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.
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