“That’s not enough for Hoi An. We need the tourists to come back again, for the jobs and the town’s economy.”

The trickle has yet to become a torrent, but that will inevitably come when Chinese tourists are again able to travel. And that means now would be a very good time to visit Hoi An.

On the coast of Quang Nam province, Hoi An grew up on the banks of the Thu Bon river and its importance as a well-preserved example of a trading port dating back to the 15th century was recognised by Unesco in 1999.

Much of the charm of the old quarter lies in its combination of cultures, with indigenous architecture and design, Chinese and Japanese influences and French colonial touches.

While many other towns and cities across Vietnam suffered irreparable damage to their historic hearts in the conflicts of the latter half of the 20th century, Hoi An was spared.

As a result, a town whose name translates as “peaceful meeting place” is one of the very few places in the country that can put its past on display.

The town became a key stopping-off point for the spice trade between the seventh and tenth centuries, bringing great wealth to the indigenous Cham people. The town and surrounding areas came under the control of Vietnamese emperor Le Thanh Tong in 1471, with the first Portuguese explorers arriving in 1535.

With trade booming, Hoi An expanded to become the most important conduit for trade on the South China Sea and was home to merchants from across the known world.

A relative backwater for the next two centuries, Hoi An was arguably put back on the map after a visit by Polish architect and conservator Kazimierz Kwiatkowski in the early 1990s.

The pedestrianised streets of the old town are lined with more than 1,100 buildings that are throwbacks to the different ages of Hoi An’s past, many skilfully transformed into coffee shops, restaurants and boutiques catering to visitors.

The old town’s warren of narrow streets lead down to the north bank of the Thu Bon river and a narrow tributary that is spanned by the best known sight in the city, the Japanese Bridge.

A bridge has crossed this narrow stretch of water since the 1590s, when Hoi An’s Japanese community wanted a more permanent link with the largely Chinese district across the stream.

Constructed on pilings – the builders were apparently concerned about both flooding and earthquakes – the covered bridge is illuminated by lanterns and topped by wooden carvings. A pair of carved monkeys guards one end while the other is protected by two dogs.

Hoi An was an important transshipment point for ceramics and the Museum of Trade Ceramics – in a two-storey wooden house dating from the mid-1800s and festooned with lanterns, in the heart of the old town – shows items from China, Thailand, Persia and Egypt.

Some of the items were recovered from a shipwreck dated to the late 15th or early 16th century that was discovered off the nearby Cham Islands in the early 1990s. The four-year recovery project resulted in the recovery of more than 250,000 artefacts, and many of the ones on display show remarkable artistry.

Hoi An’s old quarter has a number of traditional houses that are open to the public, many of which are still owned by the descendants of the merchants who built them.

Yards from the Japanese Bridge is the Tan Ky House, which was built by a Vietnamese merchant two centuries ago and has been in the same family for seven generations. The interior displays clear Japanese and Chinese influences, from the roof beams to panels inlaid with mother-of-pearl designs. A balconied courtyard with colourful frescoes awaits beyond the entrance.

Also prominent in the old quarter, along with various Chinese congregation halls, is a chapel built for the Tran family in around 1700. One of the oldest buildings in Hoi An, it was erected at the behest of Tran Tu Nhac, a mandarin who was later sent to China as an envoy of the king.

Beyond an ornate gateway, the chapel stands within a walled garden of fruit trees and ornamental plants. Its builders used Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese design elements but nevertheless adhered to the all-important tenets of feng shui.

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The Assembly Hall of the Cantonese Chinese Congregation is close to the Japanese covered bridge and dates from 1885. Behind the centre’s richly decorated gateway is a courtyard with a fountain that incorporates a colourful dragon and carp.

The main hall, built in China before being transported by boat to Hoi An and pieced together, is similarly resplendent in reds and golds, incense coils hanging from the ceiling.

As a Hoi An afternoon stretches into evening, the waterfront district comes into its own. Trees overhanging the water are strung with coloured lanterns and shallow-bottomed skiffs float across the dark waters, lamps hanging from their bows.

The terraces of restaurants and bars are busy with couples and families soaking up the atmosphere and the cool evening breezes.

Electric vehicles that look like supersized golf buggies are used to ferry visitors into the historic centre.

“Lessons have been learned in the last two years and much has been done to improve facilities and infrastructure in the town so it provides a better experience for visitors,” says Pham Van Dung, general manager of the 109-room Victoria Hoi An Resort, which is modelled on a traditional fishing village.

“I believe the central area that attracts most of the tourists should be enlarged to provide new opportunities for businesses.”

Sitting alongside the hotel pool and looking out towards the biosphere reserve of the Cham Islands, Pham says: “It has been difficult. But I believe the worst is behind us; people who were hesitant before now really want to travel again and Hoi An is ready to welcome them.”