Situated on the coast of the East Sea, Hai Phong is a beautiful seaport city of two million inhabitants. It has been an important port of the country for hundreds of years, where international ships can be anchored. The weather here is warm all year round. In summer the city becomes bright when the road-sided flamboyant trees are in full blossom, therefore it is also called " the City of Flamboyant Flowers."
Nowadays, Hai Phong is not only an industrial city but also a city of tourism of Vietnam. Hai Phong has been famous for its Do Son Peninsula with excellent beaches and sea resorts, ancient monuments, and Cat Ba National Park. Besides, Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival held excitingly in autumn attracts many people every year.
Do Son Beach
Located 22 km southeast of Hai Phong, Do Son is a beautiful peninsula with a belt of mountains, hills and forests jutting out into the sea for 5 kilometers. Seawater here is always emerald transparent.
Immediately upon setting foot in Hai Phong, the French turned Do Son into a summer resort for their expatriate community and the Vietnamese upper class. This sea resort town is composed of three zones, each having nice beaches, hills, pine forests, and age-old constructions.
At the very tip of the peninsula is the Hotel de la Pionte, now known as Van Hoa Hotel, built on the top of a large hill. This is the finest building in Do Son, looking like an ancient castle rising out of the green landscape.
Du Hang Pagoda
This pagoda, constructed in the early Le dynasty in the 10th century, is renovated very often by followers. King Tran Nhan Tong, a devout Buddhist, used to preach at the pagoda. People can find a gate of 2 storeys, the statues of Bodhisattvas, guardians, the wooden goddesses and much ancient furniture for worshipping. In the front, there are Islamic-Khmer style bells of big curiosity.
Hang Kenh Communal House
Built in 1856 in the shape of a boat, Hang Kenh Communal House is famous for its valuable wooden sculptures: 156 pieces with the dragon as the main theme. There are altogether 308 wooden dragons of different inspirations and sizes. Inside there is a statue of King Ngo Quyen and a palanquin.
Every year from the 16th to 18th of the second lunar month, the Hang Kenh Communal House Festival is held animatedly with ritual ceremonies, folk art performances, and traditional games, attracting a large crowd.
Cat Ba Island and Nation Park
The Cat Ba is an archipelago comprising about 366 islands of different sizes. The main island is the Cat Ba covering an area of 100 sq. km, located 30 nautical miles from Hai Phong City. A part of the island has been preserved as a national park which is 15,200 ha wide; 9,800 hectares of evergreen forests and 4,200 hectares of sea. More than 20 species of mammals, 69 species of birds, and 20 species of reptiles and amphibians are found in the Cat Ba National Park.
Many of them are of the rare or endangered species. The topography of the park is varied, consisting mainly of forests and limestone mountains with many caves and grottos, dotted around are fine white-sand beaches and lakes. Cat Ba National Park has a large area of tropical virgin forests in Vietnam. Visiting Cat Ba, tourists can take different recreational activities; from trekking, exploring, and mountain climbing to swimming and boating.
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