Trong Mai Islets of Ha Long

In the middle of Ha Long Bay, two blocks of limestone stand face to face on the water, as if they had been looking at each other for ages.

This is Hòn Trống Mái, the official symbol of Ha Long tourism since 2000.

The two blocks stand about 12 to 14 meters tall. Seen from this side, they look like a pair of birds standing beak to beak, one male and one female, close together in the bay. From another angle, as the boat moves, the picture can change into two roosters squaring off. That is why the place has a second name, Hòn Gà Chọi. Two names, one place.

This shape is no accident. It is the work of millions of years of waves and tides eating into the limestone. The two blocks have a single tilted structure, with many systems of cracks hidden inside. At low tide, you can see the base of the two islets, with the marks of erosion that the sea typically leaves on karst limestone. Nature made this work through a process of great patience.

The Ha Long Bay Management Board records a folk story tied to this place. In folk belief, the Jade Emperor is the ruler of Heaven. In the story, he sent a pair of magical roosters down to earth to wake the dragons that had stayed in the bay to help the Vietnamese people. But the roosters were so taken with the beauty of Ha Long Bay that they forgot their task, and they were turned to stone forever. The Vietnamese see in them a symbol of eternal love and loyalty. This is a folk legend, not a historical event. It is one layer of the cultural memory of the people of this coast.

On July 31, 2023, scientists from the Institute of Geological and Mineral Science published the results of a full technical assessment. In this group of islets, 40 blocks of rock are at risk of sliding and collapsing. The most dangerous spots are the rooster's comb and the hen's beak. If those blocks shifted, they would ruin the outline that defines the symbol.

Hòn Trống Mái is not the picture printed on the 200,000 dong banknote. The back of that note shows Hòn Đỉnh Hương, also called Hòn Lư Hương, another place in the bay and no less beautiful.

A last look back as the boat pulls away shows the same scene. Two blocks of stone, more than ten meters tall, stand in the bay with their beaks turned toward each other, gazing across millions of years of storms. In 2000, Ha Long chose this image as its symbol. It was no random choice.