Hạ Long Bay (In Vietnamese “descending dragon bay") is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a very popular travel destination, an hour and a half to the east of Hanoi in Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam.
The beautiful and mysterious bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes. Hạ Long Bay is a center of a larger zone which includes BÁi Tử Long bay to the northeast, and CÁt Bà islands to the southwest. Often shrouded in mist, the towering rocks are hung with rich vegetation and shot through with caves and arches.
Within the bay system are a number of floating fishermen's villages where entire communities live (complete with all the trappings of modern life) on boats of all shapes and sizes which are served by the conveniences of floating ship-shops.
Hạ Long Bay has an area of around 1,553 km2, including 1,960–2,000 islets, most of which are limestone. The core of the bay has an area of 334 km2 with a high density of 775 islets.
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