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Ha Long Bay
(Vietnamese: Vịnh Hạ Long) is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in
Quảng Ninh province, Vietnam. Ha Long Bay features thousands of
limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes.
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 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).
Ha Long Bay is in northeastern Vietnam, from E106°56' to E107°37' and
from N20°43' to N21°09'. Ha Long 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. Ha Long Bay has a 120 kilometre
long coastline and is approximately 1,553 square kilometres in size with
1969 islets. Ha Long Bay 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.
Ha Long 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.
History shows that Ha Long Bay has been the setting for local naval
battles against Vietnam's coastal neighbours. 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.
Ha Long Bay consists of a dense cluster of 1,969 limestone monolithic
islands, each topped with thick jungle vegetation, which rise
spectacularly from the ocean. Ha Long Bay has 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, 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 beaches on the smaller islands.
In Ha Long Bay, 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 iguanas also live on
some of the islands.
Almost these islands are individual towers in a classic fenglin lanscape
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. In 1962, Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism arranged
Ha Long Bay as National Renowned Lanscape Vestige.
Ha Long Bay was World's Natural Heritage listed by UNESCO at the 18th
meeting of the Committee of the World Heritages of UNESCO (in Phuket,
Thailand on December 17th, 1994) for Ha Long Bay’s outstanding universal
aesthetic value according to the criteria explained in the Operational
Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. On
December 2nd, 2000 at the 24th meeting of Committee of the World
Heritages in Cairns, Australia, Ha Long Bay was admitted as a World
Heritage Site for its outstanding geological and geomorphological value
according to the criteria of that Convention. Ha Long Bay was introduced
to nominate by New Open World Foundation as World's 7 Natural Wonder.
Nguyễn Trăi wrote about Ha Long Bay: "This wonder is ground raises up in
the middle of the high sky". Xuân Diệu utter a praise: "Here is the
unfinished works of the Beings...Here is the stones which the Giant
played and threw away". Nguyên Ngọc summarized: "...to form this first-
rate wonder, nature only uses: Stone and Water...There is just only two
materials themselves chosen from as much as materials, in order to
write, to draw, to sculpture, to create everything...It is quite
possible that here is the image of the future world". Ho Chi Minh
remarks: "It is the wonder that one cannot impart to others". Pham Van
Dong embarrassed: "Is it one scenery or many seceneries? Is it the
scenery in the world or somewhere?". Nguyễn Tuân recognized that:"Only
mountains accept to be old, but Ha Long sea and wave is young for ever". |
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