Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage 下龙湾旅游景点（世界自然文化遗产）

HALONG BAY, VIETNAM 下龙湾（越南）

Halong Bay was listed as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in 1994. The words Ha Long literally means “descending dragon” or “下龙” in Chinese-Vietnamese language. The site, a very popular tourist destination, features thousands of limestone isles in various shapes and sizes. The bay has an area of about 1,500 square km with about 2,000 islets. Historical research shown the presence of pre-historical human beings

A community of about 1,600 people lives on Halong Bay. They live on floating houses and their main economic activities iv fishing and marine aquaculture. There are a few villages with a school for the convenience of the children of the villages. There are two bigger islands, Tuan Chau and Cat Ba with beautiful beaches, that have permanent residents, as well as hotel facilities to cater for tourists.

Halong Bay is located east of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, bordered on the south and southeast by the Gulf of Tonkin and China in the north.

	A school	Aquaculture
	A grocery boat	A tourist boat guide
A village of about few hundred inhabitants built on the water can be found in Halong Bay. It is a magically calm place, an escape from the hustle of Hanoi streets. The village is a true water world, rising and falling with the tides, sheltered amidst limestone towers. Water villages are settlements that are usually built on the water. Houses often float on the water or are located on stilts and rarely on small islands. This water village is becoming increasingly popular tourist destination. Locals live mainly from the sea. Most of the rock islands in the area are not suitable for cultivation. Halong Bay is very rich in fish and seafood. In the above pictures you can see some floating houses. Locals live in these houses and their main economic activities are fishing, marine aquaculture and tourist boat guides. They sell their catches to the tourist pleasure boats or to bigger boats that bring the fresh fish to mainland markets. There is a school that caters for the children of the locals. Grocery boats ply around the village to sell their goods.