The Chinese who settled in Hoi An identified themselves according to their province of origin. Each community built its own assembly hall, known as 'hoi quan' in Vietnamese, for social gatherings, meetings and celebrations.

The Fujian Assembly Hall is, perhaps, the best-known one; the Cantonese Assembly Hall stands out for its beauty and contains a tranquil inner courtyard, while the 19th century Hainan Assembly Hall functions, in part, as a memorial to the 108 merchants from Hainan who met a tragic fate being mistaken for pirates – the entire story is narrated via wall posters.