| Hongnam: Tourist - sites | |
Ha Long Bay
Ha Long bay, located north of the Eastern Sea of Vietnam, is 165 km east of Hanoi, in Quang Ninh province. Ha Long bay, a famous Vietnam tourist attraction was named by the UNESCO as one of the World Cultural Sights.
Ha Long bay covers an area of 1,500 km. Among the several attractive beaches along its winding coastline is Bai Chay,located north of Cat Ba island. The marine reserve in the bay is flourishing and offers great opportunity for snorkelling. The bay is filled with thousands of islets of all shape and sizes; most of them get their names after their unusual shapes such as Voi islet (elephant), Ga Choi islet (fighting cocks), and Mai Nha islet (roof).
A wide variety of birds and animals including bantams, antelopes, monkeys, and iguanas inhabit the islands. Pearl and coral are also exploited in some areas.
Ha Long bay is a wonderful destination thanks to its grand and picturesque charm. Tourists who visit Ha Long bay at any time of the year will be amazed by its alluring beauty.
There are many ways to get to Ha Long bay: by bus, train or boat. Other famous sights such as Cat Ba island, Do Son, and Yen Tu mountains can be visited on the way to Ha Long bay.
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To establish itself in the international arena, apart from its name, each nation has its own national flag, anthem and emblem.
More than that, many nations have taken the most characteristic points of the country, such as unique architectural works, natural wonders, a location for astronomy, a kind of beautiful flower, an animal or a tree and used them as the symbol of their own countries. For the USA, the Statue of Liberty is the symbol,standing at the New York Harbour. For France, it is the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Cambodia has the Angkor Wat and the Thap Pagoda. Egypt is the land of Pyramids. Bulgaria’s symbol is roses, while Holland is the land of tulips. Spain is symbolised by bull fighting. Britain is characterised by fog, while Russia is the land of the poplar forests. The symbol of Japan is the Fuji Mountain and it takes pride in being a country of the rising sun and peach blossom. The symbol of China is the Great Wall. Laos, a close neighbour of Vietnam, is famous for its Champa flower and elephants. Myanmar’s symbol is the Gold Pagoda. The Philippines and Indonesia are symbolised as the archipelago countries. Australia’s unique symbol is the kangaroo, and so on and so forth.
And so the selection of the symbol for a city or a nation is important and necessary. Vietnam does not have magnificent architectural works like the Pyramids, the Babylon Garden, the Great Wall or the Eiffel Tower, but it has grandiose natural wonders like Ha Long Bay, the citadel, mausoleum and temples of the Nguyen Dynasties in Hue which have been recognised by UNESCO as a world heritage site. Does Vietnam need any common symbol, and if any, what symbol? International friends have termed Vietnam as the land of folks-songs, the land of Ha Long Bay, Ho Guom and the Mot Cot (One Pillar) Pagoda. Do these symbols really become symbolic, bearing the national characteristics or not? In Vietnam’s door-opening period to integrate itself into the region and the world, historians, Vietnamologists and sociologists of Vietnam might pay more attention to this. |
Luong grotto in Ha Long bay.
In Vietnam, a number of cities have intimate names, very characteristic and easy to remember. Hai Phong is called the city of flame flowers. Nam Dinh is symbolised as the city of textiles. Thai Nguyen is the city of iron and steel. Viet Tri is characterised as the city of the river confluence. Vinh city is called the Red City. Nha Trang is the city of the sea, while the ancient imperial city Hue is the city of the Huong (Perfume) river. Da Lat is called the city of the Highlands. Saigon City, formerly likened a "pearl in the Far East," now Ho Chi Minh City, is also remembered as the city of the Dragon House and Ben Thanh Market. Whenever Hue city is remembered, Ngo Mon (Noon Gate of the Royal Palace), Trang Tien Bridge, the Huong (Perfume) River, the Ngu Binh Mountain, are on the lips of the people. When the capital city of Hanoi is talked about, wherever you are, such names as Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam (the Temple of Literature situated in Quoc Tu Giam Street), Ho Guom (Hoan Kiem Lake as called in the other way), Cot Co (Flag Tower) and Dong Xuan market, are always in the minds of the Hanoians. These are the symbols of the views, and the unique architectural works in the city.