The Cultural Space of Gong in the Central Highlands

The fame of Central Highlands gong culture has crossed national borders to become a property of all human beings.

Specific values of the cultural space of the Central Highlands gong which is a part of Vietnam's cultural heritage and quintessence has been recognised by the international community.

On 25th November 2005, the UNESCO decided to recognize “The cultural space of gong in the Central Highlands” of Vietnam as “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”.

Caption

Throughout the Central Highlands of Viet Nam, Gong ensembles are parts of various ceremonies and closely linked to the communities’ daily life and the cycle of the seasons. The instruments, measuring 25 to 80 centimetres, are played by men as well as women.

The culture space of the Gongs of central Vietnam is about original musical forms, which are performed against the background of the linguistic and ethnic diversity of the region. Diversity is also found in the compositions and customs of the Gong ensembles, in their performance techniques, in the musical genres and in the ritual functions of the gongs.

In the realm of Vietnam’s musical instruments, the gongs are very well-known for their outstanding value and regarded as the privileged language bridging humanity and the supernatural world. The gongs are made from a mixture of bronze and silver, with some distinctive features. The peoples living in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam possess many sets of gongs, which would be performed differently. A set of gongs consists of two to twenty units.

Culture Value

The most outstanding value of gong culture showcases masterpieces of human creativity. The masters of gong culture are the ethnic people of the Central Highlands. Although they can not cast gongs themselves, they raise the value of a product into an excellent musical instrument with their sensitive ears and musical soul. In the hands of talented folk artistants, each gong plays the role of a musical note in an orchestra to perform different pieces of gong music.

As for ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, gongs and gong culture present a means to affirm the community and its cultural identities. As time went by, gongs have become an attractive and appealing symbol of the culture of the Central Highlands. It is an activity associated with cultural and spiritual life, and beliefs of ethnic people when they are born, grown up and return to the soil.

Customs

The Central Highlands gong comes from long-standing historical and cultural traditions. In the past, community of people in the Central Highlands knew how to play the gong. Its sound is either deep or strong, moving and combining with the sounds of streams, wind and the hearts of people so that it can live with the heaven, the earth and people in the Central Highlands.

However, different ethnic minority groups arrange different orchestras. Listening to the sound of the gong, people in the Central Highland can know which ethnic group is playing.

Gong players in the majority of ethnic groups in the Central Highlands are male. Only in a minority of ethnic groups in the region, gong players are female.

Visual description of the picture 

It is a bright sunny day and a group of seven men are outside playing brown tambourines. Only five of the seven men are clearly visible. Their bodies describe a semi-circle facing the left of the picture. They all wear calm expressions. Each man holds the tambourine in his right hand, hitting it with a short thick piece of wood held in the left. The tambourines all have white characters written on them. All the men are wearing the same costume: a dark-blue long-sleeved shirt with multicoloured cuffs and a red square piece of material with golden buttons down the front. Some of the men wear caps; the first man from left to right wears a yellow cap, the second from right wears a blue cap. In the background we can see a forest with blue sky just visible through the dense foiliage of the trees. Smoke is spiralling upwards from the dirt floor. On the far left of the frame we can see the entrance to a hut.

The Central Highlands’ gongs, together with the epics, the treasure of folklore, folk sculpture and folk knowledge, constitute the unique cultural heritage that have attached to the life of the highlanders for over thousand years.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

The Park is considered a paradise for researchers and explorers of grottoes and caves and is the home to 140 families, 427 branches, and 751 species of precious plants

Phong Nha - Ke Bang is a national park in the center of Quang Binh province in north-central Vietnam. It protects one of the world's two largest karst regions with several hundred caves and grottoes. Its name derives from Phong Nha cave, the most beautiful one, with numerous fascinating rock formations, and Ke Bang forest. The plateau is probably one of the finest and most distinctive examples of a complex karst landform in Southeast Asia.

Location:

Geographically, the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (PNKBNP) is located in central Vietnam, about 500km south of the capital, Hanoi, within the Quang Binh Province.

The western boundary of the Park partially forms Laos-Vietnamese border, which is only 42km from the sea. The Park is found within the geographical co-ordinates of 170 20'-170 48' N and 1050 46-1060 24' E in Bo Trach and Minh Hoa Districts.

Recognition by UNESCO in 2003

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park was first nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. The dossier submited to UNESCO was for the recognition of Phong Nha nature reserve as a world natural heritage under the name “Phong Nha Nature Reserve”. The reason given for the nomination was that this nature reserve satisfied the criteria of biodiversity, unique beauty and geodiversity (criteria I and iv).

