By Minh Nga   December 26, 2023 | 01:26 pm GMT+7 vnexpress

See how Vietnam navigated the tumultuous currents of 2023 in a series of images capturing moments of both sorrow and joy, highlighting the unique and everyday moments of life.

Crowds fill Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City for the countdown to 2023.

Photo by Thanh Tung

37 South Koreans kneel in apology to the victims (including family members and witnesses) of a Vietnam War massacre in which 135 people in Ha My Village were killed by South Korean troops in 1968.

They belong to a South Korean delegation that visited the central province of Quang Nam to attend a death anniversary ceremony in the village organized by the Korea-Vietnam Peace Foundation Feb. 14.

Photo by Nguyen Dong

Two men remove an electronic advertising board of a massage parlor from the sidewalk of Hang Buom Street in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem District on March 16.

Hanoi authorities in March deployed forces to re-establish “sidewalk order”by removing obstacles like billboards and sunshades that encroach on streets.

The campaign brought back order on many streets, but the encroachment quickly returned after the one-month patrols.

Photo by Ngoc Thanh

April 30 Reunification Day crowds overrun the three-kilometer-long Bai Sau, also known as Thuy Van beach, a popular destination in Vung Tau near Ho Chi Minh City, amid scorching weather in the south.

On the first two days of the five-day break to mark the Reunification Day and May Day holidays (April 29-May 3), the coastal town of Vung Tau received 120,000 tourists, accounting for half of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province’s total arrivals.

Photo by Dang Khoa

Vietnamese fans cheer their men’s national football team while watching a Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) match against Thailand live, via public TVs on Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in HCMC May 11.

The match ended with a 1-1 draw. Vietnam then played Indonesia in the semifinal, where they lost 2-3, failing to defend their gold medal.

Photo by Thanh Tung

The Da River, the water source for the largest hydropower plants in Vietnam, dried out in mid-June following continuous heat waves and a lack of rains, causing severe power shortages in the north.

The river spans over 900 km from its origins in China’s Yunnan Province. Some 530 of those kilometers are in Vietnam. The Da then joins the Red River in northern Vietnam’s Phu Tho Province.

It has a hydropower system, with a capacity at 2,400 MW in Son La Province, 1,200 MW in Lai Chau and 1,920 MW in Hoa Binh, the three largest hydropower plants in Vietnam.

For the 2023 summer, there were 97 record-breaking high temperatures across Vietnam, with the highest peak measured at 44.2 degrees Celsius in the central province of Nghe An on May 7.

Photo by Ngoc Thanh

Customers enjoy themselves at a pub on Bui Vien Walking Street, a popular backpacker street in HCMC, while inundated by floodwaters in on the evening of July 5.

Floods have become a common scene in the city during heavy downpours or high tides.

Photo by Dinh Van

Ha Ngoc Truong, 84, looks out onto the scene outside as a train along Ho Chi Minh City’s metro line No.1 moves on the elevated tracks during a test run.

“It’s been such a long journey to ride the city’s first metro line,” he said.

The maiden test run on the entire line of HCMC’s metro No.1 on Aug. 29 carried over 100 passengers through all 14 stations, including three underground, between Thu Duc City and District 1.

Photo by Quynh Tran

A firefighter rescues a 10-year-old boy from an apartment block in Hanoi’s Thanh Xuan District on Sept. 13.

The fire killed 56 people and injured 37 others, making it the deadliest first that has occurred in Vietnam since the ITC shopping mall fire in Ho Chi Minh City killed 60 people in 2002.

According to police, the apartment’s owner had dodged construction laws to turn a ten-story building into an apartment block in the style of “tube houses,” which means it had just one exit at its front while the other three sides were completely closed off. He was arrested several days after the fire.

Photo by Pham Chieu

Passengers sit inside a luxury train connecting Hanoi with Da Nang, two of Vietnam’s most famous tourist destinations. Two high-quality trains went into service on the route on Oct. 20, with ticket prices ranging from US$35-42.

Hanoi Railway Transport Company had invested in upgrading 28 carriages and purchasing new furniture and restroom areas. All crew on board, including the captain and service staff, are able to communicate well in English.

Photo by Giang Huy

Aerial view of the Nhat Tan Bridge in Hanoi on the morning of Nov. 3, when Hanoi recorded poor air quality.

The Pollution Control Department said there had been dust pollution in certain Vietnam localities in November, especially in Hanoi. It said dry weather conditions had caused dust to spread, and the burning of trash and other leftover agricultural products also contributed to more pollution.

Photo by Ngoc Thanh

Dressed up as Santa Claus, three-year-old Viet Anh plays with bubbles on Nguyen Hue walking street in downtown HCMC on Dec. 24

Photo by Quynh Tran