SHOPPING FOR SILK IN HOI AN

The former trading port of Hoi An attracts visitors with its ancient buildings, pretty river views and tailor-made fashions.

In the 16th century, the riverside town of Hoi An was a bustling trading port, its harbor packed with ships from China, Japan, Holland and beyond. The foreign ships came with the southern trade-winds, exchanged their goods for local wares and, six months later, business was brisk, with Vietnamese merchants selling products from the sea: ethnic Cham people peddling pottery and forest products; K’Ho traders dealing coffee beans; and Ede trading black pepper. Bring back to your home a beautiful Hoi An silk pieces as great gift for your Vietnam Travel vacation.

To meet international demand, local craftspeople formed guilds, then established craft villages that specialize in producing popular items. Some local village’s fame has endured to this day. Kim Bong village is known for its woodwork and Thanh Ha village for its pottery. Merchants introduced mulberry cultivation and silk processing to the Bao Loc Highlands, where this industry flourished. Faifo became famous for its fine silk.

When the river silted over, the merchants stopped coming and Hoi An because a sleepy hamlet, dozing like Sleeping Beauty for 300 years. Get your best Vietnam Travel Deals from Viet Vision Travel. Then word of the town’s beauty began to spread, attracting visited from around the world. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, Hoi An offers peaceful streets lined with locally-made handicrafts. Many of the old trades have been resurrected, and the silk industry is especially successful. Dozens of shops offer silk and speedy tailoring services.

Just how fast are Hoi An’s tailors? When a group of 60 Russian CEOs visiting nearby Danang needed 60 traditional Vietnamese outfits to wear to a party, A Dong Silk (www.adongsilk.com) sewed them up in just 12 hours. One of the oldest tailor shops in town, A Dong is also one of the biggest, with 80 employees. last April the company even introduced Hoi An’s silk and fashions to the world at the Vietnam-Italy Trade Workshop in Milan.

If you make it to Hoi An, enjoy the town’s cultural sites and fantastic shopping. After 300 years of solitude this little town is once visitors.

Fund shortage threatens old homes in Hoi An

When the flood season comes, many Hoi An residents fear their centuries-old houses might collapse anytime.

The town has been flooded five times this year, including once last month when Bach Dang, Nguyen Thai Hoc, and Tran Phu streets submerged to a depth of over one metre.

Tran Phu and Nguyen Thai Hoc Streets are well-known for several homes dating to the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Their architecture is a medley of Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese styles.

“My old house has been inundated for several days and is in bad shape and about to collapse,” Tran Van Sung, the owner of a house on Bach Dang Street lamented.

“We have to run around the house to avoid water from the leaking roof,” he said.

Hoi An: old and young city

Hoi An is located at the lower section of the Thu Bon River, which is the center of flooding. Natural disasters and floods have left serious consequences in the city. The flood in 2007 submerged hundreds of old houses, which has quickened the downgrading process of relics.

 

The ancient city of Hoi An (photo: Kimstartravel.com)
A big difficulty for Hoi An is many ancient houses need urgent restoration to avoid collapse. The capital needed for this job is very huge while the State budget is limited.

 

Hoi An has tried at its best to raise capital from various sources and taken many urgent measures to protect these houses. Hoi An and Quang Nam province are working on a master scheme to preserve and bring into full play the values of Hoi An ancient city to submit to the government.

Hoi An tourism faces tough year

Nguyen Thi Thanh, sales and marketing manager at Hoi An Tourist Service Joint-Stock Company, said the number of local and foreign tourists was expected to fall from 20 per cent to 30 per cent for the rest of the year.

The majority of tourists in the first 10 months of the year were from the US, France and Germany.

Arfan Marwazi Ismail, general director of Hoi An Riverside Resort&Spa, said a lack of advertising and low quality services were also to blame.

The State should have better facilities, particularly for Australian and Japanese tourists, he said.

Claude M Balland, general director of Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort&Spa, said the most important factor was improving quality of services and training staff.