Hoi An Museum of Trade Ceramics: The Tube House at 80 Tran Phu, Cham Islands Shipwreck Finds, Opening Hours and Tickets

Where the Museum Is and the Story It Tells

The Museum of Trade Ceramics is at 80 Tran Phu Street, right inside Hoi An’s old town, and is run by the Hoi An Center for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation. It took shape in 1995 with the help of Japanese experts, and its theme is clear: it uses ceramics to explain why a small river port in central Vietnam became a stopping point for merchant ships from many countries in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Unlike museums that lean toward fine art, this one shows objects that were found in the ground of Hoi An itself. According to the Center’s introduction, about 360 objects dating from the 9th and 10th centuries to the 19th century tie into the maritime ceramic trade route. If you enjoy places with a historical story more than a pretty facade to photograph, it is a worthwhile stop on an old town day.

The House at 80 Tran Phu

The building is an exhibit in its own right. The Center’s documents describe a tube house about 30 m long and 7 m wide, made of four connected sections over two floors, with brick walls, a timber frame and a roof of yin-yang tiles, facing south. The oldest surviving deed is from 1858. Mr Thai Thuan Thang bought the house in 1915 and lived there until 1992, and it served as a home, a shop and a place of worship.

When it had badly deteriorated, the house was restored from 1993 with funding and technical help from Japan, finished in 1995 and then converted into a museum. As you walk through you can pick out the front house, the back house and the connecting hall around an open courtyard, with the kitchen and washroom at the far end, the familiar layout of an old Hoi An house.

Four Exhibits and the Objects Worth Seeing

The Center’s official page divides the display into four parts. You can use them as a step-by-step route.

1. Step 1: Overview of Hoi An and Vietnamese trade ceramics. A map of the maritime ceramic route and Vietnam’s kilns; the golden age of trade ceramics was the 15th and 16th centuries.
2. Step 2: The architecture of 80 Tran Phu and its restoration. This part explains how the house was preserved, useful if you are curious about conserving old houses.
3. Step 3: The Cham Islands shipwreck excavation. The ceramics raised from the sea are mostly everyday wares of the 15th and 16th centuries from the Chu Dau and My Xa kilns in Hai Duong.
4. Step 4: Archaeological sites in the old town. Shards and pottery dug up at sites around Hoi An show what goods once passed through the port.

According to the Center, the collection includes Vietnamese ceramics of the 16th to 18th centuries, Japanese Hizen ware of the 17th and 18th centuries (mostly found in Hoi An), Chinese ceramics of the 12th to 19th centuries with a striking dragon-decorated jar, plus Thai, Islamic and Cham pieces. There is also a model of a ghe bau, the old seagoing trading boat. Archaeologists working at No. 80 also found Thanh Ha terracotta; if you want to see pottery still being made today, read about Thanh Ha pottery village in Hoi An.

The Cham Islands Shipwreck in Numbers

The part people mention most is the excavation of an old ship in the waters off the Cham Islands. UNESCO records that the wreck lies about 70 to 72 m deep and was surveyed and salvaged between May 1997 and July 1999. Many Vietnamese sources say more than 240,000 objects were recovered, mostly Chu Dau and My Xa (Hai Duong) ceramics dated to the 15th century, though some documents say the 15th to 16th centuries. The totals differ between articles (some give nearly 279,000, others 340,000 including broken pieces), so when you quote it, say “more than 240,000”.

One thing to understand before you visit: almost none of that haul is in the glass cases at 80 Tran Phu. The museum shows only a selected part, along with information about the excavation. So do not expect to see hundreds of thousands of items. Treat it as an introduction that helps you picture the size of the ship and the Dai Viet ceramic trade of that era. To carry on the maritime story of this area, read our Cham Islands travel guide.

Opening Hours, Tickets and Visit Time

The Center’s page does not publish a ticket price, and a few travel sites quote a different amount for foreign visitors, so do not rely on a single number. The surest approach is to ask at an old town ticket booth, and to ask how long the ticket stays valid. Some travel articles also mention a separately charged audio guide, but that has not been verified from an official source, so ask at the museum itself.

A Half-Day Plan in the Old Town

The museum is on Tran Phu Street, on the same axis as many assembly halls and old houses, so it is easy to build a walking loop. One suggestion: arrive early in the morning, then walk on to the Fujian Assembly Hall on the same street, and choose one old house to see its interior. Pick the sites that match the ticket you hold, since each ticket covers only a certain number of them.

• Group nearby sites so each walk is shorter, especially on sunny days.
• If you travel with older relatives, check in advance which sites have steps or staircases and choose the order accordingly.
• Keep your ticket for the whole visit because staff at the sites may check it.
• Allow at least 15 to 20 minutes to read the panels in the shipwreck section, the most informative part of the museum.

Getting from Da Nang to the Museum

From central Da Nang to Hoi An is about 30 km, usually around 40 minutes by car. The old town core has time windows that restrict motor vehicles, plus pedestrian streets, so cars often stop on an edge street and you walk in. Check the signs posted at the street entrance or ask the driver for the most convenient drop-off point for your timing. For a group, or if older relatives are with you, you can book a private car from Da Nang to Hoi An and compare fares by vehicle type on our Da Nang and Hoi An car price list.