Must-visit attractions in Quang Ninh province (Part 2)
Quang Ninh is well-known for the extraordinary beauty of the Ha Long Bay world natural heritage site, Ha Long Bay, its neighboring Bai Tu Long with equal magnificence, and more than 500 historical sites, monuments and exquisite landscapes.
Quang Yen – The land of cultural festivals
The culturally rich town of Quang Yen has more than 200 historical and cultural relics, including one special national-level relic, 40 national relics, and 12 provincial-level ones. Diverse festivals are annually held in the town, of which, three biggest ones are Bach Dang festival, Tien Cong festival, and “Going to the field” festival. Quang Yen is also well-known for some tradditional craft villages namely Huong Hoc and Nam Hoa specialized in knitting traditional fishing tools.
Dong Trieu – The land of deep-rooted historical values
Dong Trieu town, a land bearing historical and cultural imprints, should be selected as a perfect destination for those who want to learn more about Tran Dynasty (1922-1400), the peak period of Vietnamese feudalism history by visiting several Tran relics here. Especially, the mountain of Ngoa Van is where Buddha-Emperor Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308) founded the Truc Lam Zen Monastery, a line of Buddhist meditation imbued with Vietnamese culture, and attained Nirvana. It has been considered the sacred land of the Tran Dynasty and Truc Lam Zen Monastery ever since.
The beauty of typical traditional villages on the foot of Ngoa Van holy mountain and their well-preserved cultural customs also holds an irresistible attraction to tourists, especially foreign ones. It’s great to enjoy the sceneries of yellow high-yielding rice fields, green hills of custard apple, various ponds of pink lotus and the simple life of locals in such peaceful countryside.
The Commercial Port of Van Don
As an important international commercial port of the country hundreds of years ago, the commercial port of Van Don played an extremely important role for the economic development, for the establishment and broadening of foreign relations under the Ly, Tran, Le, Mac. This port is located in Van Don, an island district located in the East and Southeast of Quang Ninh province.
Being adjacent to both Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay, the district covers a total area of more than 2,170 square kilometers, including over 550 square kilometers of natural land and consisting of 600 islets of all sizes. They boast diverse topographic conditions, with forests, beaches, lime mountains, and karst caves. Van Don is home to several of the most beautiful beaches in the Gulf of Tonkin such as Quan Lan, Minh Chau, Ngoc Vung, and Bai Dai.
Van Don International Airport is operating domestic and international flights offered by Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo Airways, Donghai Airlines, Qingdao Airlines, and VietJet Air.
Tien Yen – The land of diverse topography
Tien Yen mountainous district, about 90 kilometers from Ha Long city, is the gateway to the northeast of Quang Ninh province. Tien Yen has great potential for tourism development owing to its diverse topography which consists of mountains, deltas and coastline as well as the diversity of ethnic cultures.
It is famous for beautiful places namely Pac Sui waterfall, Long Vang beach, Dong Rui mangrove forest, Tien Yen River, Dai Duc terraced fields, etc. and unique specialities including pink peanut sweeties, “gat gu” rice cakes, “khau nhuc” (stewed meat), etc. This integration of natural and cultural values creates great opportunities for Tien Yen to foster its auspicious tourism development.
