Shopping in Vietnam

Vietnam has a rich cultural heritage and the list of traditional arts and crafts produced by the country is truly impressive: textiles, tapestries, jewellery, metalwork, lacquer ware and ceramics. Many of them are available throughout the country and especially in larger metropolises like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, but some are (so to say) `regional specialties’- like the tapestries of Haiphong and Hanoi; the ceramics of Quang Ninh; the jewellery and metal ware of Thai Binh, Hanoi and Hai Hung; and the wood carvings of Phu Xuyen.

You’ll obviously get a wider range and lower prices at the places where these crafts are primarily concentrated, but if you don’t have the time- or the energy- to step out of Hanoi (or wherever you are- provided it’s a large city), you should still be able to find something nice enough to buy.

Bargaining is quite the norm in Vietnam (as it is in much of South East Asia), but don’t get carried away - as also in much of South East Asia, a display of temper is considered very rude.