Halong Bay nominated as world natural wonder

The New Open World organization has nominated world heritage site Halong Bay as a global natural wonder on the website www.natural7wonders.com
Voters can submit their nomination to the website from now until June 2008. The top seven will be announced on August 8 the same year.
To promote Vietnam's famous beauty spot, Thanh Nien newspaper has held a campaign in Hanoi calling public backing with a fund of 2 billion VND donated by the Tuan Chau Group.
Getting Halong Bay worldwide attention will help project the image of the land and people of Vietnam across the globe.
Halong Bay or Bay of the Descending Dragon is located about 165 km from Hanoi in Vietnam's East sea.
The bay covers more than 430 sq. km, dotted with nearly 800 limestone islands that rise spectacularly from the ocean. The bay is renowned for diverse geographical features such as its unique system of caves formed by the encroaching sea.
Geographical attractions aside, Halong Bay is home to a diverse ecological wonders including mangrove forests, tropical forests and coral reefs that are inhabited by more than 1,000 species of fish and marine animals.