Hoi An's old banyans grow on the pavements of the old town. The Da Ken banyan is named after a French military bugle band that practised in its shade, and another banyan on Phan Chau Trinh street has a shrine with a carved stele inside its trunk. Offshore on Cu Lao Cham, two heritage trees of different species have knotted their crowns together over a temple yard.
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Sea Fig (Ficus superba) · 150-400 years · Xuan Lam, Hoi An old town
This banyan is named after a brass band. In the early twentieth century, under French rule, a military bugle band of twelve to fourteen players used to practise in its shade, and Hoi An has called it the Da Ken tree, the bugle band banyan, ever since.
The band is long gone and the tree is protected. In November 2014 the city put it on its list of 46 protected old trees, and in March 2015 it was given paving, steps and an information stele of its own. The Hoi An Heritage Centre puts it at about 20 metres tall. It also records a trunk of 4.1 metres at chest height, though as a diameter that would be implausibly wide for a fig this height, so it is probably a circumference or a span across the roots.
Nobody has a document for its age. Local accounts say several hundred years, and that is as far as the record goes. If you know more, tell us.
Even its address is disputed. The heritage centre places it on the pavement beside 42 Tran Hung Dao, east of the Xuan Lam communal house, while the Da Nang newspaper and a 2026 heritage article put it on Tran Cao Van. The pin follows the one banyan mapped on Tran Cao Van, which is the likelier spot but not a certainty.
It stands on a public street in the old town, free to visit at any hour.
Akou (Ficus superba var. japonica) · Cam Pho, Hoi An old town
There is a shrine inside this banyan, and the tree has been trying to swallow it. A small brick shrine sits in the trunk, and in it stands a sandstone stele carved with a charm against water. The inscription invokes Bac De, the Emperor of the North, and closes with the words yem thuy dao. Some people in Hoi An connect it with the old town's Japanese Bridge.
Nobody knows who planted the tree or when. The stele was only exposed when the roots were trimmed around 1991, and according to the Hoi An Heritage Centre those roots still threaten the shrine. The centre puts the tree at about 15 metres tall, branching 4 metres up. It gives the trunk as 3.6 metres at chest height and 6.1 metres at the ground including the creeping roots, though like the figure for the Da Ken banyan nearby, a 3.6 metre diameter would be implausible, so it is probably a circumference.
The shrine itself is a registered relic, and the tree stands on the public pavement of Phan Chau Trinh street, about 40 metres north of the Cam Pho communal house in the old town, free to see at any time. Its age is undocumented. If you know anything about when it was planted, or who set the stele here, tell us.
Kén (Casearia grewiifolia) and Nánh (Millettia nigrescens) · 200 years · Bai Huong, Cu Lao Cham island
Two trees of different species have grown into one roof over this temple yard. On Cu Lao Cham, an island about 15 kilometres off Hoi An, a Kén and a Nánh stand on either side of the yard of the swiftlet-nest guild temple, the shrine of the island's trade in edible bird's nests, and their crowns have knotted together overhead.
In April 2015 they were recognised as Vietnam Heritage Trees by VACNE, the national nature association, one of four heritage groups on the island. The press gives both about 200 years, or over 200; a tour operator's guide adds the measurements. The Kén, on the right-hand corner, is about 18 metres tall and 2.89 metres round at chest height. The Nánh, on the left, is about 16 metres and 1.94 metres round. Neither is a giant. Together they make the yard a room.
That room gets used. Thanh Nien reported in 2024 that villagers gather under the trees most evenings, which is a better test of a shade tree than any measurement.
The island is a UNESCO biosphere reserve and a boat trip from Cua Dai pier, not a walk from the old town, so check the crossing before you plan the day. From the landing it is a short walk or ride along the island road to Bai Huong, the fishing hamlet where the temple stands. Cu Lao Cham also has a banyan said to be over 600 years old on the slopes of Hon Lao.