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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 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.
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Halong Bay Vietnam
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