Located by the banks of the peaceful Thu Bon River, Hoi An Ancient Town (Quang Nam province) is about 30 kilometers Southeast of Danang City. Hoi An shares the borders with Duy Xuyen district in th South, Dien Ban district in the West and North and the Pacific ocean (the East Sea) in the East. Hoi An Ancient Town consists of 10 wards and 3 villages, one of which is an 15 kilometer offshore island

Hoi An is an enclave of beautifully preserved yellow and blue buildings that makes you feel like you just stepped back in time into an 18th-century trading post. Sapphire waters lie on the other side of a 10-minute bike ride north through stagnant rice paddies, old French colonial villas, and the occasional propaganda billboard. The beachfront of the famed China Beach — the beach where soldiers were sent for R&R during the war — makes up the southern stretch. Recently named one of the most luxurious beaches in the world by Forbes, this white sand beach is home to comfy resorts and secluded swaths of sand.

Hoi An, however, has much more to offer than just a beach. Declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1999, this coastal village was once known as the premier trading post in Southeast Asia for the Chinese and Japanese.

A bike ride around town takes you back to life in a small far-flung trading settlement. However, since the influx of visitors, shoppers are more likely to come across trinkets and “made-to-measure” one-day tailors than authentic goods.

Market life is still prevalent next to the river where you will find fishermen paddling along in their boats, stirring up their catch of the day. For a sense of life before modern times, head into select buildings in the Old Quarter where you can view 200-year-old interiors that have been preserved for public viewing.

The streets in Hoi An are lined with ancient wooden houses with ancient wooden houses which possess both old and sophisticated styles. Visitors can recognize that these houses are always open to visitors so that visitors can look through to the back of houses with frames, pillars, rafters and collar beams. Long parallel streets have the wooden bridge with a low tiled roof and handrail for pedestrians. It is where Pagoda Bridge or Japanese Bridge - the symbol of Hoi An Ancient Town - is situated

This ancient town had been under impact of the old Chinese culture for ages; thus upon arrival in Hoi An, visitors might see colorfully-decorated and pagodas located here and there in the town with their high and wide gates, blue curved ceramic tile on roof, which are very distinctive and unique. Such temples, communal houses and assembly halls, etc had been deeply influenced by the Chinese architecture. Shops along the sidewalks have only enough space for arranging a few chairs and table sets to serve visitor’s food and beverage needs or give them room for reading books comfortably. Everything - houses, pagodas, temples etc in Hoi An are old-aged and ancient but affectionate, familiar and warmly-felt, with make travelers feel relaxed, unworried and unhurried.

Hoi An is most graceful when lanterns are lighted along old streets. Upon the sunset, hundreds of silk lanterns emit light which are sufficient enough for visitors’ walking on sidewalks. Here and there in the street corners or on the sidewalks sat old-aged women by their food-selling bamboo frames whose baskets containe food and are surrounded by clients eating and talking excitedly. Visitors can obtain a fantastic relaxation while walking on Hoi An streets by night. The ancient town seems to bring visitors back hundreds of years ago at a place where there were neither high-rise buildings nor advertising-neon-light supermarkets. The living pace pace appears to be slower so that visitors can get always from hertic life and daily concern. Hoi An has been preserving cultural values which fascinate visitors to come, to explore and discover. All the things in town has been waiting for visitors’footsteps, even once.

Hoai River