Tourist Resources
Quang Ninh is well-known for its noticable tourist resources in the nationwide with many beautiful beaches and charming sites like Ha Long bay, which was twice regconized to be a world heritage site by UNESCO and now is on the last satge of being voted to be one of seven natural wonders in the world.
Ha Long Bay is located in northeastern Vietnam, from E106°56' to E107°37' and from N20°43' to N21°09'. The bay stretches from Yên Hưng district, past Ha Long city, Cam Pha town to Van Đon district, bordered on the south and southeast by the Gulf of Tonkin, on the north by China, and on the west and southwest by Cat Ba island.
The bay has a 120 km long coastline and is approximately 1,553 km² in size with about 2000 islets. The area designated by UNESCO as the World Natural Heritage Site incorporates 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 zone.
Just next to the world famous Ha Long Bay, a world natural heritage, Bai Tu Long Bay is not any the less beautiful with hundreds of islets rising from the clear water and long and smooth sand banks.
About 200 kilometres away from Ha Noi, Bai Tu Long Bay is also home to a national park with a primitive forest and hundreds of species of plants and animals, many of which have been listed as rare and precious.
The park is some 60km away from Bai Chay Beach. Tourists can reach the park by road or more romantically by speedboat from Bai Chay Beach. The northern province of Quang Ninh has turned Bai Tu Long Bay into an eco-tourist site with various choices of tours to visitors. After admiring the beauty of the limestone rocks in numerous interesting shapes and discovering deep caves or mangrove forests by boat, visitors still have much more to see on Van Don, Minh Chau, and Quan Lan islands or at the shores.
Van Don Port, built in 1149, used to be a busy place for trade and cultural exchange between Viet Nam and Thailand, China and Japan for five centuries and now is considered as the most beautiful beach in the North of Viet Nam. Meanwhile, Cua Ong temple is one of the most sacred places in the northeastern region where a national hero and his family are worshipped.
The temple is built in the middle of the mountains, facing Bai Tu Long Bay. Visitors can choose to stay overnight in stilted houses at the shore to enjoy fresh seafood and local specialties. They can also go through thick forests to reach the village of ethnic minority groups and be their guests.
Tuan Chau Island belonging to Ha Long Bay has an area of 220 ha. It is 8 km from Ha Long City and 2 km offshore. This is an ideal spot to develop a super tourist complex. There are 100 hotels around the province all together with 3,000 rooms (1,200 rooms are international standard), e.g., Heritage (4-star, 101 rooms), Ha Long Plaza (4-star, 192 rooms), Ha Long Bay, Ha Long 1, 2, and 3, etc.
Moreover, there are also hundreds of mini-hotels and guesthouses owned by the private sector. This kind of accommodation is supported by joint venture hotels in medium size, namely Hoang Gia (Royal) (5-star, 360 rooms), Ha Long - Dream (4-star, 200 rooms), etc. There will be many modern international hotels, recreation areas in Ha Long and Mong Cai in the future.
Bai Chay Beach developed by Royal Joint Venture Co. is a wonderful spot and provides full range of services. Tourist boat unit is being enlarged and upgraded to enable service 5,000 guests visiting Ha Long Bay at the same time.
With around 500 historical, cultural and arts relics etc., attached with many traditional festivals; such as Yen Tu Pagoda, Cua o¬ng Temple, Bach Dang historical relic, Long Tien Pagoda, Quan Lạn Communal House etc. which attract a large number of visitors, especially during festivals.
Source: VNA
