Foreign tourists act as herbalists and patients at the traditional medicine museum in Ho Chi Minh City's District 10.

The Fito Museum of Vietnamese Traditional Pharmacy displays more than 5,000 valuable documents and paintings of herbs and medicinal plants, along with tools for weighing, grinding and making herbal medicine. 

This is the second museum opened by Fito Pharma Co.Ltd. The first one is located in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 10. 

With its hot and humid tropical climate, Vietnam has an abundance of herbs. 

Over the past 2,000 years, Vietnamese ethnobotanists and traditional medicine practitioners have discovered hundreds of medical remedies and accumulated experience in health care, disease prevention and treatment. 

According to the Health Ministry, 1,300 medicinal plant species have been found in the country. Today, herbal medicine is manufactured under World Health Organisation’s good manufacturing practices. 

Tours at the museum give visitors a look into how oriental medicine was made 100 years ago as well as steps of modern manufacturing. 

Across Vietnam there are many herbal medicine shops and clinics. In large cities like Hanoi and HCM City, most of the shops are located on specific streets that are also favourite destinations for tourists.

VNA