Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Hạ Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage web site, and a popular travel destination, in Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam. Administratively, the bay belongs to Hạ Long City, Cẩm Phả town, and the a part of Vân Đồn District. The bay features thousands of rock karsts and isles in numerous sizes and shapes. Hạ Long Bay is a center of a bigger zone which incorporates Bái Tử Long bay to the northeast, and Cát Bà islands to the southwest. These larger zones share similar geological, geographical, geomorphological, climate, and cultural characters.

Historical research surveys have shown the presence of past human beings during this space tens of thousands years past. The successive ancient cultures ar the Soi Nhụ culture around eighteen,000–7000 BC, the Cái Bèo culture 7000–5000 BC and the Hạ Long culture 5,000–3,500 years past. Hạ Long Bay also marked vital events in the history of Vietnam with several artifacts found in Bài Thơ Mount, Đầu Gỗ Cave, Bãi Cháy.

500 years past, Nguyễn Trãi praised the beauty of Hạ Long Bay in his verse Lộ nhập Vân Đồn, in which he referred to as it "rock surprise within the sky". In 1962, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of North Vietnam listed Hạ Long Bay within the National Relics and Landscapes publication. In 1994, the core zone of Hạ Long Bay was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage web site according to criterion vii, and listed for a second time according to criterion viii.

Etymology

The name Hạ Long is derived from the Sino-Vietnamese 下龍, meaning "descending dragon".

Before 19th century, the name Halong Bay had not been recorded in the old books of our country. It has been called associate degree Bang, Luc Thuy, Van Don... Late 19th century, the name Halong Bay has appeared on the Maritime map of France. "Haiphong News" published in French, has reported: " Dragon appears on Halong Bay". The story can be summarized as follows: In 1898, lieutenant Lagoredin captain of Avalangso met a couple of giant ophidian on Halong Bay thrice.