What to buy in Hoi An? Guide for shopaholics

Visitors when coming to Hoi An Ancient Town can taste famous dishes from the locals or buy local souvenirs inspired from this land’s culture. If you are planning on going to Hoi An, then this article will provide you with the “Hoi An travel guide for Shopaholics.”

Hoi An Ancient Town vibrantly shines under the sun

1. Shopping in Hoi An Ancient Town

1.1 Lanterns: A Symbol of Hoi An

With the history of more than 400 years of birth and development, the traditional lanterns crafting in Hoi An Ancient Town has reached the “Expert” level in complexity and diversity in shapes, colors, sizes. With this Hoi An travel guide, tourists can easily encounter vibrant lantern shops selling these lanterns and attracting tourists to check them out. Visitors can easily see colorful lanterns in houses and streets. On the Full Moon Day, Hoi An appears to be different in visitors’ eyes - A beautiful and vibrant Hoi An in the lantern and flower lights.

>> See more: Wish lanterns releasing - The spiritual icon of the people of Hoi An

Hoi An is commonly known as the Vibrant Lantern Land

1.2 Custom Clothes Only for You 

This Hoi An travel guide will lead you not only to historical culture monuments or famous but simple dishes, but also to the traditional handicraft villages.Specifically, the measured clothes, which attract a lot of visitors to see and try. Even though, nowadays, people can easily buy clothes, when they come to Hoi An, tourists will tend to check out these shops and order their clothes based on your requirements to give as a gift to their friends or family. These are the shops that you can check out when you come to the Ancient Town:

• Yaly Couture is the most famous clothing factory in Hoi An, currently expanded to 3 branches in the city: 47 Nguyen Thai Hoc St, 47 Tran Phu St, 358 Nguyen Huy Dieu St.
• A Dong Silk Tailoring is also a famous shop with 2 branches at: 62 Tran Hung Dao St, 40 Le Loi St.
• Thu Thuy Silk: 60 Le Loi St.

Tailoring Shops in Hoi An existed for more than 10 years

1.3 Handmade Shoes

Not only attracting visitors with many heritages, Hoi An Ancient Town is also known with its traditional shoes manufacturing. Many shops have their own name for more than 10 years when this became a job in Hoi An Ancient Town. These shoes were made carefully and complex, each shoe, sandal is considered by the materials, colors and stitches. You can also order one for yourself with your own requirements, and after 2 to 7 hours (depending on the type) you will have yourself the most unique shoes.

1.4 Jewelries 

Strolling down the Hoi An Ancient Town, you may seem attracted to the shining and sparkling of those jewelries. Those handmade bracelets, necklaces are on sale everywhere with modern styles, kinds and colors, very suitable for teens these days. Additionally, these things made from shiny silver or gemstones are also attractive to tourists. These are so adorable that you buy these as gifts for friends or family too.

1.5 Souvenirs  

Next recommendation in this Hoi An travel guide is souvenirs, tourists can not miss these souvenirs with a bold traditional culture of the land of Quang. The keychains, porcelain products, pictures,.. are made from the hard-working locals. You can buy these as souvenirs in shops on the Hoi An travel guide, some are near Hoai River or on Tran Phu St, Nguyen Thai Hoc St, Tran Hung Dao St,... or you buy from longtime brands for more quality goods.

>> See more: What souvenirs should you buy when traveling to Hoi An?

2. Famous markets

2.1 Hoi An Market

Apart from the ancient town’s silence, Hoi An Market is a bustling area and a food paradise, attracting lots of visitors. With a spacious area in the market with many different hues, Hoi An Market also offers a lot of things such as: cao lau, Quang noodles, Banh mi Hoi An, vegetables, baby clams,.. Tourists can also buy a lot of interesting stuff and local specialties here.

2.2 Nguyen Hoang Night Market

Nguyen Hoang Night Market is located at the Nguyen Hoang St, opposite the Japanese Covered Bridge, a famous destination in Hoi An. This place is one of the places that attract tourists to shop, entertain, and visit. The market offers a lot of traditional and cultural goods and items with Hoi An inspiration such as: lanterns, silk, brocades and some famous snacks from the local people. 

2.3 Thanh Ha Pottery Village 

A famous attraction amongst the handicraft villages, when coming to Hoi An, make sure that you don’t miss the Thanh Ha Pottery Village - a traditional handicraft village for the past 500 years. Located at Pham Phan, Thanh Ha in Hoi An opens at 8 AM to 5:30 PM every day with only 35.000 VND per entry for adults and 15.000 VND per entry for children. When coming to Thanh Ha Pottery Village, you will have an opportunity to participate in the pottery making to make your own pottery products. 

Thanh Ha Pottery Village

2.4 Kim Bong Woodworking Village

One of the handicraft villages of Hoi An, Kim Bong Woodworking Village has attracted a lot of domestic and international tourists to arrive and experience it. Here, you can see workers put their efforts into the planks and make customized wooden products with a precise incision. carrying traditional values of the Ancient Town. The village is located at Nong Thon St, Trung Ha Village, Cam Kim Commune, Hoi An City, Quang Nam and is open for the whole day from Monday to Sunday, what is more special is the ticket free, and you can observe those workers skillfully making those products.. Additionally, tourists can also check out the process of knotting mats, bamboo and cooking.

