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HOI AN
Hoi An, Light Bright,
Let There Be Light, A Warm Glow
 HOI AN
The ancient town of Hoi An is located 30km to
the south of Danang. Once known by the name Faifo it was
familiar to merchants the world over. Hoi an boasts some
well-preserved houses in old Japanese and Chinese styles;
 temples chapels and houses in an old Vietnamese architectural
style. Owing to the above characteristics of a tourist area Danang makes continuous efforts to bring into full play the
advantages of this "non-smoke" industry in order to attract
capital for investing in the field of infrastructure upgrading
and construction of new tourist facilities. That will
contributes to the cause of socio-economic development
increasingly giving the city a face-lift quickly improving the
spiritual and material life of the people. The ancient town of
Hoi An, lies on the banks of the Thu Bon River. Occupied by
early western traders, Hoi An was one of the major trading
centers of Southeast Asia in the 16th century. Hoi An has a
distinct Chinese atmosphere with low, tiled-roof houses and
narrow streets; the original structure of some of these streets
still remains almost intact. All the houses were made of rare
wood, decorated with lacquered boards and panels engraved with
Chinese characters. Pillars were also carved with ornamental
designs. Tourists can visit the relics of the Sa Huynh and Champ
cultures. They can also enjoy the beautiful scenery of the
romantic Hoi An River, Cua Dai Beach, and Cham Island. Over the
last few years, Hoi An has become a very popular tourist
destination in the country.
LIGHT
BRIGHT
No fluorescent lights. No motorcycles. No
television. On the 15th day of each lunar month, the riverside
town of Hoi An gives modern life the night off. In a
wood-fronted shop house a woman in traditional dress sits at a
desk, bathed in the light of a lantern made from a simple bamboo
fish-trap. Outside, two old men are absorbed in a candlelit game
of Chinese checkers.
 These scenes, straight out of the 19th
century, still take place in Hoi An, a sleepy riverside town in
the central province of Quang Nam. Hoi An has long been a
cultural crossroads. More than five centuries ago the Vietnamese
nation of Dai Viet expanded its territory southwards,
encroaching on the Indian zed kingdom of Champ, which covered
much of what is now central Vietnam. Hoi An, located on the Hoai
River, emerged when Japanese and Chinese traders built a
commercial district there in the 16th century. These diverse
cultural influences remain visible today. Visitors will find Hoi
An's Old Quarter lined with two-story Chinese shop houses, their
elaborately carved wooden facades and moss-covered tile roofs
having withstood the ravages of more than 300 years of weather
and warfare. These proud old buildings, which back onto the
river, remind visitors of another era, when Hoi An's market was
filled with wares from as far field as India and Europe.
Colorful guildhalls, founded by ethnic Chinese from Guangdong
and Fijian provinces, stand quietly, a testament to the town's
trading roots. While Hoi An's old-fashioned charm is always
visible, on the 15th of every lunar month modernity takes
another step back. On these evenings the town turns off its
street lamps and fluorescent lights, leaving the Old Quarter
bathed in the warm glow of colored silk, glass and paper
lanterns. In ancient times, Vietnamese people made lamps out of
shallow bowls filled with oil. Later, foreign traders introduced
lanterns, ranging from round and hexagonal designs from China to
diamond- and star-shaped ones from Japan.
LET
THERE BE LIGHT
When developing plans to preserve their
town's ancient character, Hoi An residents decided to revive the
practice of using colored lanterns. Starting in the fall of
1998, one night each month was declared a "lantern festival".
 On
the 15th day of each lunar month, residents on Tran Phu, Nguyen
Thai Hoc, Le Loi and Bach Dang streets switch off their lights
and hang cloth and paper lanterns in their porches and windows.
Television sets, radios, streetlights and neon lights are turned
off. In the ensuing quiet the streets of Hoi An are at their
most romantic, the darkness broken only by jewel-toned lanterns
in all manner of shapes and sizes. Strolling through the
lantern-lit streets is like walking into a fairytale. It is all
the more picturesque since motor vehicles are banned from Hoi
An's Old Quarter. On Trai Phu Street, stop at the beautifully
preserved Faifo Restaurant to sample some traditional
Chinese-style pastries. Or walk on to the Treated Café, where
bamboo baskets, commonly used to wash rice, have been
transformed into unique lanterns. These basket lamps are but one
example of people's creativity as they experiment with new
shapes and materials, including lights made from hollow bamboo
tubes.
A WARM
GLOW
The 15th day of the lunar month is a Buddhist
day of worship. Residents place offerings of food and incense on
their ancestral altars and visit one of Hoi An's many pagodas.
The scent of incense and the sounds of people singing add to the
town's enchanted atmosphere. On these evenings, visitors will
get a rare glimpse into another era. These nights are a welcome
reminder of life's unexpected beauty
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