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 Photo
essay:
Vietnam Bicycle Tour: Imperial Roots (Central)
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Hoi An
Points of interest: Old Town, art galleries, Japanese Bridge,
Chinese associations, market, river
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Hoi An was a major 17th, 18th & 19th
C port and
trading center for southeast Asia. It was also the first Chinese
settlement in Vietnam. Over time Song Thu Bon (the Thu Bon
River) became silted up and operations moved to Danang and other ports, and
Hoi An became a backwater. |
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Without commerce and money to change, Hoi
An stayed relatively unchanged for a century. In the late 20th century, when money was again
becoming available and they were "modernize" the town some wise leader realized
that it was more valuable staying the same than being modernized. |
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Another initiative to keep
traditional art forms alive is a twice daily singing and dance concert at the
Handicraft Workshop, housed in one of the traditional grand houses. |
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Old town Hoi An is now designated a
World Heritage Site. It has also become a magnet for artists and tourist.
It many place this becomes the kiss of death, but so far Hoi An is pulling it
off superbly. |
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Most residents seem to politely
ignore the swarms of tourist. An those in business to serve the tourist
seem to keep their pride and integrity while selling their goods and providing
their services to the tourist. |
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 Street scene in old town Hoi An,
looking towards Cho Market (left). |
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The sign (left) says "Non-motorized
vehicle area" and it is nicely decorated with potted plants. Beyond the
sign a couple is pushing their motorbike down the road -- a policeman is
standing just off to the right. For those who don't want to power
themselves around town you can hire a cyclo (right). |
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This picture is all about the shoes. The
current fashion is thin high heals with very long pointed toes. |
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Memorial of Quang Nam (Prov)
Patriots (left). Confucius Temple (right) |
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 Japanese Bridge, built in 1593 to
link the Japanese community with the Chinese community across the stream. |
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The shrine in the room off of the
middle of the Japanese Bridge. |
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Alters in the Assembly Hall of the
Cantonese Chinese Congregation. There are a number of associations for the
different Chinese ethnic groups who came to settle in Hoi An in the 1700.
The centers were used for weddings, socializing, discussions, festivals and
eating. |
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Boat alter memorializing the
passage of the Chinese from China to Vietnam. (Chinese Assembly Hall.) |
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  Alters (Chinese Assembly Hall
and other associations.) |
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Back garden of the Chinese Association
with landscaping, ponds, bridges and sculptures. |
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Many headed sculpture in the back
garden of the Chinese Association. The sculpture is covered and colored
with broken pieces of ceramic pottery. |
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Chinese Association: Four seasons
panels, left to right, winter, spring, summer, autumn. |
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(Chinese Assembly Hall.) |
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Interior decoration (right) in the
parlor of a Tanky heritage house, built by a wealthy Vietnamese merchant in the
early 19th century. It is still occupied by the family. The backdoor
to the house opens onto the river side. |
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Tanky house family shrine (left) and a
traditional firm bed (right). The family lived downstairs and kept the
trade goods on the second story. This is because when the floods came,
sometimes annually, it was easier to move the family belongings out than it
would be to move the merchandise. |
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This girl (left) demonstrating Hoi
An's friendly welcome and warm smile is the clerk in the antique shop (since
closed and remodeled into a more upscale business) across the
street from the Tanky house. The furniture shop (right) is next door to
it. |
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Brass shop selling musical
instrument and other things made of brass. |
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A woman potter. The wheel was
powered by an assistant (right). This afternoon she was making closed-top
vessels that are lined up on the board in the foreground (right). It is not
clear what the objects are for. |
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Don't miss the
cycle chic. For a grand parade it is good to be near the high
school when the students emerge at about 5 PM. It takes about fifteen
minutes for them to all stream out of the gates. Cycle chic is a new
phenomenon in the West by it has been normal in Vietnam for decades. |
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The images of Vietnamese high school girls with
there uniforms is very photogenic. I know that it is not my perversion
because it is the subject of thousands of pieces of art, in a wide range of mediums, all over
town. These pictures don't do the subject justice. |
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Beside the bicycle, another great
subject would be the hats of high school girls. Almost all of them wear
one and they seem to be carefully selected to fit their style and project their
personality -- I won't expect anything less from a teenage girl anywhere in the
world. |
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The cycle chic head home today but
they will be back again tomorrow. |
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Every month on the full moon Hoi An
celebrates. Buddhist shop keepers set up alters in their store fronts with
candles, incense, flowers, fruit and other food, and say prayers at sunset.
About 10 PM they take them down and burn fake money for good luck. |
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As part of Hoi An monthly full moon festival the regular
street lights are turned off and the old town area is lit just with lanterns
(left). The lanterns are made in town. By day you can see the frame
of the lanterns being carried around and stacked in workshops (right). |
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 A store fronts (left) and a balcony
(right) lit by lanterns during the monthly full money lantern festival in Hoi
An. |
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 To supply all the lanterns, there are entire shops
dedicated to selling lanterns. |
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One of Hoi An's major crafts is silk
cloth and silk tailoring. You can see some of the silk production in town;
silk worms eating mulberry leaves (left), and silk worm
cocoons (right). |
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The cocoon is then places in boiling water
(left) a the tread is pull from the cocoon, unraveling the cocoon with one long
piece of thread (right). |
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 Along the river, hundreds luminaries
(candles in small bags) are set afloat and people take row boats in and out of
them. Almost the entire participating in the festival was locals. |
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Also near the river, there were a
couple stages with live performances of music and skits. By sunset the
tourist, who had crowded the streets, shops and cafes by day, had retreated to
their hotels. For the few tourist left there was no problem getting a
street side seat to enjoy a drink (certainly fresh juice.) |
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Not so taken up by all the
festivities around them (or the tourist paparazzi photographing them) were these
two gentlemen playing checkers. The seemed to be oblivious to the fact
that they were the subject of dozens of photographs. |
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Street scene in old town Hoi An,
looking towards Cho Market (left).
Japanese Bridge, built in 1593 to
link the Japanese community with the Chinese community across the stream.
Alters (Chinese Assembly Hall
and other associations.)
A store fronts (left) and a balcony
(right) lit by lanterns during the monthly full money lantern festival in Hoi
An.
To supply all the lanterns, there are entire shops
dedicated to selling lanterns.
Along the river, hundreds luminaries
(candles in small bags) are set afloat and people take row boats in and out of
them. Almost the entire participating in the festival was locals. 
