GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO CAT HAI DISTRICT
Geography and Administration
Cat Hai district has an area of nearly 345 square kilometers (excluding the Long Chau archipelago area), the population of the district of 2019 is over 31,996 people. The district has 388 large and small islands, in which there are two large islands, Cat Hai island with an area of approximately 40 km2 (also known as Don Luong area) and Cat Ba island (also known as Ha Sen area) with an area of about 144 km2 (not counting the area of sea surface). Cat Hai district is located in the Southeast, about 30km from Hai Phong city center by sea.
Cat Hai Island is a flat sand island located between the mouth of Nam Trieu and Lach Huyen, on the island there are 5 administrative units including: Cat Hai town and 4 communes: Hoang Chau, Nghia Lo, Van Phong, Dong Bai. Cat Ba Island is a rocky mountainous area consisting of administrative units: Cat Ba town, Tran Chau, Xuan Dam, Gia Luan, Hien Hao, Phu Long and Viet Hai commune.
In the Northern period of Cat Hai district, it used to be called An Phong, Chi Phong, Hoa Phong, and Nghieu Phong. During the French colonial period, it was named Cat Hai district in Quang Yen province, consisting of 2 cantons of Don Luong and canton of Ha Sen with 16 communes and wards. On June 5, 1956, Cat Hai district and Cat Ba town of Quang Yen province were merged into Hai Phong city. Cat Hai district today was established on March 11, 1977 on the basis of merging of two old Cat Hai and Cat Ba districts.
Biodiversity
Cat Ba archipelago is a convergence of many valuable natural resources of forests and seas and is a national and international tourist center.
Legend has it that the Cat Ba archipelago was the place where grandmothers, mothers and sisters took care of planting, gathering, and preparing food to help the warriors fight the An invaders. Therefore, the island of warriors stationed was called Cac Ong Island, and the rear island was named Cac Ba Island. Currently, there are still temples of Cac Ba in Ang Van - Cat Ba town, Ba Temple - Hien Hao commune and over time, Cac Ba island is named as Cat Ba today.
The ancient land of Cat Ba was formed at the end of the early Paleozoic era (about 410 million years ago). Archaeological documents have confirmed that Cat Ba was one of the places where primitive people lived. Cat Ba ancient people are a member tribe of Lac Viet people, later inhabitants of Van Lang and Au Lac countries. Cat Ba has 77 archaeological sites that have been discovered and surveyed with famous sites such as: Cai Beo, Bai Ben, Cat Don and many other valuable sites such as Tung Goi, Ao Coi, Dong Cong, Bat Cave, Eo Talisman…
The Cat Ba Islands are the best example of a high concentration of typical tropical and subtropical ecosystems that are superior to other regions of Asia such as limestone island ecosystems, virgin rainforests, etc. ecosystems, mangroves, corals, tidal zones, saltwater lakes, seagrass beds, a system of caves and estuaries, including 15,200 ha Cat Ba National Park with an extremely rich flora and fauna system, is the place to store rare genetic resources in the Red Book.
The primeval forest on Cat Ba island has high biodiversity, and 1,588 species of plants have been recorded, in which there are precious wood species such as Kim Giao, Trai Ly, Cho Dia, Lat flower and many medicinal plants such as Theosophy. The terrestrial fauna has over 343 species of vertebrates, including 58 species of mammals, 205 species of birds, 80 species of reptiles, amphibians, and insects 274 species; in which there are 25 rare and precious species in the 2007 Vietnam Red Book, 24 species in Decree 32/2006/ND-CP. In particular, the Cat Ba langur (Trachypithecus policephalus) is recorded in the World Red Book and the Red Book of Vietnam, as one of the five most endangered primate species in the world currently being strictly protected by FFI.
This is a primate species that exists only on the island and is a symbol of the world biosphere reserve of Cat Ba. The marine life of the sea - Cat Hai island is also very rich and diverse, with 196 species of sea fish, 4 species of sea turtles, 193 species of coral, 658 species of benthic animals, 131 species of zooplankton, and 131 species of phytoplankton. 400 species, 102 seaweed species, 37 species of mangrove plants. Lan Ha Bay is one of the most beautiful island bays in the world located next to the World Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh).
On Cat Ba island, there are about 1000 ha of mangrove forest, of which Phu Long mangrove forest with an area of nearly 700 ha with 32 species of trees is considered the best in the North, has the effect of protecting against erosion, regulating climate and environmental protection is very good. This is also an ecosystem that plays an important role in limiting and protecting salinity intrusion, climate regulation, and biodiversity conservation for the coastal flora and fauna of the World Biosphere Reserve. Cat Ba Island and is the habitat and breeding habitat of seafood species.
Cat Ba archipelago was recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Biosphere Reserve on December 2, 2004 because of its ecological, humanistic and biodiversity values. typical school with many potentials for sustainable development. On December 9, 2013, Cat Ba archipelago scenic spot was recognized by the Prime Minister as a special national relic. In January 2020, Lan Ha Bay was officially recognized by the Club of the Most Beautiful Bays in the World (MBBW), becoming one of the most beautiful bays in the world. In 2020, "Cat Ba tourism" is one of the most searched keywords compared to destinations in Vietnam on the search page of the world technology giant Google.
Nature has endowed Cat Ba with unique and beautiful wild landscapes. Cat Ba has fresh and cool air, majestic natural beauty with limestone mountains interspersed with mysterious caves and caves such as Thien Long, Hoa Cuong, Trung Trang, and Quan Y. Cat Ba archipelago has hundreds of beaches with fine sand, clear and peaceful water such as: Cat Co, Cat Tien, Tung Thu, Van Boi, Cat Dua, Cat Vang ... and beautiful bays such as: Lan Ha, Ben Beo, Cat Ba, Tung Thu...
