1. Location
Ha Long Bay is located in the northeast of Vietnam, in the territory of Quang Ninh province, 165 km from Hanoi capital. The North and Northwest extend from Quang Yen town, through Ha Long city, Cam Pha city to the end of the sea and islands of Van Don district.
Ha Long Bay World Heritage Site recognized by UNESCO covers an area of 434km, including 775 islands, of which 411 islands have been named. This is the place where many famous rocky islands, caves and beaches are concentrated, limited by three points: Dau Go island (west), Dau Be island (south), Cong Tay island (east).
2. The name “Ha Long bay”
The name “Ha Long” means “Dragon down”. Before the 19th century, the name of Ha Long Bay was not recorded in the ancient bibliographies of Vietnam. It was not until the end of the 19th century that the name of Ha Long Bay appeared on French maritime maps of the Gulf of Tonkin and on some articles in French and Vietnamese.
However, in the subconscious of the people of Northeast Vietnam, the name Ha Long is derived with the story of the dragon flock to the world to help the Vietnamese people fight foreign invaders:
“Once upon a time, when the Vietnamese first established a country, in a time when Vietnam was invaded by foreign invaders, Mother Dragon bring a flock of baby dragons down to help the Vietnamese fight the enemy. When the enemy ships from the sea rushed to attack the shore, the dragons also descended. The Dragons immediately spewed out countless pearls, which suddenly turned into countless towering stone islands, linked together like a solid wall, suddenly blocking the enemy’s advance. Enemy ships that were rushing fast were stopped and suddenly crashed into the rocky islands, crashing into each other and smashing into pieces. After the war was over, the mother dragon and baby dragon did not return to heaven, but stayed in the lower world – where the battle had just taken place. The place where the mother dragon descends is Ha Long, where the baby dragon descends is Bai Tu Long. The tail of the dragons fluttering white is Long Vi, which is today’s Tra Co peninsula with a fine sand beach, tens of kilometers long.
The folk story about the name “Ha Long” is associated with the concept of the origin of the Vietnamese nation as “the son of Dragons and Fairies”. Today, many islands and mountains in Ha Long Bay still bear the name of Dragon, such as: Hon Rong, Cai Rong, Bai Tu Long Bay, in the distance there are Long Chau and Bach Long Vi islands.
3. Climate
Ha Long Bay has a tropical climate, hot and humid, divided into 2 main seasons and 2 transitional seasons: winter from November to March next year, the average temperature is 15°C – 20°C; Summer from May to September, the average temperature is 26°C – 27°C. Two transition seasons: Spring in April and Autumn in October have a cool and temperate climate. The average annual temperature is 18°C – 19°C.
Ha Long Bay has an average annual rainfall of 2,000mm 2,200mm.
4. Outstanding global value in aesthetics
The beautiful scenery of Ha Long Bay from an overall perspective: It is a harmonious combination between the shape of mountains, sea and sky, water and clouds… It is an interesting visual art work of nature, with a combination The delicate combination between sculpture and painting, composition and color, between strong magnificence and grace, poetic that no words can describe.
The beauty of the shape is diverse: Surfing boats crept into the mysterious island forests of Ha Long Bay, here and there we encounter rocky islands with extremely familiar shapes: the island looks like an old man. fishing (La Vong island); the reverse is like the monk is holding his hands to recite the Buddha’s name (the monk’s island); There are islands with the appearance of a couple of Chickens holding their heads together (Drum Mai island). It is the richness of islands and rocks with different shapes and sizes that give us a feeling. Those senses are not rocky islands, but extremely living beings.
5. Outstanding global value in geology – geomorphology
The outstanding global geological and geomorphological value of Ha Long Bay (including Bai Tu Long Bay and its adjacent coast) is confirmed by it being a mature karst landscape in hot and humid tropical conditions. has been invaded and modified by the sea many times and is still partially submerged in water with thousands of extremely diverse islands. The rocky islands emerge from the seabed, sometimes up to hundreds of meters high, sometimes standing alone, sometimes concentrated in rows, in clusters, scattered throughout the bay.
Nature has created a giant, vivid ink painting rising from the sea. And that picture is considered to be the convergence of almost all the basic forms of karst terrain in the world.
6. Historical and cultural value
Soi Nhu culture is the first page of history, marking the presence of the original inhabitants on Ha Long Bay. With hard work and creativity, residents of Soi Nhu have created a unique culture that plays an important role in the process of Vietnamese cultural history.
In the period of Cai Beo culture, for the first time, ancient Vietnamese residents created a unique appearance of the Sea culture. The cultural nature of the Sea becomes more and more concentrated in Ha Long culture on the basis of the wet rice farming culture of the Vietnamese people. The basic values of Ha Long culture are one of the particularly important prerequisites for the development of ancient Vietnamese civilization, contributing to the creation of the Van Lang – Au Lac country.
With an important strategic position, right from the 12th century (1149) under King Ly Anh Tong’s reign, in the Ha Long Bay area, Van Don trading port was established. This is not just a port but a system of many commercial marinas on islands gathered in Bai Tu Long Bay area.
In the history of national construction and defense of the Vietnamese nation, Ha Long Bay is also the place to mark the heroic feats of the nation: Ngo Quyen defeated the Southern Han army (in 938), Le Hoan defeated the Song army (in 938). in 981), Tran Hung Dao defeated the Nguyen Mong army (1288).
7. The titles of Ha Long Bay
With outstanding values, Ha Long Bay has been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Natural Heritage twice:
World Natural Heritage
The first time: In 1994, in Phuket, the World Heritage Committee recognized Ha Long Bay in the list of World Natural Heritage with outstanding global aesthetic value according to criterion vii (contains transcendent natural phenomena or areas of natural beauty and aesthetic importance
The second time: In 2000, in Australia, the World Heritage Committee recognized Ha Long Bay as a World Natural Heritage for the second time with outstanding global value in terms of geological – geomorphological value according to the criteria. viii (are outstanding examples representing major periods of earth’s history, including the record of life, major ongoing geological processes in the development of geomorphology, or seismic and topographic features).
– New natural wonder of the world: on 12/11/2011, Ha Long Bay entered the preliminary list of 7 natural wonders of the world along with Amazon Rainforest and Amazon River, Lguazu waterfall (Argentina, Brazil), Jeju Island (Korea), Komodo Island (Indonesia), ..