Go drink milk tea from 4am to "heal"

Ngoc Chau, 20 years old, said she stayed up all night and traveled more than 10 km from Nam Tu Liem district to wait for the time to drink milk tea. She said she felt healed because she could sit on the sidewalk early in the morning and watch people passing by, from the cyclo drivers to the cleaning ladies, and also hear the sound of cicadas chirping.

"I also saw hundreds of people jogging along the street. Thanks to this experience, I got to know a different pace of life in Hanoi, bustling but peaceful," Chau said.

Bringing her computer, Bich Ha, 23, from Thanh Xuan district, also arrived at 3:30. She chose a nice spot to work, waiting for the shop to open. As a content creator, Ha said this was a new experience because normally she would just finish her deadline and go to bed at this time.

"I'm not used to drinking coffee in the morning, but I want to follow the trend of waking up early to work to be successful," Ha shared.

The 23-year-old girl said that she used to work all night long, but the noisy, stuffy space, where people mostly came to sleep or talk, made her lose focus. Going to a coffee shop here, although crowded, is very peaceful. "It seems like everyone wants to quietly enjoy Hanoi's early morning," Ha said.

For nearly a week now, from 3am, the milk tea shop on Tong Dan street has attracted hundreds of young people to line up. According to the shop's manager, this is the only establishment that opens from 4am and only takes place from June 1 to June 9 with the desire to give customers the experience of enjoying drinks during the hours when there are few people passing by. Customers can see the Co Tan flower garden and listen to songs about Hanoi, gentle instrumental music.

"Every day, the shop is full of customers before it opens. Some come out of curiosity, some come to study, work, or hang out with friends," the manager said, adding that he is proposing to fix these opening hours if they continue to be popular.

Ms. Le Thuy, 50 years old, who lives on this street, said that these past few days she was surprised by the fact that it was always crowded with people sitting and drinking coffee and milk tea. "Customers were coming and going, many people were also standing and taking pictures with the street, I found it strange. Before, I only saw mainly middle-aged and elderly people who enjoyed going to coffee shops early in the morning," Ms. Thuy said.

Talking about the phenomenon of young people going to coffee shops early in the morning, psychologist Tran Huong Thao from Ho Chi Minh City said that this is not new. The culture of early morning coffee has existed for decades among Hanoians, mostly the elderly and middle-aged, because they often sleep little.

But for young people, after a long day of work, many people stay up late and then try to wake up early, causing the body to reduce dopamine, a happy hormone, which can easily cause insomnia and depression because of not sleeping deeply or enough.

However, it is also good to actively participate once or twice. Going out early in the morning helps them breathe fresh air and reduce noise pollution from vehicles and construction sites.

Also following the trend of waking up early to go to the shop, Minh Anh, 22 years old, in Cau Giay district, said she left after 15 minutes, mainly to take a "virtual life" video to show off to her friends. The sudden change in her working hours made her tired, so she had to take a day off to catch up on sleep.

"Drinking milk tea without having breakfast made my stomach upset. Next time I will learn from my mistake," said the 22-year-old girl.

Similarly, Quoc Minh, 24 years old, after the challenge of going all night until morning, from eating pho at a street vendor at 12 midnight, watching Quang Ba flower market to drinking milk tea at 4 pm and then walking around the old town, the young man was exhausted.

"This trend is only worth trying once, but waking up early to stay healthy requires a long process of practice and maintenance," Minh said.