Hội An’s old town is the most complete survival of a Southeast Asian trading port from the age of Japanese, Chinese, Dutch and Portuguese merchants. Its streets, assembly halls and covered bridge stand largely as they were built, and at night the waterfront is strung with coloured paper lanterns.
At a glance
Hội An sits on the Thu Bồn River in Quảng Nam Province and is considered the only intact ancient trading port left in Southeast Asia. The streets, houses and layout of the merchant town, built up between the 15th and 18th centuries, survive almost unchanged. The town escaped serious damage during the Vietnam War, reportedly because it held little strategic value for American forces, and this accident of history is a large part of why it looks the way it does today.
The old town itself is compact and can be explored on foot without difficulty. Once a month, on the night of the full moon, the whole quarter switches off its electric lighting in favour of oil lamps and lanterns, an event known locally as the Hội An Lantern Festival.
Key facts
- Japanese Covered Bridge: Built in 1593 by the Japanese merchant community, it links the old Japanese and Chinese quarters and contains a small temple, Chùa Cầu, dedicated to the Northern God. It has been rebuilt more than once but keeps its original design and appears on the 20,000 Vietnamese Dong banknote.
- Chinese assembly halls: Five clan halls remain, each built by a different dialect group of Chinese merchants: Phúc Kiến, Triều Châu, Hải Nam, Quảng Đông and Quỳnh Phủ. Phúc Kiến Hall, dedicated to the goddess Thiên Hậu, is generally considered the most impressive.
- Tailoring: Hội An has a large number of tailor shops, many able to make a fitted suit within a couple of days, drawing on a wholesale market that sells silk, wool and linen.
- Coordinates: 15.8800° N, 108.3350° E.
History
Before Vietnamese settlement, the site was a Cham trading port known as Lâm Ấp Phố. The Cham were a Hindu people who ruled central Vietnam from around the 2nd to the 15th century, and their temples survive at Mỹ Sơn, some distance inland.
From the 15th to the 17th century Hội An grew into one of the principal trading ports of Southeast Asia, with Japanese, Chinese, Dutch, Portuguese and later French merchants maintaining warehouses and houses there. The silting of the Thu Bồn River in the 18th and 19th centuries shifted trade north to Da Nang, and the resulting economic decline is what allowed the old town to survive largely untouched. Hội An Ancient Town was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.
What you see
The Thu Bồn River waterfront is the focus of the old town, lined with merchant houses that blend Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese architectural styles. These houses were typically built very narrow but very deep, a shape that maximised river or street frontage while keeping the taxable width to a minimum.
The Tấn Kỳ Old House is one of the best known of these dwellings, having been owned and occupied by the same Vietnamese family for seven generations.
Practical information
- Entry: A combined ticket gives access to several of the heritage sites, including the assembly halls, old houses and the Japanese Covered Bridge; current pricing is best checked with the local tourism authority before travelling.
- Traffic-free hours: Parts of the old town are closed to vehicles at set times of day; check current arrangements locally, and consider hiring a bicycle or cyclo instead.
- Best time to visit: February to April is cool and dry, ahead of the monsoon, and includes Tết in February. September to December brings flood season, when the Thu Bồn can rise well into the old town.
- Lantern Festival: Held on the night of the full moon each lunar month, with lanterns released onto the river from boats. It is a striking event but the town becomes very busy, so accommodation should be booked well ahead.
Getting there
The nearest airport is Da Nang International Airport, from where onward travel to Hội An is by taxi or ride-hailing car. Da Nang is also reachable by train, with a taxi transfer to complete the journey to the old town.
Nearby
- Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary — around 40 km southwest, a Cham Hindu temple complex dedicated to Shiva, dating from the 4th to 13th century and inscribed as a separate UNESCO World Heritage Site; many of its original structures were destroyed during American bombing in the Vietnam War.
- An Bàng Beach — some 4–5 km east of the old town, quieter and less developed, though sea erosion has claimed several beachfront properties in recent years.
- Cửa Đại Beach — close to An Bàng at the mouth of the Thu Bồn River, with more resort development.
- Huế — around 120 km north, the last capital of unified Vietnam under the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945, with its Citadel, Forbidden Purple City and Royal Tombs; the city and its Citadel suffered heavy damage during the 1968 Tet Offensive and restoration continues.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Hội An
- Wikipedia, Japanese Covered Bridge
- Wikipedia, Thu Bồn River
- UNESCO, Hội An Ancient Town, WHS reference 948
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