To experience a traditional medicine museum in Binh Duong

Upon arrival at Vietnam Traditional Medicine Museum in Binh Duong (Fito Museum), we were very surprised because in the heart of Binh Duong there was such a beautiful private museum of traditional medicine. Whether visits with passion for traditional medicine or merely tourists, they will go from one surprise to other surprises here. This is considered as the first private traditional medicine museum in Vietnam.

Tourists experience activities of medicine dispensary and medical examination

 The first museum of Vietnamese traditional medicine

From the center of Thu Dau Mot City along National Highway 13 to Ho Chi Minh City, through People's Committee of Vinh Phu Ward of Thuan An City, on the street's right side, it is the entrance of Fito Museum with a quite long wall, recognizable ancient tile roof. Amidst the hustle and bustle of people and cars' flow, the museum appeared as an interesting point about the existence of traditional values among the modern life today.

Nguyen Thanh Hang, Fito Museum Manager in Binh Duong, said that over more than 20 years of researching, collecting and building, Fito Museum has officially opened to visitors from August 12th 2016. Fito Museum is a complex of more than 2,000 square meters, consists of traditional Vietnamese architectural buildings, is located in front of Fito Pharma Factory. According to Ms. Nguyen, the museum's ancient features are characterized by wooden frames of 200-300 years old that Le Khac Tam, the owner of the museum, collected from northern provinces. There are also many pictures incrusted with mother-of-pearl, hand-sculptured paintings depicting daily-life activities of traditional medicine industry in Vietnamese community, helping viewers go back to the past to better understand medical treatment of Vietnamese people in the past.

To preserve thousands of precious artifacts

Hidden behind a simple, rustic-looking museum gate is a space that is arranged with a series of valuable documents on traditional medicine that the museum owner has collected and researched in a long time. The architecture inside the museum follows the style of traditional ancient houses, with tiled roofs, wooden columns, and baked brick floors. There are 14 that are displaying and preserving about 3,000 precious objects, remedies and photos related to traditional medicine.

Following a museum guide, we took a tour of the museum. Before visiting and exploring display topics, visitors learn about the traditional Vietnamese medicine profession through a documentary film shown in room number 1. People also learn about the world of Vietnamese medicinal plants through 600 pictures of medicinal plants displayed and introduced in this space. These are pictures in the Fito Museum's 1,000 paintings about medicinal plants and animals - the largest collection of hand-painted medicinal herbs in Vietnam. In addition, the room also displays posters introducing in detail animals and minerals used as medicine.

Just after the first space and the information people received is a lot, but the desire for learning and discovering the unknown still motivates us to come to the remaining galleries. In fact, each exhibition area here gives visitors a very interesting feeling mixed with admiration for the owner, who has a vast collection of precious antiques and pictures. In gallery 2, there are many documents, pictures and artifacts related to the traditional medicine profession from the era of Hung Kings, the Northern colonial period, the Ly, Tran, Hau Le, and Nguyen dynasties until the present time. This includes antiques used to make medicine dating back about 3,000 years old and from the 18th and 19th centuries. Or the model of the oriental medicine pharmacy in room No.3 is also a place where many visitors enjoy wood carvings, scenes related to the traditional medicine profession with signs, medicine dispensers, tables to feel patient's pulse… Visitors can play the role of a medicine dispenser in an "ao dai" outfit or a doctor to experience.

A special thing of Fito Museum is that the smell of oriental medicine is always present everywhere. Perhaps this is also a unique feature that only exists in museums of traditional medicine. After visiting 14 galleries, visitors may stop to take photos at some zones in the museum, in the herbal garden, next to the large wine-soaking pots - the wonderful works of famous pottery villages in Vietnam or next to stone and wood artifacts with sculptured patterns of traditional medicine.

Before closing this tour, visitors may stop to enjoy and shop for herbal teas, medicinal wine, oriental medicine and fresh food at Museum Shop located on the right side at the entrance of the museum. After 90-minute-long tour around museum, each visitor may have different feelings, but most of them will be very excited about a museum of traditional medicine in the heart of Binh Duong. Not only preserving many artifacts, photos, valuable remedies, the museum is also considered to be a place with many beautiful impression by visitors coming to Binh Duong.

Each gallery brings visitors a different sense of discovery and excitement. In addition to the above rooms, at Fito Museum, visitors may also visit: royal physicians' institute; South pharmacy model; classic remedies according to traditional medicine; place for display and introduction of medicinal wine; traditional oriental medicine; methods of preparation of traditional medicine; tools to prepare traditional medicine; oriental medicine products of Fitopharma Factory. There is also a free consultation room in charge of the company's physicians.

Reported by Hong Thuan - Translated by Ngoc Huynh