Crowds of people hang out late at night on the capital’s streets, and sidewalk eateries do a roaring trade. 

The scene at Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square in Hoan Kiem District in the heart of Hanoi around midnight last Friday.

Authorities do not allow public activities after midnight, except at Hoan Kiem during weekends, when they allow until 2 a.m.Shortly afterward police officers and militia began to tell people to go home. 

Hang Bo Street, not far from the square, has lines of plastic stools to serve street food and drinks from 11 p.m. to early morning every day.

People coming in groups can rent mats and buy grilled dried squid on the sidewalk in Hang Bo Street.

They can park their motorbikes on the sidewalk just beside where they have their squid party.

One of the people selling squid there. This grilled squid place has existed for decades in the capital.

More street food at the corner of Hang Bac and Hang Bo streets. "We are told to shut down after midnight all the time," one vendor said. "But there are still customers, so we just keep serving."

This place on Hang Dao Street remains open until 2-3 in the morning every day.

30 minutes after midnight, police arrive and tell a restaurant on De La Thanh Street in Ba Dinh District to close.

At this restaurant in Ba Dinh, the owner no longer serves on the sidewalk. Inside, the business booms after midnight.

A sticky rice restaurant on De La Thanh Street that remains open almost until dawn.