It was recognized as a world natural heritage site at the UNESCO's 27th general assembly session being held in Paris in June 30th – July 5th, 2003. At the session, delegates from over 160 member countries of UNESCO World Heritage Convention agreed to include Phong Nha-Ke Bang park and 30 others worldwide in the list of world heritage sites. Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park meets with criteria viiii in accordance with UNESCO’s appraisal scale since it displays an impressive amount of evidence of earth’s history and is a site of importance for increasing human understanding of the geologic, geomorphic and geo-chronological history of the region.

Physical features:

Criterion (viii): Phong Nha is part of a larger dissected plateau, which also encompasses the Ke Bang and Hin Namno karsts. The limestone incontinuously demonstrates the complexity interbedding with shales and sandstones. This, together with the capping of schists and apparent granites has led to a particularly distinctive topography.

Looking into the caves, you may recognize discrete episodic sequences of events, leaving behind various levels of fossil passages, formerly buried and now uncovered palaeokarst (karst from previous, perhaps very ancient, periods of solution); evidence of major changes in the routes of underground rivers; changes in the solutional regime; deposition and later re-solution of giant speleothems and unusual features such as sub-aerial stromatolites. The location and form of the caves suggest that they might owe much of their size and morphology to some as yet undetermined implications of the schists and granites which overlay the limestone. On the surface, there is a striking series of landscapes, ranging from deeply dissected ranges and plateaux to an immense polje. There is evidence of at least one period of hydrothermal activity in the evolution of this ancient mature karst system. The plateau is probably one of the finest and most distinctive examples of a complex karst landform in SE Asia.

Cultural heritage:

The oldest evidence of human occupation of the area are Neolithic axe heads and similar artefacts found in some of the caves. There are some relics of Ham Nghi King, a final King of the Nguyen dynasty before the French colonial period, at the Maria Mountain in the north of the Park. Currently the Arem, Ma Coong and Ruc ethnic groups live in two villages in the core zone of Phong Nha Ke - Bang National Park. Until 1962 these indigenous people lived in the forest in houses made of bamboo and leaves or in the caves, living from forest products and hunting. They used simple tools and their clothes were made from the bark of a toxic forest tree (Antiaris toxicaria) and lianas.

Since 1992 the Government of Vietnam has set up two new settlements for these 475 people, who are the two smallest ethnic groups in Vietnam. These people are familiar with a number of economically valuable species, especially precious timber such as Mun and Hue city (Diospyros spp., Dalbergia rimosa), and oil-extraction from species such as Tau (Hopea hainanensis) and many medicinal plants. The Phong Nha Cave has long been a site of religious and touristic importance, with an old Cham Temple discovered in the cave and it was a site of worship in the ninth and tenth centuries. During the war with the USA the Phong Nha - Ke Bang forest and caves were a garrison and weapons store for the Vietnamese army.

Conservation value:

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is of high conservation value as one of the largest areas of intact forest habitat remaining in Vietnam. As part of a continuous forest block with the neighbouring Him Namno Biodiversity Conservation Area in Laos it forms one of the largest areas of forest on limestone karst in Indochina. The presence of tall lowland forest, which is regionally threatened as a habitat type, in the National Park increases the area's conservation value.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang, together with Ha Long Bay and Fanxipan of Vietnam, is listed as a candidate for 7 new world natural wonders vote. As of February 12, 2008 it ranked 10th in the voting list

In summary, Phong Nha displays an impressive amount of evidence of earth’s history. It is a site of very great importance for increasing our understanding of the geologic, geomorphic and geo-chronological history of the region.

The Royal Refined Music of Hue

  

On 7th, November 2003, the Royal Refined Vietnam has ever Music was proclaimed by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, the first title of this kind received

The UNESCO Council appraised Vietnamese royal music in the following terms: “Vietnamese royal music represents an elegant and refined music. It deals with the music performed in the imperial courts and on different anniversaries, religious festivals, and on such particular occasions. Of the different categories developed in Vietnam, only the royal music was national.”

The Royal Refined Music was first introduced in the 13th century, but only reached its peak under the Nguyen Dynasty. The Royal Refined Music had long enjoyed a preference as an official form of royal music. It was recognized as the symbol of a powerful and long-lasting monarchy and as an indispensable part of all ceremonies. Each year, the Royal Refined Music was played in nearly 100 different ceremonies.

