Hoi An Ancient Town in the Center of Vietnam

Hoi An Ancient Town used to be the biggest sea port in Central of Vietnam from the 15th to the 19th century. For the name of the town, “Hoi” means concentration as Hoi An is the meeting point of mountains, rivers and people. “An” means peaceful or stable place. With the great location, tradition and people there, merchant ships from many countries such as the Netherlands, Great Britain, Japan, France, Portugal, China, Indonesia and Thailand used to anchor here to purchase silk, pottery, tea, pepper and lacquer ware from the Vietnamese traders. Many Chinese and Japanese people settled here and set up their communities together with the Vietnamese. At the end of the 19th  century, the port, after centuries of silt build up from the river, was deemed too shallow and was moved to the city of Danang, Hoi An became “a sleeping beauty”, preserved in a time capsule.

During the French and American Wars tiny Hoi An was bypassed in favor of larger cities with rail links and ports and was known as the city of retired people. Ads local people did not have much job opportunities in town so they all moved to work in other place, such as Danang- the busy town nearby and just coming back to their homeland when retiring. Perhaps that’s why Hoi An still has 844 unique historical relics to discover. Staying in Hoi An is like living in a museum. The streets are still intact just like they used to be hundreds of years ago with ancient houses, the Japanese Bridge and Chinese Congregation Assembly Halls. The influences can still be seen from Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and Westerners who later settled down in the region. Now, tourism like a prince has woken the sleeping beauty. Hoi An Ancient Town is now not only a preserved historical museum but a shopper paradise with crafts from all regions of the country on display. It is also one of the places that have the best hotel and resort in the country; it would be very comfortable for your holiday there