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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
Ha
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 Ha 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, Ha 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,
Ha
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.
Ha 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, Ha 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 Ha Long Bay. |
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