Now, biking around Hội An, you can’t help but notice that one of the town’s most popular banh mi restaurants has his face plastered on it. Vietnam was one of Anthony Bourdain’s favorite countries in the world. Inside, there is a small temple where locals come to pray to the Taoist god of weather. Over the past 400 years the small wooden bridge has been expertly restored several times today visitors must pay to walk across and the money is used to maintain it. It’s said that Vietnam was located on its back, and the bridge was used to pin down the monster and stop earthquakes in Japan. The dragon-like creature’s head is in India, and its tail is in Japan, causing earthquakes. While the straightforward reason it was built was to connect the Japanese section of the old town with the Chinese section, folklore says it was also made to subdue the Japanese monster mamazu. Mysteriously, the builder of the bridge is unknown to this day. Built in the late 16th century, it is one of the major symbols of Hội An and can be seen on Vietnam’s 20,000 dồng note. The symbol of the cityĮvery day an average of 4,000 people walk across Hội An’s Japanese Covered Bridge. They say this is the secret to what makes these thick noodles taste so good, though how much of that is marketing and how much is truth is up for debate. One of Hội An’s most famous dishes, cao lau (a noodle dish with pork and herbs), was once only made using the water from Ba Le Well. Locals still visit every day to get water for tea and cooking, believing it makes their food taste better and even has medicinal qualities. The well has never been damaged or gone dry. Located in an alley off Phan Chu Trinh Street in the old town, it’s marked by a UNESCO sign. Hội An has over 80 ancient wells dotting the city, but none is more famous than Ba Le Well, which is said to date back to 10th-century Cham times. On any given night, the small roads of Hội An’s old town are packed with local and international tourists sipping on tea from Mót Hội An (a popular café) and taking photographs. Due to a military agreement, it was luckily untouched during the Vietnam War, allowing it to become a thriving tourist center in the 1990s through today. In the late 19th century, nearby Da Nang became the country's main shipping port, while under French rule Hội An languished as an administrative center. This period brought Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch, Filipino, and French influences to the tiny riverside town. It evolved to become a bustling merchant town and a crucial fixture on the Silk Road from the 16th century to the 19th century. As far back as the 2nd century, Hội An was a busy and diverse trading port under the Champa Kingdom. ![]() Hội An’s history dates back over 2,200 years. Red symbolizes love, happiness and luck green means jealousy and lust and black represents evil. ![]() It’s said that each colored lantern has a different meaning. One of the best places to see and buy lanterns is night time at An Hội, a small island less than a one-minute walk across the bridge from Hội An’s old town. Since then, it has become a symbol of the town. The Vietnamese then created their own spin on the light-source, using traditional bamboo for the structure and Vietnamese silk for the exterior. Their popularity stems from Japanese immigrants bringing them to the community in the 16th century. They’re even strung overhead across the width of the winding streets. ![]() You’ll see them hanging from almost every building, shophouse, restaurant, and hotel.
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