VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung signed into existence on Monday the Viet Nam National Museum of History by merging the Viet Nam History Museum and the Viet Nam Museum of Revolution, both are in Ha Noi.

The new museum will be first among equals in the network of State-run museums under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

With more than 2,200sq.m of space, the museum will display some 100,000 precious artefacts.

* Ha Noi set to flower into new year

Lotus blooms will feature prominently at the 2012 Ha Noi Flower Festival to be held on several streets from December 30 to January 2 to celebrate New Year.

The places to be festooned include Dinh Tien Hoang, Le Thai To, Le Lai, and Le Thach Streets and Ly Thai To Flower Garden and Hoan Kiem Lake.

The Ha Noi Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism says the festival's theme will be Flower Heritage, featuring Viet Nam's world heritages as designated by UNESCO – including the Giong Festival, Thang Long Royal Citadel, the Temple of Literature, and ca tru, an original, academic-natured art performance from the North.

The sixth annual event will also highlight other cultural heritages and sites like Ha Long Bay, Ho Dynasty Citadel, My Son towers complex, Hue royal music, and Central Highlands gongs.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News