Hoian is a small city on the coast of the South China Sea in the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is located in the Quang Nam province and is home to approximately 90,000 inhabitants.

As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a visit to this old-world gem is a sure cultural highlight of any tour in Vietnam.  

The city possessed the largest harbour in Southeast Asia in the First Century and was known as Lam Ap Pho(Champa City). The former harbour town of the Champa people at the estuary of the Thu Bon river was an important Vietnamese trading centre in the 16th and 17th centuries, where Chinese from various provinces as well as Japanese, Dutch and Indians settled down. During this period of the China trade, the town was called Hai Pho (Seaside Town) in Vietnamese. During the French colonial period (1883-1945), it was called Faifo. Originally Hai Pho was a divided town, because across the "Japanese Bridge", it used to be the Japanese settlement (16th-17th century). The bridge (Chua Cau ) is a unique covered structure built by the Japanese, the only known covered bridge with a Buddhist pagoda attached to one side.

In 1999, the old town was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as a well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port of the 15th to 19th centuries, whose buildings display a unique blend of local and foreign influences. Hoi An Ancient Town is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site.

Today, Hoian is still a small city, but it attracts a fair number of tourists, also being a well established place on the backpacker trail.

Many visit for the numerous art and craft shops and tailors, who produce made-to-measure clothes for a fraction of the western price. Several Internet cafés, bars and restaurants have opened along the riverfront.