Ha Long Bay - Land wonders set in the sky

Halong Bay is located in northeastern Vietnam, which is part of the western Gulf of Tonkin, including the waters of Ha Long City, Cam Pha City and part of Van Don Island District. In the southwest, it borders Cat Ba island, the west is adjacent to the mainland with a coastline of 120km long, the bay has a total area of ​​1553km ^2, including 1969 islands, of which 989 islands have names and 980 islands have no names. The World Heritage Area has an area of ​​434 km ² including 775 islands, such as a triangle with three peaks: Dau Go Island (west), Ba Ham Lake (south) and Cong Tay Island (east) .

Ha Long Bay - World Natural Heritage

Ha Long Bay is a unique heritage because this place contains important vestiges in the process of forming and developing the history of the earth, which is the cradle of residence of the ancient Vietnamese and at the same time a work of art. Great shaping of nature with the presence of thousands of stone-like islands, with many interesting caves converging into a world both lively and mysterious. Besides, Ha Long Bay is also a place of high biodiversity with typical ecosystems along with thousands of extremely rich and diverse flora and fauna species. This place is also associated with cultural values ​​- heroic history of the nation.

Aesthetic value : Ha Long Bay features a beautiful island system and beautiful caves. The island in Ha Long has two forms : limestone island and schist island , concentrated in two main areas, the southeastern area of ​​Bai Tu Long Bay and the southwestern area of ​​Ha Long Bay. This is the oldest image of the geologic topography of 250 - 280 million years, as a result of the process of lifting and lowering many times from the continent to a sea basin. The process of Carbolian erosion, weathering almost completely created a unique Ha Long in the world.

Hundreds of stone islands, each island has a different shape very vivid: Hon Dau, Hon Rong, Hon Vong island, Canh Buom island, Trong Mai island, Hon Lu Huong . Hidden in the stone islands These are beautiful caves associated with many miraculous legends such as Thien Cung, Dau Go cave, Sung Sot cave, Trinh Nu cave, Tam Cung cave . These are really castles of the earth time. Since ancient times, Ha Long has been named by the great Nguyen Trai ethnic people as "the land of heaven in the sky".

Geological historical value : Ha Long Bay is assessed through two factors: tectonic and geological history and geomorphology . The basic feature of Ha Long Bay over the past 1000 years is the encroachment of the bay, the erosion of the beach by parrot, the Gulf water is more clear, salty and the coral grows. The active corrosion of seawater creates deep deepens that add to the unique beauty of Carinthian strata. Ha Long Bay is the result of long geological evolution . Visitors to Ha Long Bay not only come to the wonders of the world but also come to a precious geological museum that is kept outdoors for 300 million years. These caves are vivid evidence of sea level invasion through geologic periods. Geological environment of Ha Long Bay is also the foundation for other values ​​such as biodiversity, archaeological culture and other human values.

Ha Long Bay concentrates high biodiversity with ecosystems of tropical waters such as mangrove forest ecosystem, coral reef ecosystem, seagrass ecosystem, tropical tree forest ecosystem and in particular, the typical eel ecosystem.

So far, preliminary assessment of flora in Ha Long Bay area has about 347 species and vascular plants of 232 genera and 95 families. Of the 347 known plant species, 16 species are in the red list of Vietnam that are endangered and endangered. Among rare and precious plant species, there are 95 species of medicinal plants, 37 species of ornamental plants, 13 species of fruit trees and 10 groups with different usability.

The islands in Halong Bay have diverse mollusks, especially those that reside in rock holes, and there are up to 60 endemic animals. Ha Long seafood is exploited and cultured including abalone, sea cucumber, peanut, shrimp, fish, squid (squid, cuttlefish, squid), octopus, blood cockle, clams and scallops for pearls. .

Ha Long Bay is also the land of the glorious, magnificent history of the Vietnamese people with famous places like Van Don - where there is a bustling ancient port in the 12th century, with Bai Tho Mountain history, and not far away is the Bach Dang River - evidence of two glorious naval battles of generations of fathers against invaders. Not only that, Ha Long is also one of the cradles of the people with Ha Long culture glorious during the Neolithic period in the famous archaeological sites such as Dong Mang, Xich Tho, Soi Nhom, Thoi Giay .

On December 17, 1994, during the 18th session of the World Heritage Council of UNESCO held in Thailand, Ha Long Bay was officially recognized as a World Natural Heritage with exceptional value in terms of aesthetics, according to the standards of the International Convention on the protection of natural and cultural world. On December 2, 2000, at the 24th Conference in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, the World Heritage Council recognized Ha Long Bay as the 2nd World Heritage Site according to geological value standards. , geomorphology. Currently, Quang Ninh province is promoting to submit to UNESCO for recognition of Ha Long Bay as the 3rd World Heritage Site, based on the values ​​of archeology and biodiversity in the Gulf.