Varied in its themes, the Royal Refined Music is considered a means of communication to express the respect to gods and kings.

Compared to other forms of art, the Royal Refined Music boasted high artistic value, first and foremost because the court had enough political power and finance to bring together talented composers and players from around the country. Given favourable conditions to practice and improve performance skills, they became professional artists in composing and performance.

After being recognized as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, the Royal Refined Music performances have been held in France and Belgium, etc. and was highly valued by the audience and art-culture researchers.

Ba Be National Park - A world natural heritage

In addition to the Huong Pagoda and Sa Pa ancient stone ground, Ba Be National Park in Ba Be District, Bac Kan Province has also been submitted to UNESCO for being recognized as a world natural heritage.

With unique geology and beautiful landscapes – its two greatest values, the Park is not only an object of scientific research but also an attractive site for discovery tours.

Unique geographical and geomorphic values

The boatman took us along the Nang River to Ba Be Lake. The karst terrain with limestone mountains on the two sides of the river reminded us of the mythological stories about the river and a plateau that experienced many changes to create Ba Be Lake, a blue gemstone with unique geomorphic and geological values amidst the forests in the north-eastern area.

According to Vietnamese scientists, Ba Be National Park lies in the arc-shaped Gam River and surrounds the Chay River . This area is a convergence of the fault systems in the north-eastern area.

The Park was split into sections and experienced block-generating movements, which lifted up the Ba Be limestone block to be separated from the surrounding non-karst terrains, changing the terrain and scenes and creating flat grounds and plateaus.

The geomorphic analysis shows that the limestone islets in Ba Be Lake, such as the An Ma and Ba Goa Islets might be broken parts of the nearby limestone mountains.

According to initial surveys, Ba Be Lake has 20 caves and grottos. Due to the structural and tectonic characters of the area, the caves and grottos developed only breadthwise. Collapses occurred regularly.

Most of the caves are simple and short and have few branches, but they are large and beautiful, typically the Dong Troi, Na Phong and Pac Chan. Each cave has two storeys or more, which are connected with one another via waterfalls, 1-3m high.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, a strong earthquake happened, making many caves collapse on an area of dozens of kilometres, from Puong Cave to Dau Dang Waterfall. The earthquake exposed an underground river and formed the Nang River branch with a 400m-high cliff. The bed of the river branch was filled and lifted up and became a natural dam, creating Ba Be Lake.

The lake has the name Ba Be because it is made up of three large pools including the Pe Lam, Pe Lu and Pe Leng which are connected to one another by the Nang River. Seen from a high mountain, Ba Be Lake lies amidst a range of lime mountains, so it looks small and surrounded by high abrupt cliffs.

It is about 9km long, 200 to 1,000 metres wide and 17 to 23m deep, with the deepest point being 29m. Doctor Nong The Dien, Director of Ba Be National Park said that through the exploration boring, the geologists discovered a 200m-thick layer of muddy soil, which was both pliant and solid, on the bottom of the lake. It was this layer that prevented the water going out, making the lake full of water all year round.

On sunny days the lake looks like a water-colour painting, fascinating every visitor. Its water is calm, blue and clear, reflecting the mountains, clouds and sky. The lake is usually dotted with Tay ethnic girls in black dress, rowing the tourist dug-outs, making a romantic scene. Ba Be Lake is really attractive due to its diverse geology and beautiful landscapes full of legendary characteristics.

Pham Duc Toan, head of the tourism committee said that with unique geography and geomorphology plus the specific colour of the water, Ba Be Lake attracts a large number of people who are interested in discovery tours, especially foreign visitors. Every year, about 25,000-30,000 tourists visit Ba Be National Park for tourism and convalescence purposes.

Attractive sites for discovery tours

From Buoc Lom Wharf we took a cruise for about one kilometre and reached Puong Cave , an attraction in terms of geomorphology and ecology. It is a limestone cave, 30m high, with stalactites of different shapes. Inside the cave, it is dim and the deeper the cave, the darker it is, but tourists are very excited because the arch of the cave is the habitat of tens of thousands of bats.

On the top of the cave still remain two flat platforms, one is 60m high and the other is 100-120m high. Scientists think that the Nang River had once run via the top of the cave.

Through millions of years the water of the river eroded the lime mountain, thus forming this magnificent cave. The two ends of the cave are open, making it ventilated. Outside the cave, there are blocks of marble and thick carpets of green moss.

