Ha Long Bay has an area of 1500km2, consists of 1600 islands of which 1000 have been named. It has highly cultural value and been considered as the eighth world heritage of wonder. Placed in the North-East region of Vietnam, Ha Long Bay is a part of the Gulf of Tonkin comprised of regions of Ha Long city, the township of Cam Pha and a part of the island in the southwest, the East Sea in the east,and the mainland, creating a 120km coastline, range from 106058'' - 107022''E and 20045'' - 20055''N. It was divided into different parts such as Halong bay in the southwest and Bai Tu Long bay in the southeast in which Halong bay is the most attractive place for tourist.
Viewed from above, Ha long bay looks like a geographic work of art. While exploring the bay, you will feel lost in a legendary world of Stone Island. There is Man's Head Island, which resembles a man standing and looking towards the mainland. Dragon Island looks like a dragon hovering above the turquoise water. La Vong Island resembles an old man fishing. There are also the islands of the Sail, the Pair of Roosters, and the Incense Burner, which all astonishingly resemble their namesakes. The forms of the islands change depending on the angle of the light and from where the islands are viewed. At the core of the islands, there are wonderful caves and grottoes, such as Thien Cung (Heavenly Residence Grotto), Dau Go (Driftwood Grotto), Sung Sot (Surprise Grotto), and Tam Cung (Three Palace Grotto). "Ha long" means "descending dragon". It appeared from an old tale when our country was invaded by foreign forces. The God from heaven sent mother dragon with her children help defend their land. When the boat of invaders came, it was fired by dragon family. Dragon family fell so much in love with this area for its beauty that they decided not to come back. It turned into many stone peninsulas.
Mother dragon lies on what is now Ha Long and where her children lie is Bai Tu Long. The dragon tails formed the area of Bach Long Vi known for the miles of white sandy beaches of Tra Co peninsula. Moreover, Ha Long bay has many links to the history of Viet Nam. For example, there are such famous geographical sites as Van Don - site of an famous ancient commercial port, Poem Mountain - with engraving of many poem of emperors and other famous historical figures, and Bach Dang - the location of two fierce naval battles fought against foreign aggressors. Especially, it has been proven by scientists that Ha Long was one of the first cradles of human existence in the area at such archeological sites as Xich Tho, Dong Mang, Soi Nhu, and Thoi Gieng. It is also a region of highly - concentrated biological diversity with many ecosystems of salt water - flooded forests, coral reefs. And tropical forests featuring thousands of species of animal and plant life.
With all these above mentioned values, the 18th meeting of the Committee of the World Heritages of UNESCO (in Thailand on December 17th, 1994) officially recognized Ha long Bay as a heritage site of worldwide importance.
