Ha Long Bay’s values – Aesthetic value
Ha Long Bay scenery is considered exceptional landscape on earth. Mr. James Thorsell, Director of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said: “The tall of pillars of rock and rugged islands rising from Ha Long water surface are unique with perfect picturesque scenery endowed by nature, especially archeological heritage. It is worthy to be preserved and recorded in the World Heritage List as a Natural Heritage site”.
The overview landscape: The beauty of Ha Long Bay is the perfect combination of mountain shapes, sea water, sky, and color of clouds… The bay is outstanding sculpture of nature, there is a subtle combination between sculpture and painting, composition and color, the scenery’s majesty and romance that no words able to describe.
The beauty of the diverse shapes of islands: Sitting on boat and slowly moving into the mysterious forests of the island of Ha Long Bay, the rocky islands with the familiar or strange shapes catch visitors’ eyes. The diverse of islands, rocky mountains with different shapes and sizes gives the impression that they are not rocky islands, but extremely living creatures …
The transformation of the landscape: That’s amazing! Choosing just two materials – stone and water in abundance of rich materials of heaven and earth, Creator has created a great picture of immortal Ha Long Bay. Specially, the beauty of the picture changes among times, spaces and the attitude of visitors. It will be extremely interesting and surprised to enjoy the beauty of Ha Long Bay in four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Ha Long sea is not like the other seas that only welcome the visitors in the summer. Throughout the four seasons, it is crowded with visitors.
In the early morning in Spring, the the foot of the islands became shrouded in amists, the rocky islands became mysterious, fluttering on the waves. The summer comes, the dawn at the horizon, the rocky islands seem to raise from the calm water in bright early sunlights. The whole bay has a bright red color and gradually turns into blue. Sunlights twinkle in the small waves of the bay shoving into the shore. Islands are decorated by the colorful orchids and plants blossoming. Coming to Ha Long bay in a moon night, the rocky islands seem become meditated, hidden between the bright alternating light patches. At that time Ha Long is so elegant and mysterious! When the winter cames, the scene surprisingly changes mountain fog seems like floating on the mist…
Ha Long Bay has many beautiful caves, each cave has its own distinctiveness, creating a fascinating attraction: the Thien Cung cave is as splendid as a palace build from crystal; Dau Go cave looks old and majestic like ancient castle; Sung Sot cave has magnificent beauty, always create a feeling of surprise for visitors; other destinations in the bay such as, Tien Ong cave, Co Cave, Thay cave, Bai Dong island, Cap La cave, Duc Tien cave, Cong Do cave, Goi Giuong cave, Doi – Cua Van cave, Bai Chan sandbank, Cat Oan sandbank, Tung Ngoc area are interesting attractions in the future.
The beauty of ecosystem biodiversity: Ha Long bay is likened a giant and lively watercolor painting with thousands of rocky islands rising from the clear blue water and rich and mysterious caves system. Between the deep blue of seawater and light blue of sky is fresh green of countless species of plant presenting on limestone mountains. This painting becomes more gorgeous with the embellishment of the brilliant colors of many flowers such as: Chirita halongensis Kiew & T.H. Nguyen, Chirita drakei B.L. Burtt, Jasiminum halongensis Gagnep, Paphiopedilum concolor (Lindley ex Bateman) Pfitzer, Bonidendron parviflorum (Lecomte) Gagnep, Begonia boisiana Gagnep.
Chirieta halongensis, Primulina halongensis, Ha Long Jasmine, Paphiopedilum concolor, Sinoradlkofera moinor, Begonia…
The natural beauty of Ha Long bay is an endless source of inspiration for art creators, especially photography and poetry. Thousands of pictures, hundreds of immortal poems about Ha Long bay are preserved until today. Wherever you are from anywhere in the world, standing in front of the huge, lively rocky islands and mysterious clouds shimmering here, you must be amazed at the miracle of creativity.
