A pretty town on the Thu Boàn river, the previous Chinese and Japanese populations have both left their marks along with the more common French influence. Its main interest is historical buildings of which there are a prolific number in the centre of town, including the Chinese Assembly Halls and the Japanese bridge (on Tran Phu street) which forms the basis of the towns logo. The town retains a wonderful charm with many art galleries and cosy looking pubs to entice the visitor. All the restaurants we ate in were fantastic, especially a local delicacy called white rose, a pasta dish served in a petal shape with seafood in the middle.
Many travellers head to Hoi An for cheap clothing, as a huge number of tailors now exist and will make a tailored suit for around $30. You can choose the fabric you want including silk, wool and cashmere. Inside one of these tailors we were shown the entire silk making process from 300 year old weaving machines, to the silk worm housings. It takes 15 cocoons to make a single 500m thread, and thousands of these threads to make a single garment!
