Fujian Assembly Hall (Phuc Kien)

The Fujian Assembly Hall, known locally as Phuc Kien, is the largest and most elaborate of the meeting halls built by Hoi An's Chinese trading communities. It stands at 46 Tran Phu Street, the main street of the old town, and is a good introduction to the role the Chinese merchant guilds played in the life of the port.

The site has a long history. In 1697 merchants from Fujian bought the grounds of an older pagoda to build a hall for their community, and a major restoration in 1757 rebuilt it in brick and tile and gave it its present name. It was recognised as a national historic and cultural relic in 1990. The hall still serves its community, and two festivals bring it to life each year: the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month and the Lady Thien Hau Festival on the 23rd day of the third lunar month.

You enter through a three-arched gate decorated with two dragons flanking a moon, with statues of the Sun God and the Moon Goddess on either side. The main sanctuary holds the statue of Lady Thien Hau, also known as Mazu, the goddess of the sea and protector of sailors, a fitting patron for a community that depended on maritime trade. She is flanked by two attendant deities known as Thousand-Li Eyes and Favourable-Wind Ears.

Look out for the model of a 19th-century merchant ship, a reminder of the trade that brought Fujian families to Hoi An. The rear hall is dedicated to the Six Fujian Patriarchs, the Twelve Midwives and the Three Ladies of Childbirth, and together they show how the hall served the everyday religious needs of the Fujian community.

The hall is included in the Hoi An Ancient Town ticket and the tourism board gives its hours as typically 07:00 to 17:00 every day. It sits on Tran Phu Street between the Japanese Covered Bridge at the western end and Quan Cong Temple at number 24, with the Museum of Trade Ceramics at number 80, so it is easy to link several sites on the same street in a single walk. As an active place of worship, it is respectful to dress modestly and keep noise down near the altars.