A view of Ha Long Bay. Photo by AFP
Ha Long Bay has recently been listed in the top ten UNESCO heritage sites in Asia, according to the UK-based travel site Rough Guides.
Located in the Gulf of Tonkin in Quang Ninh Province, Ha Long Bay is famous for its emerald green waters and thousands of towering limestone islands topped by rainforests.
“Legend says that when the country had to fight against invaders a dragon descended into the sea (Ha Long translates as “descending dragon”) and scattered emeralds from its mouth to form a defensive wall," the site reported. "Over thousands of years, the wall crumbled and turned into the majestic pillars of different shapes and sizes that we see today.”
Thanks to its outstanding beauty, Ha Long Bay was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1994, and in 2011, it was named among the world’s seven new natural wonders by Swiss organization New Open World.
The Rough Guides list also includes other beautiful landscapes in Asia, both natural and man-made, including the rice terraces of Cordilleras in the Philippines, Angkor Wat in Cambodia and the Great Wall of China.