On display at 50 booths are products made from salangane nests, fish sauce, mineral water, interior decorations, handicrafts and ostrich eggs, which are local specialties.

Foreign tourists and beauty contestants for the Miss Universe 2008 title showed their keen interest in the unique method to breed salangane indoor of the Khanh Hoa Salangane Nest Company.

The event will run through July 15.

Of those, 3,000 people continued their tours to Vietnam’s famous landscapes such as Halong Bay, Nha Trang and Cua Lo.

Especially, the Sapa tourist site for the first time welcomed over 1,000 visitors during the Tet holiday.

Zhang Wei Feng, a tourist from Kunming Province, who visited Vietnam for the first time, said he was very excited with the Tet atmosphere and beautiful landscapes in the neighbouring country.

Three village elders have been invited to the class, funded by the Ford foundation, to pass on their skills in making and playing the Taleh, Ta lun and Ta let flutes to 15 learners from Dak Rang Village.

The class, running from February 15 through March, is part of a project to preserve ethnic communities’ cultural heritages.

This year, the project will open two similar classes in other villages.

The expo, co-organised by the Ministry of Culture - Sports and Tourism and the Vietnam Artistic Photographers Association, has been held every two years to showcase outstanding works featuring the Vietnamese people and the country’s beautiful landscapes in the 21st century.

The exhibition features 281 photographs selected from entries by more than 1,000 photographers from 62 provinces and cities across the nation.

Highlights of the exhibition include 30 outstanding photos that have each won awards, such as “Hoi An Ancient Street”, “Highland Area Line” and “Industry Picture”. The exhibition will run until November 4, 2008.