Ha
Long Bay is located in the northeastern part of
Vietnam and constitutes part of the western bank
of Bac Bo Gulf, including the sea area of Ha
Long City and Cam Pha Town and part of Vân Don
island district. It abuts Cat Ba Island in the
southwest. Toward the west is the shore with a
120 km-long coastline. It is located within
106o58’-107o22’ east longitude and within
20o45’- 20o50’ north latitude. The site is 1553
sq. km with 1969 islands of various sizes, of
which 989 have been named.
The islands in
Ha
Long Bay are mainly limestone and schist islands
most lying in the two main areas: the
southeastern part of Bái Tử Long Bay and
southwestern part of Hạ Long Bay. These islands
represent the most ancient images of a
geographical site having a tectonic age of from
250 million to 280 million years. They are the
result of many times of rising and lowering
processes of the continent to form a karst. The
process of nearly full erosion and weathering of
the karst created the unique Hạ Long Bay in the
world. In a not very large area, thousands of
islands with different forms look like
glittering emeralds attached to the blue scarf
of a virgin. The area where many stone islands
concentrate has spectacular scenes and
world-famous caves and is the center of Ha Long
Bay Natural Heritage, including HaLong Bay and
a part of Bái Tu Long Bay.
The area is
recognized as the World Natural Heritage that is
the area of 434 sq. km with 775 islands. It
looks like a giant triangle with Ðầu Gỗ Island
(in the west), Ba Hầm Lake (in the south) and
Cống Tây Island (in the east) as its three angle
points. The nearby area is the buffer area and
areas classified as national beauty spots in
1962 by the Ministry of Culture and Information.
Viewed
from above, Hạ Long Bay looks like an extremely
vivid huge drawing. This is a wonderful and
skilful masterpiece of the Creation and of
nature that turns thousands of dumb soulless
stone islands into fantastic sculptural and
artistic works of various graceful shapes, both
familiar and strange to human beings. Thousands
of islands emerging uneven in the fanciful waves
look strong and magnificent but also mild and
vivid. Amidst these islands we feel as if we
were astray in a petrified legendary world.
There are many names given to islands according
to their shapes and forms. This one looks like
somebody heading toward the shore: Hòn Ðầu Người
(Human Head Island); that one looks like a
dragon hovering above the sea surface: Hòn Rông
(Dragon Island); another looks like an old man
sitting fishing: Hòn Lã Vọng; some look like big
sails struggling amidst the wind to set off for
the sea: Hòn Cánh Buồm (Sail Island); then two
islands look like a pair of chicken lovingly
playing with each other above the sea: Hòn Trống
Mái (Male and Female Chicken Island); and amid
the vast sea stands an island like a big incense
burner like a ritual offering to Heaven: Hòn Lư
Hương (Incense Burner Island). All are so real
that people are taken aback by them. Those stone
islands have experienced unpredictable changes
over time and they take different shapes from
different angles of view. Here, we come to
realize that they are not dumb inanimate things
but are vivid and soulful.
Inside the stone
islands are various breath-taking caves, such as
Thiên Cung, Ðầu Gỗ, Sửng Sốt, Trinh Nữ, Tam Cung
and others. These are really magnificent palaces
of the Creation on earth. Long ago,
Hạ
Long Bay has been called by the great national
poet Nguyễn
Trãi:“a
wonder of the earth erected towards the high sky”.
Many men of letters from all over the world have
been taken aback at the grandiose scenery of Hạ
Long. They seem to get puzzled and incompetent
as their treasure of vocabulary is not rich
enough to depict the splendor of this place.
Hạ Long Bay is also
attached to glorious pages of Vietnamese
history, with famous sites such as Vân Ðồn, a
bustling trade port in the 12th
century, charming Bài Thơ Mountain, and not very
far away from here is the Bạch Đằng River which
witnessed two famous naval battles of the Viêt’s
ancestors against invaders. Also, Hạ Long is one
of the cradles of human kind with the glorious
Hạ Long culture in the late Neolithic age,
discovered at such archeological sites as Ðộng
Mang, Xích Thổ, Soi Nhụ and Thoi Giếng.
Hạ Long is also
home to great biodiversity with typical
eco-systems like mangrove forest, coral and
tropical forest. It is also home to thousands of
plants and animals of numerous species, for
example shrimp, fish and squid. Some species are
particularly rare and can be found no where
else.
With such special
values, at the 18th Session of
UNESCO’s Council of World Heritage held on 17
December 1994 in Thailand, Hạ Long Bay was
officially placed on the list of the World
Natural Heritage. In 2000, UNESCO recognized it
as the World Heritage for the second time for
its geographical and geomorphologic values. This
confirms the global premier value of Hạ Long
Bay.
source: www.halongtravelguide.com
The
resort was
designed in
opening
space,
peaceful and
tranquil-a
new envision
for the
mélange of
nature and
human
beings, a
deep feeling
of living
amidst a
blue and
cloudy sky
of the
marvelous
Tan Vien
mountain-Da
River of the
legendary
story of the
God of
Mountain and
the God of
River
