Located some 25km southeast of danang vietnam is the ancient town of Hoi An. One of the key attractions of central viet nam, it occupies a scenic location along the banks of the Thu Bon River, just a few kilometres inland from the coast and the charms of lovely Cua Dai Beach. To the south is
the Unesco-listed Cham site of My Son.
History of Hoi An
Hoi An traces its roots back to the ancient Champa kingdom, when it was a seaport known as Dai Chien. In the 13th and 14th centuries, it developed under the control of the Tran dynasty (1225–1400). At the beginning of the 16th century, the first Portuguese arrived to explore the coastline of Central Vietnam, to be followed by expeditions led by the Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, British and French. The Europeans brought the first Catholic missionaries (and later the Protestants), making Hoi An one of the earliest places to be exposed to Christianity. Among them was the Jesuit priest Alexandre de Rhodes, who devised the Romanised form of the Vietnamese language.
Hoi An appeared in Western travelogues in the 17th and 18th centuries as Faifo or Hai Po. For several centuries, it was one of the most important trading ports in all of Southeast Asia and an important centre of cultural exchange between Europe and the Orient. By the beginning of the 19th century, however, its fortunes were in free-fall. The conflict between the Trinh and Nguyen Lords and the Tay Son faction caused considerable damage, while the mouth of the Thu Bon River silted up and prevented the flow of sea traffic. Another port was built at the mouth of the Song Han River, and Danang replaced Hoi An as the centre of trade.
In the early 1980s, Unesco took the initiative and funded a restoration programme to safeguard Hoi An’s Old Quarter and historic monuments, leading to its achieving the World Heritage status in 1999. Unfortunately many of Hoi An’s monuments are threatened by annual floods (mainly between October and November) when the water spills over the river banks and submerges streets in up to 3m (10ft) of water, causing serious damage.
Hoi An's atmospheric Old Town
These days, Hoi An is a relaxed town of about 120,000 people, 10 per cent of whom live in the Old Quarter, which has been turned into a historical showpiece for tourists. Many of the older homes, with their wooden beams, carved doors and airy, open rooms, have been turned into souvenir shops masquerading as museums. While it’s certainly the old architecture that draws the tourist buses, there’s no denying that shopping is the new heart and soul of Hoi An. Bespoke tailor shops are found everywhere, and it's not uncommon to see tourists lugging entire suitcases filled with newly tailored suits and dresses. In fact, some worry that the very thing that makes Hoi An attractive – its quiet charm and peaceful atmosphere – is being ruined. Nearly all of the buildings in the Old Town have been turned into shops or restaurants, and about 80 per cent of the residents now directly derive their income from tourism.
>>> Also see: beauty of Hanoi old quarters
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