A group of foreign tourists were very interested during the tour. Jaques (French) and Murat Yakin (Swiss) said that they had visited many countries and saw many caves but the caves in Ba Be National Park left great impression on them.

Leaving Puong Cave, we took a boat ride to Dau Dang Waterfall, a renowned landscape of Ba Be National Park. It falls from a height of 53 metres and runs among big limestone blocks overlapping each other.

In this area there are zones of breccia as a result of the faults. Foreign tourists were delighted in the beautiful landscape and they made videos and took photographs of it.

Dominique Rocheteau, a French tourist said that he knew Dau Dang Waterfall via a book but he could not imagine it was so beautiful and attractive. Perhaps, in the old days a very strong earthquake took place in this area.

Ao Tien (Fairy Pool) is the name of a small lake of three hectares lying on the top of a high mountain. Due to having special geological characteristics the lake never dries up. Its water is always blue and clear and the atmosphere is cool. Legend has it that fairies from Heaven used to come to this area for bathing and playing chess.

Visitors to Ba Be Lake area could not miss visiting Hua Ma Cave in Quang Khe Commune of Ba Be District, 6km southwest of Ba Be Lake, because it has great geological, cultural and tourist values. Hua Ma in the local language means head of the horse.

The Cave lies on a stone mountain, at a height of 300m above the ground, but visitors can go up by car for 150m, and then follow the steps to reach the cave. It is over 500m long, 50m high and 30-50m wide.

Inside the cave there are beautiful stalactites of different shapes, which look like Tang Zeng and his disciples going to seek Buddhist scriptures, lotus flowers, pen-shaped tower, etc. All these stalactites were naturally formed over millions of years.

With a long history of geographic development, unique geomorphic identities and beautiful landscapes, Ba Be National Park is really a wonder worthy of being a world natural heritage site.  

My Son Sanctuary- The convergence of different architectural styles

My Son has been selected by UNESCO as a World Heritage listed site at its 23rd meeting.

My Son holy land is located in a narrow valley in Duy Tan Commune, Duy Xuyen District, Quang Nam Province. 70km southwest of Danang City, 20km away from the Tra Kieu Citadel, and 40km away from the Ancient Town of Hoi An. The site is a group of temple-towers of Cham people, an imperial city during the Champa kingdom, an example displaying the evolution and change in culture, a foremost evidence of Asian civilization which is now extinct. With its great value, in December 1999, the complex of My Son Cham Towers has been recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

My Son Sanctuary- The convergence of different architectural stylesBetween the 4th and 12th century, My Son site was an imperial city during the Cham kingdom. The construction of My Son was likely to have been started in the 4th century. During many centuries, the temple complex had more buildings and stupas constructed of varying sizes and became the main cultural vestige of the Champa civilization in Vietnam. Aside from religious celebrations, which allowed the dynastic royals to spiritually connect with the gods, My Son was also a cultural and religious centre and was the burial place of kings and religious leaders.

My Son has been selected by UNESCO as a world heritage listed site, at its 23rd meeting, under the criteria C (II) and criteria C (III):

Criterion (II): The My Son Sanctuary is an exceptional example of cultural interchange, with the introduction the Hindu architecture of the Indian sub-continent into South-East Asia.

Criterion (III):The Champa Kingdom was an important phenomenon in the political and cultural history of South-East Asia, vividly illustrated by the ruins of My Son.

My Son Sanctuary is a large complex of religious relics that comprises more than 70 architectural works. They include temples and towers that connect to each other with complicated red brick designs. The main component of the Cham architectural design is the tower, built to reflect the divinity of the king.

According to records on the stone stele, the prime foundation of the ancient My Son architectural complex was a wooden temple to worship the Siva Bhadresvera genie. In the late 16th century, a big fire destroyed the temple. Step by step, historical mysteries were unveiled by scientists.

History

Through stone stele and royal dynasties, My Son was proved to be the most important Holy Land of the Cham people from the late 4th to the 15th centuries. For many centuries, the Cham built Lip, a mutually linked architectural complex, with baked bricks and sandstone. The main temple worships the Linga-Yoni, who represents the capability of invention. Beside the main tower (Kalan) are several sub-towers worshipping Genies or deceased kings. Although time and the wars have destroyed some towers, the remaining sculptural and architectural remnants still reflect the style and history of the art of the Cham people. Their masterpieces mark a glorious time for the architecture and culture of the Cham, as well as of Southeast Asia.

