Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh has been listed as one of the top 15 most stunning landscapes and rock formations in the world by BBC News.
The article opened by saying that the stunning landscapes and rock formations, shaped and sculpted over millions of years, hold invaluable clues to Earth’s past and future.
It described Ha Long Bay as a spectacular landscape dotted with limestone pillars, arches and caves.
“The rocks have been shaped by the repeated rise and fall of the sea over 500 million years. The bay also includes over 1,600 islands and islets, most of them uninhabited”, it said.
According to legends, a dragon created the islands and rocks to keep invaders out of Viet Nam , it added.
The other landscapes highlighted by the BBC are Fairy Chimneys (Turkey), Eye of the Sahara (Mauritania), Great Blue Hole (Belize), Moeraki Boulders (New Zealand), Zhangye Danxia (China), Valley of the Moon (Argentina), Wave Rock (Australia), Chocolate Hills (the Philippines), Giant’s Causeway (Northern Ireland), Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah, US), Vermillion Cliffs National Monument (Arizona, US), Cave of the Crystals (Mexico), and the San Andreas Fault (California, US).