New 7 Natural Wonders of the World

New Seven Wonders of Nature-One of 28 nominees. Winners will be announced in 2011.

 

Halong Bay
Viet Nam
New Seven Wonders of Nature
The bay consists of a dense cluster of 1,969 limestone monolithic islands, each topped with thick jungle vegetation, which rise spectacularly from the ocean. Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves. Hang Ðau Go (Wooden stakes Cave) is the largest grotto in the Ha Long area. French tourists visited in the late 19th century, and named the cave Grotte des Merveilles.
Halong Bay Slideshow	Halong Bay, Vietnam [1]

 

Ha Long Bay (literally: Descending Dragon bay; is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes.

 

Geographical Location
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 Hung district, past Ha Long city, Cam Pha town to Vân Ðon district, bordered on the south and southeast by the Gulf of Tonkin, on the north by China and on the west and southwest by Cát Bà island. The bay has a 120 kilometre long coastline and is approximately 1,553 square kilometres in size with about 2000 islets. The area designated by UNESCO as the World Natural Heritage Site includes 434 km² with 775 islets, of which the core zone is delimited by 69 points: Ð?u G? island on the west, Ba H?m lake on the south and C?ng Tây island on the east. The protected area is from the Cái Dam petrol store to Quang Hanh commune, C?m Ph? town and the surrounding giants zone.

Climate
The bay is a sea islands in tropical wet with 2 seasons: hot and moist summer, dry and cold winter. Average temperature is from 15°C- 25°C. Annual rainfall is between 2000mm and 2200mm. Ha Long Bay has the typical diurnal tide system (tide amplitude ranges from 3.5-4m). The salinity is from 31 to 34.5MT in dry season and lower in rainy season.

 

System of isles and caves

Thien Cung grottoThe bay consists of a dense cluster of 1,969 limestone monolithic islands, each topped with thick jungle vegetation, which rise spectacularly from the ocean. Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves. Hang Ðau Go (Wooden stakes Cave) is the largest grotto in the Ha Long area. French tourists visited in the late 19th century, and named the cave Grotte des Merveilles. Its three large chambers contain large numerous stalactites and stalagmites (as well as 19th century French graffiti). There are two bigger islands, Tuan Châu and Cat Ba, that have permanent inhabitants. Both of them have tourist facilities, including hotels and beaches. There are a number of wonderful beaches on the smaller islands.

Some of the islands support floating villages of fishermen, who ply the shallow waters for 200 species of fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks. Many of the islands have acquired their names as a result of interpretation of their unusual shapes: such names include Voi Islet (elephant), Ga Choi Islet (fighting cock), and Mai Nha Islet (roof). 989 of the islands have been given names. Birds and animals including bantams, antelopes, monkeys, and lizards also live on some of the islands.

Almost these islands are individual towers in a classic fenglin lanscape which height is from 50m to 100m and height/width ratios up to about 6.

Another specific feature of Halong Bay is the abundance of lakes inside the limestone islands, for example, Dau Be island has six enclosed lakes. All these island lakes occupy drowned dolines within fengcong karst.[2]