul, and Manila to name a few
numbeo.com/pollution/city_result.jsp?country=Vietnam&city=Hanoi
While I do worry about the long term effects of staying in such an atmosphere, I am predominantly concerned about the way the pollution will affect our lives on a daily basis. I've read about days in which the AQI is so bad that the population of Hanoi is asked to stay indoors. I've read about people developing bronchitis and irritated skin. Are these extreme cases or does this seem to be the norm?
We are both very excited about the idea of moving to Hanoi. Any pieces of information you have to offer are greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance,
Jess
Pollution in Hanoi
nah, here now. pollution is fine. i live in shenzhen too and it is twice as worst as hanoi.
super hot and pretty dirty with alot of rubbish on the streets where i live and the odd mangy dog
but i don't let it get to me.
My dear Pianist !
You are talking about a problem yet in the place where I was born. But there's a lot of thing to make up in Hanoi, like the city you have ever come.
We are talking about the problem of air pollution, it existed in the East and the West of Hanoi, because the both is very strongest developing of the city. However, in the center (Hoan Kiem Lake) and the west (West Lake) of the city is very wonderful, a road with two rows of trees, the West Lake as a small beach. The air is very fresh and clean.
I hope you will come and feel about my wonderland.
P/s: i just begining to learn English because i love to speak English.^^
Bongolongo,
Thank you for the post. I was hoping most people would say something to the effect of "nah, it's fine." Rubbish and dogs don't bother me. I was just concerned about living the next 9 months behind a mask. Cheers!
Hello Rio nguyen!
What a welcoming response. I worried about writing a post on the issue of pollution in the first place knowing that I was talking about the birthplace and home of so many people. Everything about Hanoi sounds amazing, and it was really nice to read such a heart-felt message. Thank you kindly.
you are welcome !
I hope will be welcome you to Hanoi !
have a happy weekend !
Jess,
Numbeo is a great site for checking living cost numbers but I doubt there's any meaningful data for air quality. For such a matter, people opinions are not qualified as data. Being Hanoian myself, I am actually offended when someone even compares Hanoi to Shenzhen 
But what people said could sadly be true, who knows.
You should check this site instead: http://aqicn.org/city/vietnam/hanoi/.
Honestly, the air quality situation in Hanoi is getting worse, there are many more cars and motorbikes on the streets these days than 5 years ago.
My advices to you:
- wearing a face mask (covering your mouth and nose) whenever you ride a motorbike
- best is to ride a bus, 7000 VND per ride or 200k ($9 USD) a month - only worth it if you use it everyday. It's pretty convenient if your work/rented place located near a bus station.
- even better if you bringing in an electric bike / bicycle. Some millions of local children would be grateful if expats restrain from riding big motorcycles in the city (It's OK elsewhere).
- rent a place near a big open space like the West Lake. Or along the Red River.
DN
BTW, in terms of air quality, Da Nang is arguably the best place to live in Vietnam. Check this out: http://aqicn.org/city/vietnam/danang/
#1
Came back from lunch and found this interesting post about air quality index for Hanoi:
http://aqicn.org/faq/2015-02-08/visual- … -to-hanoi/
#2
There's a famous poem about foggy Hanoi, dated back more than a century ago:
Gió đưa cành trúc la đà,
Tiếng chuông Trấn Vũ, canh gà Thọ Xương.
Mịt mù khói tỏa ngàn sương***
Nhịp chày An Thái mặt gương Tây Hồ
***This sentence is about smoke and fog in Hanoi (="Gloomy fog radiates like thousand smokes"? Sorry, can't really translate it. Google translation's also very bad).
What I want to say here is that some time, often in the morning, you found fog covers the whole city. It looks like this:
http://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/photos/3161833/
Probably a few people not familiar with the city may confuse and think it's smog.
DN
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