Ethnic Museum Opens in Hanoi

Museums have never been Vietnam’s long suit, with most focusing on the war years. But Hanoi’s new Museum of Ethnology, devoted to that country’s 54 minority groups, offers a refreshing perspective on Vietnam’s diversity and is proving popular with tourists.

The museum, which opened last November and was designed with the help of the Musee de l’Homme in Paris, has more than 15,000 artifacts on display and is a center for research and conservation. Guides speak Vietnamese, French and English. A nonprofit shop next door sells traditional handicrafts.

Museum admission is about 70 cents. The museum, telephone 011-84-4-756-2193, is open daily except Mondays, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. The 20-minute cab ride from downtown costs about $4.