Each period of history has its own identity, so that each temple worshipping a genie or a king of a different dynasty has its own architectural style full of different impression. All of the Cham towers were built on a quadrate foundations and each comprises three parts: a solid tower base, representing the world of human beings, the mysterious and sacred tower body, representing the world of spirits, and the tower top built in the shape of a man offering flowers and fruits or of trees, birds, animals, etc., representing things that are close to the spirits and human beings.

Architecture

According to many researchers of the ancient Cham towers, the architectural art of the Cham towers at My Son Sanctuary is the convergence of different styles, including the continuity of the ancient style in the 7th-8th centuries, the Hoa Lai style of the 8th-9th centuries, the Dong Duong style from the mid-9th century, the My Son and My Son-Binh Dinh styles, etc.

Among the remnants of many architectural sites excavated in 1898, a 24 metres high tower was found in the Thap Chua area and coded A I by archaeologists and researchers on My Son. This tower is a masterpiece of ancient Cham architecture. It has two doors, one in the east and the other in the west. The tower body is high and delicate with a system of paved pillars; six sub-towers surround the tower. This two storey tower looks like a lotus flower. The top of the upper layer is made of sandstone and carved with elephant and I ion designs. In the lower layer, the walls are carved with fairies and water evils and men riding elephants. Unfortunately, the tower was destroyed by US bombs in 1969.

After the My Son ancient tower complex was discovered, many of its artifacts, especially statues of female dancers and genies worshipped by the Cham people, worship animals and artifacts of the daily communal activities, were collected and displayed at the Cham Architecture Museum in Danang city. Although there are not many remnants left, those that remain display the typical sculptural works of cultural value of the Cham nationality. Furthermore, they are vivid proof, confirming the history of a nationality living within the Vietnamese community boasting of a rich cultural tradition.

World Heritage of Quang Nam-Vietnam, Hoi An Ancient Town

 No fluorescent lights, no motorcycles, no television, on the 15th day of each lunar month, the riverside town of Hoi An gives modern life the night off. Coming to Hoi An ancient town of Quang Nam province, tourists who travel to Vietnam will get unforgettable experiences of one of World Heritages recognized by UNESCO.

Coming to Hoi An ancient town of Quang Nam province, tourists who travel to Vietnam will get unforgettable experiences of one of World Heritages recognized by UNESCO.

Lying on the banks of the Thu Bon River, Quang Nam province ( in the South Central Coast of Vietnam), Hoi An Ancient Town is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century.

Over the last few years, Hoi An has become a very popular tourist destination in Vietnam. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site. In 1999, the old town was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO under the criteria C (II) and criteria C (V):

Criterion (II): Hoi An is an outstanding material manifestation of the fusion of cultures over time in an international commercial port.

Criterion (V): Hoi An is an exceptionally well preserved example of a traditional Asian trading port.

Occupied by early western traders, Hoi An was one of the major trading centers of Southeast Asia in the 16th century and 17th centuries, where Chinese from various provinces as well as Japanese, Dutch and Indians settled down.

Light Bright

No fluorescent lights, no motorcycles, no television, on the 15th day of each lunar month, the riverside town of Hoi An gives modern life the night off.

In wood-fronted shops, a woman in traditional dress sits at a desk, bathed in the light of a lantern made from a simple bamboo fish-trap. Outside, two old men are absorbed in a candlelit game of Chinese checkers. Hoi An, a sleepy riverside town in the central province of Quang Nam. In the air of legendary, just experience the existence by tasting and feeling.

Hoi An has long been a cultural crossroad. More than five centuries ago the Vietnamese nation of Dai Viet expanded its territory southwards, encroaching on the Indianized Kingdom of Champa, which covered much of what is now central Vietnam. Hoi An, located on the Hoai River, emerged when Japanese and Chinese traders built a commercial district there in the 16th century.

These diverse cultural influences remain visible today. Visitors will find Hoi An's Old Quarter lined with two-storey Chinese shops, their elaborately carved wooden facades and moss-covered tile roofs having withstood the ravages of more than 300 years of weather and warfare. These proud old buildings, which back onto the river, remind visitors of another era, when Hoi An's market was filled with wares from as far afield as India and Europe. Colourful guildhalls, founded by ethnic Chinese from Guangdong and Fujian provinces, stand quietly, a testament to the town's trading roots.

