Woman sells 4 houses, flees Hanoi to escape haze

Minh, 45, was born into a poor family in the city’s suburban district of Son Tay, but her relentless efforts brought her a great career and enabled her to become the head of procurement at the JW Marriott hotel.

She also founded two import-export companies on her own. Her earnings, which amounted to hundreds of millions of dong (VND100 million = US$3,927) a month, enabled her to buy five properties in the most sought-after areas in Hanoi.

"I had always planned to live in Hanoi for the long term because I believed the city provided more opportunities to earn money than rural areas," she says.

But in 2015 she had a health crisis that entailed the removal of her gallbladder. Two years later she frequently suffered from hives.

"I was akin to an air pollution prediction device," she says. "Whenever I felt itchy, the next day the AQI (air quality index) would turn purple, indicating severely polluted air. The more polluted the air, the worse my skin allergies became."

She had to routinely take antihistamines, and stopping them would cause her allergies to flare up again. Her doctor cautioned that regular medication like that could eventually harm her liver, further aggravating her skin conditions.

Her life became unbearable. The allergies prevented her from concentrating at work and even sapped her motivation to get up from bed each day.

Her son, a high school student, also struggled with chronic allergic rhinitis and frequently needed antibiotics. Her mother’s health deteriorated, and was later diagnosed with lung cancer. Her father suddenly had a stroke and consistently struggled to breathe.

"I felt like going insane, wanting to smash something," she says. "I lost interest in everything, feeling that money and status were no longer important."

Hanoi’s Long Bien bridge area could be seen covered in fog Dec. 11, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, air pollution in Hanoi has worsened over the past 10 years, with each year especially bad from October to April of the following year.

The National Environmental Status Report for 2016-2020 shows the average PM2.5 dust concentration in Hanoi was almost double the national level.

In 2019 days with AQI categorized as unhealthy accounted for 30.5%.

A study conducted in August 2021 by Live&Learn Vietnam, the Hanoi University of Public Health, and Vietnam National University on the impact of air pollution on community health in Hanoi found that in 2019 alone, there were 2,855 premature deaths in the city due to exposure to PM2.5 dust. This accounted for 12% of all cases in individuals over the age of 25.

The total potential life years lost by the population was 79,933 years, and average life expectancy lost due to exposure to PM2.5 was 908 days, or 2.49 years.

Significantly, the rise in PM2.5 resulted in over 1,000 hospital admissions annually due to cardiovascular diseases and 3,000 cases due to respiratory issues, accounting for 1.2% and 2.4% of the total number of cases in the city.

To escape the suffocation in Hanoi, Minh and her son backpacked along the coast down to the central region for a month.

The further they went, the more their health improved and became marked.

During a stop in Van Phong Bay in Central Vietnam’s Khanh Hoa province, her son looked up at the sky and exclaimed: "It’s the first time in my life I’ve seen so many stars!"

Suddenly Minh realized it had been a long time since she had seen a clear sky or nights as bright as day. Hanoi was always obscured by dust, smoke, and high-rise buildings.

"I felt sorry for my disadvantaged son," she says.

Van Phong Bay is renowned for its beautiful coral reefs, long white sandy beaches and calm waters.

Coincidentally, Minh learned on the same day that a seaside house was for sale, she went to see it and put down a deposit after 15 minutes. The next day she paid in full.

Minh in front of her seaside house at Van Phong Bay, 2018. Photo courtesy of Minh

After the trip mother and son returned to Hanoi and continued to suffer from allergies. At that point Minh thought it was time to leave the capital.

In 2018 she sold four of her five Hanoi houses, closed her two companies, and resigned from her job to the astonishment of her colleagues and dismay of her parents.

"At that time I just thought about how to live healthily and happily," she says.

After relocating to Van Phong she began to swim every morning before going home to fix the newly bought house, read books, chat with neighbors, and cook.

"I no longer had rashes, and my son no longer had rhinitis or the need for any medication."

Recently she invited her divorced father from Hanoi to come and live with her.

Every day he would swim in the sea, watch the sunrise and wait for sunset, read books and chat with fishermen. From being a bedridden man who constantly told his daughter "I will die tomorrow," he can now walk around and is even looking for a partner.

"Living in Hanoi was suffocating and oppressive, but here the air is clean, I feel healthier, and my blood pressure has stabilized," he says.

Tra Giang, 33, a former subordinate of Minh at the JW Marriott, was surprised when the latter suddenly decided to quit and move to Khanh Hoa. But last year, after meeting her again, she saw a "different" Minh.

"Back then she was always stressed, tired and occasionally irritable," Giang says. "But now she is more outgoing, happy, youthful, and full of energy."

Minh’s house overlooks the sea. Photo courtesy of Minh

As her physical and mental health improved and her energy returned, Minh wanted to work again. Seeing the beauty of Van Phong Bay, she opened a homestay for tourists. She also established a company each in Vietnam and Italy.

"My income is now many times what it was in Hanoi," she says.

Her son, who studied online since Covid-19, was admitted to a polytechnic university in Italy.

Minh feels her life is more joyful and meaningful now. She has also built up a large network of relationships around the world.

She believes that with diligence and creativity success is possible anywhere. She now realizes that the notion that success only comes in the city, which she herself used to have, causes people to flock there not only causing air pollution but also inadvertently putting pressure on supporting services.

"I realized that one does not need to be in Hanoi to become wealthy," she concludes.