Ha Long, a city of heritage

As the central hub of Quang Ninh province, Ha Long City is identified as one of the three vertices of the Northern Delta economic growth triangle: Hanoi-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh. Ha Long City enjoys a particularly advantageous location. Inland, it serves as a crucial gateway to the sea for the Northern Delta region and the entire Northeast-Northern mountainous and midland areas of Vietnam. For countries in the region and internationally, Ha Long City is adjacent to the developing South China region and, further afield, to the vast and dynamically developing Asia-Pacific economic region.

Ha Long Bay also includes Dragon Bay, located on the western coast in the Gulf of Tonkin. Ha Long Bay became one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and was twice recognized by UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage site on December 17, 1994 and December 2, 2000.

In the photo album "Ha Long Heritage City," author Vu Van Lam (Vu Lam) wrote: "The heritage city of Ha Long is located on the shores of Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Vietnam, boasting stunning natural landscapes and recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Ha Long Bay is also famous for its unique limestone islands, large caves, and majestic scenery. This photo collection was submitted by the author to the Happy Vietnam Photo and Video Contest, organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications ."

Ha Long City is a land blessed by nature with many valuable resources, especially the wonder of Ha Long Bay.

While the coastal areas boast deep-water ports convenient for ships to dock, the land beneath the surface contains coal, clay, limestone, and other minerals. The city possesses both fishing grounds and forestry areas with abundant and diverse reserves and exploitation potential.

Often referred to as a heritage city, Ha Long boasts not only the World Natural Heritage site of Ha Long Bay, but also a rich and diverse array of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. These advantages have made Ha Long even more attractive and are crucial resources for exploiting and developing cultural and tourism products in the era of international integration.

Ha Long Bay was recognized for its exceptional value in terms of landscape, geology, geomorphology, and beauty, surpassing over 400 nominations from more than 200 countries and territories worldwide to become one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. The extraordinary beauty of Ha Long Bay is created from three elements: rocks, water, and sky.

Visitors to Ha Long Bay, a "new natural wonder of the world," can also admire many other "wonders" with unique and distinctive beauties of the fascinating limestone cave system found only in Ha Long Bay.

Ha Long Bay is where dragons descended. Dragon Island resembles a dragon soaring above the water; La Vong Island looks like an old man sitting and fishing; Head Island resembles someone's face looking towards the mainland; Rooster and Hen Island looks like two chickens with their heads together; there are also other islands such as Warm Island, Pen Island, Toad Island, Ngoc Vung Island, Ti Top Island (Red Cross Island), Dragon's Eye Island, Tuan Chau Island, Surprise Cave, Thien Cung Cave, Dau Go Cave… The bay is associated with the legend of a dragon descending to spit out pearls and gems to help the Vietnamese defeat their invaders, hence many place names in the bay are linked to "dragon" and "pearl".

Vietnam.vn