While Hoi An's old-fashioned charm is always visible, on the 15th of every lunar month modernity takes another step back. On these evenings the town turns off its street lamps and fluorescent lights, leaving the Old Quarter bathed in the warm glow of coloured silk, glass and paper lanterns. In ancient times, Vietnamese people made lamps out of shallow bowls filled with oil. Later, foreign traders introduced lanterns, ranging from round and hexagonal designs from China to diamond and star shaped ones from Japan.

Let Hoi An be light

When developing plans to preserve their town's ancient character, Hoi An residents decided to revive the practice of using coloured lanterns. Starting in the fall of 1998, one night each month is declared a "lantern festival". On the 15th day of each lunar month, residents on Tran Phu, Nguyen Thai Hoc, Le Loi and Bach Dang streets switch off their lights and hang cloth and paper lanterns on their porches and windows. Television sets, radios, street lights and neon lights are turned off.

In the ensuing quiet the streets of Hoi An are at their most romantic, the darkness broken only by jewel toned lanterns in all manner of shapes and sizes.

Strolling through the lantern-lit streets is like walking into a fairytale. It is all the more picturesque since motor vehicles are banned from Hoi An's Old Quarter. On Trai Phu Street, don’t forget to stop at the beautifully preserved Faifo Restaurant to sample some traditional Chinese-style pastries. Or walk on to the Treated Caf6, where bamboo baskets, commonly used to wash rice, have been transformed into unique lanterns. These basket lamps are but one example of people's creativity as they experiment with new shapes and materials, including lights made from hollow bamboo tubes.

A Warm Glow

Buddhist worship takes place on the 15th day of the lunar month. Residents place offerings of food and incense on their ancestral altars and visit one of Hoi An's many pagodas. The scent of incense and the sounds of people singing add to the town's enchanted atmosphere. On these evenings, visitors will get a rare glimpse into another era. These nights are a welcome reminder of life's unexpected beauty.

Halong Bay- One of Vietnam’s two world natural heritages recognized by UNESCO

Halong Bay has been recognized as a World Natural Heritage not only for its thousands of natural islands, but also for its geographical and geomorphologic values. It is said that Halong Bay is a legendary world and one of the most magnificent scenic spots in Vietnam as well.

 Halong Bay in Quang Ninh province has been recognized as a World Natural Heritage not only for its thousands of natural islands since 1994, but also for its geographical and geomorphologic values since 2000. It is said that Halong Bay is a legendary world and one of the most magnificent scenic spots in Vietnam as well.

Situated in North-East of Vietnam (150km from Hanoi), the Bay is in the Gulf of Tonkin which comprised of regions of Halong City, the township of Cam Pha, and a part of the island district of Van Don. It abuts Cat Ba Island in the southwest. Toward the west is the coastline 120km long. The site is 1553 sq.km with 1969 islands of various sizes, of which 989 have been named.

Viewed from above, Halong Bay resembles a geographic work of art. While exploring the bay, tourists who travel to Vietnam feel lost in a legendary world of stone islands. Halong bay is also a region of highly-concentrated biological diversity with many ecosystems of salt water-flooded forests, coral reefs, and tropical forests featuring thousands of species of animal and plant life.

Aesthetic value

The permanent beauty of Ha Long is created by three factors: stone, water and sky. Ha Long’s island system is multicolored with a variety of shapes and can be regarded as a water-color, a work of art. The islands, scattered all round, have different shapes which provoke the imagination: Dinh Huong (Incense Burner) implies spiritual significance, Ga Choi (Fighting Cocks) the symbol of Viet Nam tourism, Con Coc (Toad) recalls the passage of time, waiting thousands of years to seek justice in Heaven. There are islands that resemble a resplendent throne, a Vietnamese mother’s curved back carrying her child, a roof, an old man, a human head and so on.

Within the bigger islands are great attractions. Dau Go Cave (Wooden Stakes) dazzles the senses with many huge stalactites hanging poised in mid air and stalagmites growing majestically upwards. Then there is Thien Cung Grotto (Heavenly Palace) with its small, narrow entrance, but inside looking like a marvelous palace, and many other caves each has its own attractions and beauty.

Ha Long’s sea is always the same, blue, smooth and still. Ha Long has its own beauty by seasons. In spring, buds of trees burst on limestone islands. In summer, it is cool and clean with many sparkling sun rays reflecting from the sea’s surface. In autumn, especially at night, moonlight illuminates the mountains so they appear like gold, inlaid into the earth. In winter, with pervasive frost, Ha Long is glamorous as “a floating flower basket on smooth wave” (by writer Nguyen Tuan).

