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 Ngọc
Vừng, or Gem Island, is a pretty site sitting
between the Nét Islet and Phượng Hoàng (Phoenix)
Island, in the Vân Ðồn District. From above,
Ngọc Vừng looks like a beautiful velvet
handkerchief with exquisite white edgings; it
seems to float on the water surface. On the east
side of the island there is a kilometres-beach
with pure white sand. At the centre is a
luxuriant benjamin fig tree; it was under this
tree that Hồ Chí Minh stood and conversed with
the population in 1962 during a visit.
Formerly, under the feudal dynasties, this
island zone contained a great quantity of rare
and precious species of mother-of-pearls. At
night, fluorescent pearls would light up the
whole region. So there are several islands
having name “Ngọc” such as Ngọc Vừng (dazzling
pearl), Minh Châu (Ngọc Châu)...
 During
the war against the US, the island belonged to a
front of outward islands that served as
protection for the eastern waterways.
It
is also on the beach that many stone artefacts
were discovered in 1937, opening a string of
excavations and archaeological research aiming
at providing some explanations of the mysteries
of the ancient Hạ Long culture. |