Traffic
Coming to Cat Ba, visitors can choose the most convenient means of transport, including:
By sea: Take a speedboat from Ben Binh - Hai Phong city and go straight to Cat Ba Tourist Center for about 1 hour.
By road: Visitors can go by car from Hai Phong city via Tan Vu - Lach Huyen bridge (the longest sea-crossing bridge in Vietnam) Inaugurated and put into operation on September 2, 2017, via Got ferry – Cai Vieng or via Cat Hai – Phu Long cable car to see Phu Long mangrove forest from above. Or you go from Tuan Chau (Quang Ninh) via Tuan Chau ferry to Gia Luan and then back to Cat Ba tourist center. On this route, visitors will enjoy the largest orange garden on the island in Gia Luan commune, visit Hoa Cuong rock cave, or Cat Ba National Park, Thien Long cave or Quan y cave.
Accomodation and Cruise
As of 2021, on Cat Ba Island, there are 314 accommodation establishments on the shore and nearly 80 overnight cruise ships on the bay, meeting the best choices of tourists. In particular, luxury resorts including 5-star Mgalery and Flamingo Cat Ba hotels are located on Cat Co 1, 2, and 3 beaches with green and peaceful space, inspiring inspiration to explore the legendary Cat Ba beach. Hundreds of hotels in Cat Ba tourist center; The homestays in the island communes will also help visitors to immerse themselves in the community eco-tourism space, experience the peace, romance and community cultural activities of the friendly people on the island and hospitable.
Here, visitors can also enjoy many typical products produced by the people of the sea and have been certified with biosphere labels such as Cat Ba forest flower honey; Paper oranges (Gia Luan commune); Taro Man Oc taro (Viet Hai commune); Me Van taro (Hien Hao commune) and other agricultural products are grown according to VietGap standards in Tran Chau, Xuan Dam, and Hien Hao communes.
Visitors can also experience the spacious and poetic space of Lan Ha Bay - one of the most beautiful bays in the world with the quality of 3-star and 5-star accommodation services of luxury yachts.
Food
Coming to Cat Ba, visitors will delight in choosing to enjoy famous delicacies prepared by the hands of chefs from the sea. The dishes with bold flavor of the sea will make visitors satisfied. With hundreds of famous restaurants of sea and island cuisine, dozens of floating restaurants on Cat Ba and Lan Ha bays will help visitors have meals with full convergence of typical coastal culinary flavors such as grouper, Tu comei, crab, crab, surface, squid, Phi Phi, Ngan, earthworm, Lien Minh chicken or Cat Ba mountain goat, Phu Long clam...
Coming here, there are many fun activities, entertainment, discovery and experiences such as watching the sunrise or sunset on the sea. Climbing, kayaking, scuba diving to see corals, cycling to the island communes and experiencing with the farmers in the sea and island full of waves and winds. Walk or explore mysterious caves with living stalactites sparkling stalactites with many strange shapes; visit Cat Ba National Park with its pristine and magnificent ecosystem; conquer the top of the musketeers, fish or fish for squid in the sea.
Culture and festival
The culture and people here are very simple and rustic. Coming to Cat Ba, visitors will feel life in a safe, friendly and affectionate environment with the hospitable coastal people. Coming to Cat Ba, visitors will be immersed in the unique cultural space that is the festivals of the coastal people. In each village, each commune on the island has a traditional festival with its own nuance. Typically, the festival of Ba Temple in Hien Hao commune is held in January, the festival itself is on the 12th of January associated with the legend of Mother - a saint who has taken care of the people, taught them how to plant, weave, shrimp fishing.
The rowing and swimming festival in Cat Hai town is held on January 21st - originating from the spiritual wishes of seafarers, Dong Hai Dai Vuong Bridge - the god who governs the eastern sea of the Fatherland blesses the sea, a year of favorable rain and wind, a good harvest of fish and shrimp. The water procession ceremony, the Xa Ma Association in Hoang Chau commune, is an opportunity for the villagers to remember those who openly founded the village, and those who went to work far away to reunite with their families.
Among the festivals in the island district, the fish village festival on March 31 is a large-scale festival at the district level, organized by the District Party Committee, the People's Council and the District People's Committee. This is the memory of the event on March 31, 1959, when President Ho Chi Minh visited Cat Hai Fish Village, Cat Ba, encouraged and visited fishermen in their fishing work, mastering the sea and sky in their homeland. Since then, March 31 every year has become the festival of the island district, also on the occasion of the traditional day of Vietnam's fisheries industry, the opening of the Cat Ba tourist season and also the time to embark on the Southern Vietnam crop of fishermen on the island.
A prominent feature in the folklore of the coastal people is the water festival in fishing villages, along with many games associated with fishing, of which the typical is the boat racing festival. Boat racing is not just a simple game, it is also an affirmation of wisdom, ingenuity, community solidarity and human strength in the process of protecting and conquering the sea.
Thanks to favorable natural and natural conditions, with a mild climate, Cat Ba is gradually becoming a resort paradise for all 4 seasons of the year, and at the same time has a great attraction for many domestic investors. In the future, Cat Ba will be built into a world-class resort. Besides the strong development of the confirmed resort tourism, Cat Ba is also an excellent destination for tourists. Exciting nature exploration activities can distract visitors when they arrive on this beautiful island.