Karst geomorphologic value:

Ha Long Bay is a mature karst landscape developed during a warm, wet, tropical climate. The sequence of stages in the evolution of a karst landscape over a period of 20 million years requires a combination of several distinct elements including massive thickness of limestone, a hot wet climate and slow overall tectonic uplift.

The bio diversity value

Bio-diversity is an important natural resource and needs to be preserved and conserved to maintain the ecological balance of the whole region. Bio-diversity is the general term used to reflect diversify and abundance in nature and includes all living things.

The total number of plant species living on the rugged islands in Ha Long Bay is still not known, as many islands remain unexplored. There are probably over a thousand species of plants, the distribution of which is not uniform. Instead, several different communities (species of plants that always grow together) are found, such as: mangrove, seashore plants, those of the slopes or sheer cliffs, the summit plants and those that grow around the mouth of caves and in gullies. .

In 2002 a survey on assessing and auditing Ha Long Bay’s bio-diversity was conducted by management authorities and researchers. They surveyed 9 areas in Zone 1 of the World Heritage and all sites had maintained its bio-diversity and species diversity, and more new species were discovered.

Evaluation and Praises

Throughout the ages many famous men, from both home and abroad, when faced with the beauty of Halong’s sky and water have sung its praises in different ways, especially in poems.

In the 15th Century, Nguyen Trai (1380 – 1442), a great national poet visited Halong and spoke of:

“The way to Van Do has so many mountains

Nature has produced a wonder in the immense space

The vast blue sea looks like a grandiose mirror

Reflecting innumerable black mountains”.

Over 100 years ago, the French Journalist John Rey praised Ha Long:

“ In the brilliant light of the tropical sun, the sea surface, dark and light, here and there in the shadow of limestone mountains, is really an indescribable, fanciful scene. Sunset looks like a flaring fire, throwing all the islands into a fairyland.”

Nowadays, many domestic and international politicians, poets, cultural celebrities and tourists make the same comment when they visit Halong Bay: “If you haven’t visited Ha Long Bay, you haven’t been to Viet Nam.”

In recent years, Halong Bay has been honored to welcome many international delegations, including the leaders of many countries of the world.

Buddhist Woodblocks in Vinh Nghiem Pagoda listed World Heritage by UNESCO

A collection of valuable woodblocks printed with Buddhist Sutras was officially listed as world heritage by UNESCO on May 16. Traveling to Vietnam and paying a visit to Vinh Nghiem Pagoda in Bac Giang province, tourists will freely see these valuable woodblocks.

The collection of valuable woodblocks was made in the early 14th century by monks at the Vinh Nghiem Pagoda in the northern province of Bac Giang.

Buddhist Woodblocks in Vinh Nghiem Pagoda listed World Heritage by UNESCO

A collection of valuable woodblocks in Vinh Nghiem Pagoda listed as "World Heritage"

The blocks tell a history of woodblock carving in Vietnam and provide insights into the skilled work of the pagoda's eminent monks.

The collection of more than 3,000 woodblocks provides a wide range of information on the formation, development and ideology of Truc Lam Zen Buddhism, founded by King Tran Nhan Tong in the 11th century.

A UNESCO official visited Vinh Nghiem Pagoda and worked with provincial authorities in March to work on the artifacts listing as ‘world documentary heritage'.

During the surveys, researchers noted that these woodblocks were carved by artisans in Bac Giang, Bac Ninh and Hai Duong provinces during different periods. They were made of thi wood taken from the pagoda's garden.

This type of wood is soft, smooth, durable and easy to carve and it rarely distorts or cracks. The woodblocks were carved in Han Chinese or Nom scripts, using a very difficult and sophisticated technique.

The quality of the craftsmanship of each woodblock reflects that the artisans were not only excellent carvers but also skilled in arranging the documents and fluent in han Chinese and Nom scripts.

The size of the woodblocks varies depending on the categories of the sutras. The biggest woodblock is over 1m in length and 40-50cm in width. The smallest one is only 15 by 20cm. The surface of the woodblocks has a shiny black colour, due to leftover printing ink.

The UN culture agency launched the Memory of the World Programme in 1992 to guard against collective amnesia and to call upon the preservation of valuable archives and library collections all over the world to ensure their wider dissemination.

Please visit Vinh Nghiem pagoda, you will take the chance to admire the collection of  these extremely valuable woodblocks.

