The story of Ha Long Bay

Hạ Long means descending dragon. Legend says that when Vietnam was young and fighting invaders, the gods sent a family of dragons to protect it. The dragons spat out jewels and jade, which turned into the islands scattered across the bay and linked together into a great wall against the enemy ships.

After the victory the dragons decided to stay: the place where the mother descended became Hạ Long, and the place where her children attended her, Bái Tử Long. The bay covers around 1,553 km2 and holds 1,969 islets, most of them limestone, formed over 500 million years. Of the islands, 989 have names, often taken from their unusual shapes, such as the Fighting Cock or the Elephant.

Around 1,600 people live on the bay in four fishing villages, in floating houses. Five hundred years ago the poet Nguyễn Trãi called it a rock wonder in the sky, and in 1994 UNESCO listed its core as a World Heritage Site.