Prince William on Wednesday afternoon kicked back over a glass of Vietnamese coffee on a sidewalk along a small road in Hanoi’s Old Quarter.

On the afternoon of his first day in Vietnam’s capital, the Duke of Cambridge retreated to a roadside café to enjoy Vietnamese style coffee and speak with locals about wildlife conservation.

Prince William landed at the capital’s Noi Bai International Airport earlier the same day to kick off his two-day working visit to the country focusing on wildlife conservation.

He visited Vietnamese leaders in the morning before attending a meeting with experts in traditional Vietnamese medicine as well as public figures, representatives from non-governmental organizations, celebrities, and the business community in Hanoi later the same day.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, leaves his car to have a walk around Hanoi’s Old Quarter on November 16, 2016. Video credit: Tuoi Tre

Speaking with traditional medicine experts, the duke expressed his hope that wild animals and their body parts would cease to be used as an ingredient in traditional remedies in Vietnam and other countries.

The replacement of wild animals, especially bears and rhinos, with alternative medicinal herbs in traditional Vietnamese remedies is “absolutely feasible,” according to Tran Van Ban, chairman of the Vietnam National Oriental Traditional Medicine Association, who afforded Tuoi Tre (Youth) an interview the same day.

“For example, bear bile can dissolve blood clots, but the same pharmacological properties can be achieved by the use of other herbs such as mahonia nepalensis, sappanwood, peach pits, and safflower,” Ban explained.

Bears are raised illegally on farms across the Southeast Asian country to feed the regional demand for their bile - the digestive fluid which is believed to possess healing properties in traditional medicine.

Chairman Ban added that his association and Hong Kong-based Animals Asia foundation are working together to conduct research on ingredients alternative to wild animals’ body parts.

Ban asserted that the suggestion by Prince William matches Vietnam’s soil condition, which is favorable for the growth of nearly 5,000 medicinal herbs, and is consistent with the global trend toward the protection and conservation of wildlife and the natural environment.

In October 2013, the Vietnamese government passed a decision laying out the country’s plan to develop and manufacture herbal medicine by 2020 with a vision to the year 2030.

After leaving the Old Quarter, the British monarch visited Ngoc Son Temple (Temple of the Jade Mountain) near Hoan Kiem Lake, a popular tourist site in the Vietnamese capital.

Prince William is scheduled to attend the third International Wildlife Trade Conference (IWTC) on Thursday, hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, sits with a group of Vietnamese public figures and wildlife conservation advocates at a roadside café on Thuoc Bac Street in Hanoi’s Old Quarter on November 16, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, sits with a group of Vietnamese public figures and wildlife conservation advocates at a roadside café on Thuoc Bac Street in Hanoi’s Old Quarter on November 16, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, walks around Hanoi’s Old Quarter on November 16, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, waves at onlookers in Hanoi’s Old Quarter on November 16, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, leaves Ngoc Son Temple in Hanoi on November 16, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, talks with a foreign tourist outside Ngoc Son Temple in Hanoi on November 16, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre

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