>>> See more: Top 15 interesting things must do in Hoi An

3. Local specialty dishes

3.1 Hoi An mung bean cake: A unique snack in Hoi An with irresistible taste

Hoi An Mung bean cake is one of those specialties in Hoi An, and has taken down many tourists’ taste. Mung bean cake used to be a gift for the royalty with its delicious and irresistible  taste. This cake comes in 2 kinds: wet and dry. Through a unique but fragrant cooking process, this cake contains a delicious, fatty and nutty taste. What special about this cake is the ingredients with fatty pork used as an inside taste. When bite a piece, you can feel the savory, fatty pork fat, combine with the sweetness of mung bean, creating a unique taste that is never seen anywhere. 

Dried Mung bean cake - Hoi An Specialty

3.2 Hoi An Chili sauce: A special seasoning, made from chili, garlic, sugar, salt and naturally fermented 

Made from 100% fresh chilis, combined with special seasonings and after that well grinded and put on a stove to stir-fry, making this a memorable sauce in Hoi An, spicy and unique. This is not only a perfect condiment to have with noodles or rice noodles, Hoi An chili sauce can be used with porridge and rice, offering you an unforgettable taste. Some locations that provide Hoi An chili sauce:

• Thu Bon Chilli Sauce - 441/9 Cua Dai St
• Bong Chili Sauce - 545 Hai Ba Trung St
• Trieu Phat Chili Sauce Store: 41 Nguyen Thai Hoc St.

3.3 Anchovies sauce: A rural, nutritional and made from fresh anchovies

As a well-known city with fish sauces, anchovies sauce in Hoi An is one of the most favorite and became a must buy when traveling to Hoi An. When talking about fish sauce, people may be familiar with the traditional smell of it, but with anchovies sauce, you can smell the unique fragrance from the anchovies with special seasonings, making this as memorable as it tastes. The anchovies sauce is commonly used with side dishes such as boiled meat, spinach, raw vegetables, rice pancake,... to enhance the dish to another level that captivates a human’s tongue. You can pass by Hoi An Market and buy Di Can Anchovies sauce - a famous sauce brand in Hoi An with only 60.000 VND

3.4 Cao lau: Hoi An noodles, with tough noodles, strong broth and various toppings.

Cao lau, for a long time, is one of the must try specialties when coming to Hoi An. With a yellow hue, crunchy with broth, basils, fatty sauce, this noodle can easily satisfy anyone’s taste. When tasting cao lau, you can feel on the tip of your tongue the toughness of noodles, with a rich and many flavors such as sour, spicy, acrid and sweetness from the vegetables,... Cao lau is being sold in every corner of the ancient town with many prices, from 25.000 VND to 30.000 VND. Top 3 favorable cao lau dishes in Hoi An

• Cao lau Khong Gian Xanh: 687, Hai Ba Trung St, Hoi An City Center, Quang Nam
• Cao lau Hoi An Trung Bac: 87 Tran Phu St, Hoi An City Center, Quang Nam
• Cao lau Mrs Thanh Hoi An: 25 Thai Phien St, Hoi An City, Quang Nam

>> See more: Conquer the sweet soup map in Hoi An

4. Notes for shopping in Hoi An

4.1 Bargain: bargaining culture is a normal phenomena when shopping in Hoi An

As you travel anywhere in the world, they tend to buy souvenirs with traditional values for family, friends and themselves. Even though you should not be too shy about bargaining when shopping in Hoi An. You can bargain to check the price then increase it to avoid overpaid. 

4.2 Quality checks: Making sure the quality before buying

Product quality is a criteria to ensure when shopping. Because of thạt, you need to carefully check for quality such as quantities, damages, errors,... to make sure that goods are fully transferred and the money is worth it. 

4.3 Choosing when should they shop: Avoid shopping in high hours and crowded place

To buy stuff with ideal prices, you can try some methods to buy at the golden hour, avoid shopping at high hours. According to that, when in high hours, sellers tend not to increase the price as people who are buying are increasing. Oppositely , shops close at night or only a few customers, they will tend to sell all the goods faster to go home, so sometimes, they will try to sell  “at any cost” to prevent loss. With that, bargaining at the “golden hour” can easily buy with lower prices.

4.4 Notes on prices: Check reviews before buying to prevent trick payments

Similarly, when shopping online or offline, asking for prices in many places will help you find a place with the lowest price and no fluctuation. You can check these prices on the internet at different stores, then bargain to choose the most suitable price. 

Conclusion

This Hoi An travel guide is not limited to local monuments or cultural places, it also attracts a lot of tourists with local dishes, entertainment destinations and toys. If you are wondering what to buy for friends or family on your trip to Hoi An then this article may help you with many locations and presents when coming here!