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When this woman was born, Vietnam was a French colony. WWII came and brought the Japanese. Then war against the French -- followed by the Americans. After that, reunification arrived along with Bao Cap, or the 'subsidy era', 1975-1986, when, if she was lucky, she got ration coupons that allowed her about a pound of meat a month.

She lived and raised her family in a 24 sq. mt. apartment that may have had a bathroom, and if it did, she may have used it to raise a pig. She probably wouldn't have been able to afford a bar of soap - much less a bicycle or a radio.

Then Doi Moi, or 'renewal', came in the 90s. It brought free markets and people suddenly got wealthier. And here she sits on the sidewalk, amid the noise of Hondas and Nokias, selling joss sticks to burn in the Pagoda.