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The
bay was World Heritage listed by UNESCO at the 18th
meeting of the Committee of the World Heritages of
UNESCO (in Thailand on December 17th, 1994). It is one
of Vietnam's most popular tourist destinations. Local
legend says that long ago when the Vietnamese were
fighting Chinese invaders, the gods sent a family of
dragons to help defend the land. This family of dragons
descended upon what is now Ha Long Bay (hence the name
"Bay of Descending Dragons") and began
spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into
the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together
to form barriers against the invaders. The people kept
their land safe and formed what later became the country
of Vietnam. A modern legend claims that a creature named
the tarasque still lives in the bay. History shows that
Halong Bay has been the setting for local naval battles
against Vietnam's coastal neighbors. On three occasions
in the labyrinth of channels in Bach Dang river near the
islands the Vietnamese army stopped the Chinese from
landing. In 1288 General Tran Hung Dao stopped Mongol
ships from sailing up the nearby Bach Dang River by
placing steel-tipped wooden stakes at high tide, sinking
the Mongol Dubhai Khan's fleet. During the Vietnam War,
many of the channels between the islands were heavily
mined by the navy of the United States, some of which
pose a threat to shipping to this day. On October 8th,
2006 it was featured on the Amazing Race 10. The
surrounding land region of Halong City is rich with high
grade coal deposits (anthracite), and is operated by the
Vietnamese government.
Etymology
Local legend has it that long ago, when the
Vietnamese were fighting Chinese invaders, the gods sent
a family of dragons to help defend the land. This family
of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These
jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the
bay, linking together to form a great wall against the
invaders. The people kept their land safe and formed
what later became the country of Vietnam. After that,
dragons were interested in peaceful sightseeing of the
Earth and decided to live here then. The place where
Mother Dragon flew down was named Hạ Long, the
place where the dragon children attended upon their
mother was called Bái Tử Long island (Bái:
attend upon, Tử: children, Long: dragon), and the
place where the dragon children wriggled their tails
violently was called Bạch Long Vỹ island
(Bạch: white- colour of the foam made when
Children Dragon wriggle, Long: dragon, Vỹ: tail).
Geographical Location
Ha Long Bay is in northeastern Vietnam, from E106°56'
to E107°37' and from N20°43' to N21°09'. The bay
stretches from Yên Hưng district, past Hạ
Long city, Cẩm Phả town to Vân Đồn
district, bordered on the south and southeast by the
Gulf of Tonkin, on the north by China and on the west
and southwest by Cát Bà island. The bay has a 120
kilometre long coastline and is approximately 1,553
square kilometres in size with about 2000 islets. The
area designated by UNESCO as the World Natural Heritage
Site includes 434 km² with 775 islets, of which the
core zone is delimited by 69 points: Đầu
Gỗ island on the west, Ba Hầm lake on the
south and Cống Tây island on the east. The
protected area is from the Cái Dăm petrol store to
Quang Hanh commune, Cẩm Phả town and the
surrounding giants zone.
Climate
The bay is a sea islands in tropical wet with 2 seasons:
hot and moist summer, dry and cold winter. Average
temperature is from 15°C- 25°C. Annual rainfall is
between 2000mm and 2200mm. Ha Long Bay has the typical
diurnal tide system (tide amplitude ranges from 3.5-4m).
The salinity is from 31 to 34.5MT in dry season and
lower in rainy season.
System of isles and caves
The bay consists of a dense cluster of 1,969 limestone
monolithic islands, each topped with thick jungle
vegetation, which rise spectacularly from the ocean.
Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves.
Hang Đầu Gỗ (Wooden stakes Cave) is the
largest grotto in the Ha Long area. French tourists
visited in the late 19th century, and named the cave
Grotte des Merveilles. Its three large chambers contain
large numerous stalactites and stalagmites (as well as
19th century French graffiti). There are two bigger
islands, Tuần Châu and Cat Ba, that have
permanent inhabitants. Both of them have tourist
facilities, including hotels and beaches. There are a
number of wonderful beaches on the smaller islands.
Some of the islands support floating villages of
fishermen, who ply the shallow waters for 200 species of
fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks. Many of the
islands have acquired their names as a result of
interpretation of their unusual shapes: such names
include Voi Islet (elephant), Ga Choi Islet (fighting
cock), and Mai Nha Islet (roof). 989 of the islands have
been given names. Birds and animals including bantams,
antelopes, monkeys, and lizards also live on some of the
islands.
Almost these islands are individual towers in a classic
fenglin landscape which height is from 50m to 100m and
height/width ratios up to about 6.
Another specific feature of Halong Bay is the abundance
of lakes inside the limestone islands, for example, Dau
Be island has six enclosed lakes. All these island lakes
occupy drowned dolines within fengcong karst.
Inhabitants
A community of around 1600 people live on Ha Long
Bay in four fishing villages: Cửa Vạn, Ba
Hang, Cống Tàu and Vông Viêng in Hùng
Thắng commune, Hạ Long city. They live on
floating houses and are sustained by capture fishing and
marine aquaculture (cultivating marine biota).
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