Hoi An Ancient Town

Hoi An Ancient Town is a well-preserved trading port located in Hoi An City, Da Nang Municipality, central Vietnam, on the Thu Bon River near the coast. Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, it was an important Southeast Asian trading centre from the 15th to 19th centuries. The town is notable for its intact streetscape of wooden merchant houses, assembly halls, pagodas, and the Japanese Covered Bridge reflecting Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese influences.

Visitors can expect a compact, pedestrian-friendly old town with narrow streets lined with yellow-walled merchant houses, Chinese assembly halls, temples, and riverside promenades. The area is largely car-free in the centre, with lantern-lit streets in the evening, small museums and old houses open to ticket holders, markets, tailor shops, cafes and craft shops. Visitors can walk or cycle between sights, view the Thu Bon River, cross the Japanese Covered Bridge, and explore courtyards and communal houses.

Hoi An was a major Southeast Asian trading port from the 15th to 19th centuries, known historically as Faifo. It developed under the Champa Kingdom and later the Nguyen lords, serving merchants from China, Japan, India and Europe. The town retains a fusion of indigenous and foreign architectural styles and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 as an exceptionally well-preserved example of a traditional Asian trading port.

The town reflects a blend of Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and later European cultural influences seen in its architecture, assembly halls, temples and urban layout. It remains a centre for traditional crafts such as lantern making, woodwork, tailoring and folk performances, and preserves customs associated with its historic merchant community.