Photo Galleries
Hoi An Street Scenes
March 2015
The carefully preserved old trading town of Hoi An is self-consciously picturesque, in the manner of Colonial Williamsburg or Rottenberg, Germany. It's very touristy but still charming, with its antique houses and lantern-lit riverfront. As it has been for centuries, Hoi An is still famous for its fabric shops, tailors, and craft artisans, so we had fun shopping for our wardrobes and for our friend AJ’s new house.
The old quarter of Hoi An (once a booming port) as seen from the river
Some of Hoi An's well-preserved old buildings (traders' homes and shops)
Many of Hoi An's old houses are painted this lovely yellow color
Hoi An is famous for its silk lanterns
Cutting fabric strips for lanterns
Fabric strips are carefully pasted onto bamboo frames
A riverfront scene (many of the boats are now floating bars or used to give rides to tourists)
A dragon sculpture on the riverfront
A man demonstrating a traditional mechanism for raising fishing nets from the river bottom
As the net came up, a white egret swooped in to check for fish
Hoi An's iconic Japanese covered bridge, built in the early 1500s
We saw lots of couples getting engagement photos taken in Hoi An
Chris, baby Francesca, and an Australian tour group got pulled into a couple's wedding photos
The bridge is flanked by statues of dogs at one end and monkeys at the other, suggesting it was built in a Year of the Monkey and finished in a Year of the Dog
The bridge includes a small temple on its north side to the Chinese god known as the "Emperor of the North," who is thought to protect sailors
Hanging out near the Japanese bridge
Carved roof beams in one of Hoi An's many Chinese assembly halls, each built to help immigrants and traders from a particular part of China
The Chinese goddess of mercy
A boat, a horse, and long hanging coils of incense at an altar in a Chinese assembly hall
A dragon in a fountain at a Chinese assembly hall
This shop in the old quarter sells wonderful model ships
Making a silver-embossed teapot
Some of Hoi An's ubiquitous lanterns
One of Hoi An's many cheap tailor shops
Francesca gets introduced to a visiting Vietnamese boy
A traveling vendor of grilled pork skewers (everything, including the bowl for grilling, is carried in two baskets on a shoulder pole)
The interior of an old Chinese merchant's house
The pillars are inlaid with poems
The characters on the poem pillars are made from mother of pearl inlaid in little bird shapes
Francesca makes friends with the neighbors near our guesthouse on An Hoi island
The Chinese community center across the street from our guesthouse in An Hoi
River boats moored in the shade of the An Hoi bridge
At night, the main street of An Hoi turns into an outdoor craft market
Lanterns are one of the main items for sale
The bridge between An Hoi and Hoi An lit up at night
Vendors selling little boxes with candles that you can float on the river
The Japanese bridge lit up at night
We stumbled on a concert by students from a prep school in New Hampshire!
Making friends with more local babies
Strolling on a balmy night under the lanterns is one of the great pleasures of Hoi An
