Quang Ninh: Tourism festival week welcomes summer

An art performance was held in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh on May 1 as part of the Mong Cai summer tourism week, drawing a large crowd of people to enjoy flash mobs, fashion shows and music.

Other activities included street and food festivals and football competitions.

During the holidays from April 29 to May 2, Quang Ninh welcomed 420,000 visitors, a year-on-year increase of 40 percent.

The UNESCO-recognised World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay attracted some 71,500 vacationers, including 26,000 foreigners.

Ha Long Bay, literally “descending dragon bay”, spans 1,553 square kilometres and includes 1,969 islands of various sizes. It was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 and 2000.

The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and islets in various shapes and sizes.

The limestone in the bay has gone through 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments. The geo-diversity of the environment has created biodiversity, including a tropical evergreen biosystem, oceanic and sea biosystem.

Meanwhile, the number of tourist arrivals in Van Don, Quan Lan, Minh chau and Co To islands reached 51,000.

Ha Long Ocean Park attracted 80,000 visitors, with the peak on April 30 when it served 30,000 tourists.

Also in the period, Mong Cai border city held various culture, sport and tourism activities, drawing 50,000 visitors.