FIELD OF DREAMS: Visitors walk around the Crystal Cloud art installation on top of a hill in Yen Bai province


PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION AIMS TO BRING TOURISTS TO REMOTE VIETNAM HILLS HUGE crowds trekked to the remote rice terraces of northern Vietnam to see a “crystal cloud” installation featuring 58,000 shimmer­ing beads aimed at boost­ing tourism in a region better known for agricul­ture than bling-inspired public art. Local farmers mingled with curious tourists last month to capture photos of the netting decorated with Swarovski crystals and draped over towering bam­boo and steel poles on the top of the terraced hill in Yen Bai province. Some were in awe of the unexpected display in the far-flung rice field. “This is unique.…