Few visitors to Hoi An realize that this charming old port town on a river is two thousand years old. It is also a World Heritage Site for having possibly the finest old wooden shop houses remaining in all of Asia. In SECRETS OF HOI AN, journalist and travel writer Carol Howland winkles out the past through the stories of those who passed through and sometimes stayed, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Viets from the North, even Marco Polo and later, the Portuguese, the French, the Dutch and the British. From the prehistoric inhabitants who produced beautiful jewellery to the present-day residents who create fine embroidery 'pictures', the best silk tailoring and some of the most delicious food in all of Vietnam, the author explores these old streets and houses and describes Hoi An's turbulent history. Local residents relate their family histories and nearby is another World Heritage Site, the intriguing, pre-Angkor temple ruins of Myson, built by the Cham people. The writer delves into the still contentious past of the Chams and relates the extraordinary experiences of those archaeologists who first re-discovered Myson.