Halong Bay is located in the Northeast of Vietnam,belonging to Ha Long city, Quang Ninh Province, in the Gulf of Tonkin.On the world map, it has borders to China in the North and adjacent tothe East Sea in the East .

TheBay has a medium size of 1,553 square kilometers. It is accomodation ofmany fishing communities, including the 4 communes of Cua Van, CongTau, Vong Vieng and Ba Hang with a population of more than 1,600people. The residents live on floating houses and boats, making theirown lives by fishing and aquaculture.

Thebay is a sea islands in tropical wet with 2 seasons: hot and moistsummer, dry and cold winter. Average temperature is from 15°C- 25°C.Annual rainfall is between 2,000mm and 2,200mm. Halong Bayhas the typical diurnal tide system (tide amplitude ranges from3.5-4m). The salinity is from 31 to 34.5MT in dry season and lower inrainy season.

Literally, “Ha Long” means "Bay of Descending Dragons." Before the 19^th century, this name was not recorded in any document or archive. In this term, there is a mysteriously legendary tale as follows
“Long ago, in the first founding days, the Viet people were attacked byforeign aggressors. The Jade Emperor sent the Mother Dragon and herband of Child Dragons to help the Viet people fight the invaders. Whilethe enemy vessels were launching massive attacks against the mainland,the dragons descended in flocks from the sky. They spat out innumerablepearls which changed into jade stone islands the moment they touchedthe water. These islands linked together to form firm citadels thatchecked the enemy’s advance and smashed their vessels to pieces. Afterthe invaders were driven out, Mother Dragon and her Child Dragons didnot return to Heaven but stayed on earth, right at the place where thebattle occurred. The spot where the Mother Dragon landed was Ha Long,and where the Child Dragons came down was Bai Tu Long.The place where their tails violently wagged was called Long Vi, thetoday’s Tra Co Peninsula with its soft sandy beach stretching a seriesof kilometers.”

Gifted Beauty & top sightseeings

In1962, the Ministry of Culture and Information classified Halong Bay asa National Landscape Site, covering an area of 1,553 km² with 1,969 islands. Halong Bay has been recognized twice by UNESCOas a World Heritage Area for its universal values of landscape, geologyand geomorphology, respectively in 1994 and 2000, an area of 434 sq.km. including 775 islands.

The dense cluster of 1,969 limestone monolithic islands within the bay is topped with thick jungle vegetation, which rise spectacularly from the ocean. Mostof the islands were formed over 500 million years ago, and massed inthe Southeast and Southwest. Those in the Southeast have an averageheight of 50-200m, covering lots of flora. Several of theislands are hollow, with enormous caves. Hang Đầu Gỗ (Wooden stakesCave) is the largest grotto in the Ha Long area. French touristsvisited 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 19^th century French graffiti). There are two bigger islands, Tuan Chau and Cat Ba,that have permanent inhabitants. Both of them have tourist facilities,including hotels and beaches. There are a number of wonderful beacheson the smaller islands. The others are Bai Chay, Ti Top, Minh Chau, Quan Lan and so forth.

Viewedfrom above, Ha Long Bay looks like an extremely vivid huge drawing, andsailing beneath the bay is like leisuring in between a huge valey onwater. Ha Long bay is exactly a wonderfully skillful masterpiece ofNature that turns thousands of dumb soulless stone islands intofantastic sculptural and artistic works of various graceful shapes,both familiar and strange to human beings. Thousands of islandsemerging in the fanciful waves look strong and magnificent but alsomild and vivid. Amidst these islands tourists may feel as if they wereastrayed in a petrified legendary world. The names given to the islandswere based on their shapes and forms, such as, Human head Island, Sailisland, Fighting cocks islands… Inside the stone islands are variousbreath-taking caves like Thien Cung, Dau Go, Sung Sot, and others.These are really magnificent palace of many huge stalactites hangingpoised in mid air and stalagmites growing majestically upwards. HaLong’s sea is always the same, blue, smooth and still.

Whatis more, the bay has its own seasoned beauty. In Spring, buds of treesburst on limestone islands. In Summer, it is cool and clean with manysparkling sun rays reflecting from the sea’s surface. In Autumn,especially at night, moonlight illuminates the mountains, making themlike gold, inlaid into the earth. In Winter, with pervasive frost, HaLong is glamorous as “a floating flower basket on smooth wave” (bywriter Nguyen Tuan). All of them, stone, water and sky, make the Aesthetic value of Ha Long Bay.

TheBay’s Geological value is evaluated in two ways: by the history of itsformation and its karst geomorphology. It is also home to the ancientViet people beginning from 7,000 to 18,000 years ago, Ha Long’sCultural − Historical value. Besides, Bio-diversity is an importantnatural resource, to be well-conserved so as to maintain the ecologicalbalance of the whole region.

Ha Long Bayis undoubtedly not only a national but also a world nature, amagnificient work of Natural Creator. People who are admirers ofnatural beauty should stand up, pack their luggages, and right awaypick up a flight to Ha Long, or else they will soon feel regretful!