The yellow town
Hoi An
An old trading port in central Vietnam whose shophouses are washed in yellow and hung with silk lanterns.
Why Hoi An is hoi an yellow
Hoi An was a busy port from the 15th to the 19th century, visited by Chinese, Japanese and European traders. When the river silted up, trade moved to Da Nang and the town was left largely unchanged. Its old streets are lined with low shophouses with tiled roofs dark with moss. Nearly all the walls are a deep yellow limewash, streaked by damp. People give different reasons: yellow is linked with good fortune and royalty in Vietnam, and a light colour takes in less heat. Coloured silk lanterns hang across the lanes, and on full-moon nights electric lights are dimmed in their favour. The old town has been a World Heritage Site since 1999.
#E8B53ALantern red#C8342BMossy tile brown#6B5540Shutter teal#3F7F7ABougainvillea pink#D6337AValues are fair approximations of what the eye sees there, not measurements.
Colours tied to Hoi An
Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Hแปi An" on Wikipedia. If you know Hoi An and we have it wrong, tell us.
More colour cities
All colour cities
๐ป๐ณ The purple imperial cityHueVietnam's last royal capital: a walled palace of red lacquer and yellow tiles, and a city fond of purple.
๐ฎ๐ณ Birthplace of Krishna, home of HoliMathuraKrishna's birthplace celebrates Holi for more than a week, with processions, music and coloured powder.
๐ฎ๐ณ The yellow French quarterPondicherryThe old French quarter by the sea is painted mustard yellow with white trim, shaded by bougainvillea.
๐ฎ๐ณ Yellow taxis, red and white sarisKolkataYellow Ambassador taxis, red-brick colonial offices and white saris with red borders mark Bengal's capital.
๐ฎ๐ณ City of the kaali-peeliMumbaiBlack-and-yellow taxis, known as kaali-peeli, are the moving colour of India's largest city.
๐ฎ๐ณ Goa's Latin QuarterFontainhasA small quarter of Panaji where Portuguese-era houses are painted yellow, blue and red with white trim.Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mathura In: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pondicherry In: Karthik Easvur, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kolkata In: Ketanmehta4u, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mumbai In: iMahesh, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fontainhas In: iMahesh, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hue Vn: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, source