Trang An landscapes complex - World Heritage List

 Located in the centre of the province of Ninh Binh, 80 km from the city of Hanoi to the south, Trang An is a complex of scenic landscapes and historical and cultural heritages boasting a system of adjoining limestone mountains and valleys belonging to the ancient ocean branch of the Tethys from China into Vietnam, on an area of around 10,000 ha, including three areas: Trang An eco-tourism site, Tam Coc – Bich Dong tourism site and Hoa Lu Ancient Capital cultural and historical heritage site.

Trang An complex is often referred to as a “Halong Bay on land”, but few people know that only a few thousand years also there existed an ancient bay demonstrated by the water marks on the limestone cliffs, vestiges of oysters on them, abrasion terraces, and marine sediments of the Quaternary period.

Trang An is also a tropical karst landscape with a humid monsoon climate, and witnessed a lot of sea invasions and transformations similar to Halong Bay; its karst landscape are terrestrial, concentrated on a smaller area, and regular in variety of shapes and sizes.

The landscape is replete with tower shaped karst along the fringe of a block of limestone islands with flat peaks of varying styles. The karst islands are widely scattered among incoherent flat fields and, in season, neighbor to a sea of golden grain.

These cone shapes of different sizes seem to be floating, scattered and unconnected on the even and flat rice fields, filed with the color of ripen rice. The karst landscape, with a pyramid shape in the middle, connects the sharp pointed peaks into a chain with vertical cliffs enclosing deep valleys in an isometric or linear form.

Trang An is made up of a complex of scenic landscapes and has intricate and diversified ecosystems, particularly as a cradle of the prehistoric people.

All these factors have made a scenic landscapes complex of Trang An to have outstanding and distinctive values terms of landscape, geomorphology, geology, and culture.

Values in terms of landscape and karst geomorphology:

Trang An has many types of distinctive and unique karst landscape: “remaining karst hills separated from the plains”, “peaks connecting valleys”, “peaks connecting sinkholes”, “tropical karst submerged by the sea”.

No where else in the world is there a landscape similar to Ha Long Bay but fossilized on land like in Trang An.

No where else in the world is the karst terrain shaped like a narrow wall with sloped skeleton walls extending into an arch enclosing a large, empty space inside like that in Trang An – the rock capital city.

Geological and geomorphologic values:

Trang An, Ninh Binh is located in an area full of historical geological upheavals: bearing unique characteristics in terms of structure and tectonics in the style of a “broken rice pancake”.

Trang An is characterized by a “meshy” network of young isometric non-pronous sinkholes.

The long and wide valley connected with the aged plains in the Southeast parts of the Trang An limestone block is characteristic: They become narrower toward the northwest and extends toward the southeast.

The typical “pulse” neotectonic movements lead to the formation of a “surface balance valley” and “front mountain balance surface.” The three floors of the cave area 10m – 20m, 20m – 30m and 40m – 60m.

Cultural values:

Recently scientists from the Cambridge University (the UK) and the Vietnam Archaeology Institute conducted surveys, research and eight archaeological excavations at Nui Tuong Cave, Oc Cave, vang stone roof, Ong Hay stone roof, Cho stone roof, Trong Cave, Boi Cave and five relics at Hang Pagoda.

The results included many working tools, pottery, and food remains of the ancient people such as animal bones, shells of species of mollusks and crustaceans.

Especially, excavations found human remains in three of six locations. Based on the results of the research, scientists at home and abroad have put forward some initial assessment of the value of the prehistoric culture of the Trang An region.

Trang An pre-historic relics are concentrated in high density, forming different groups in the swampy and follow karst valley. Scientists discovered a relatively intact cultural layer from 1.0m – 2.0m thick, reflecting one or two periods, before, during or after the middle Holocene marine transgression.

The tradition of manipulating limestone objects and using of chiseling tools made from limestone was long maintained.

Pottery appeared early, and was homogeneous in material, pattern, and type among the relics and stayed stable and unified during the long history of the culture of the swampy and hollow valley.

Permanent settlements took place in the caves (2,300 – 3,000 years ago), affected by changing karst valley landscape environment, caused by marine transgression and recession.

Assorted livelihoods were evident along a wide spectrum, with gathering overrunning hunting, planting outdoing animal husbandry, and adaptations to the natural environment.

Trang An landscapes complex boasts outstanding, fascinating and unique values in terms of natural landscapes and preserves the vestiges of natural history, cultural imprints, and many remains of outstanding traditional cultural values of the local communities that are being promoted and conserved.