Van Don - A Prominent Place with Many Advantages

Across this country lies a lot of scenic places and monuments and Van Don is among them but not mixed with them. Van Don is constituted by over 600 islands of different sizes and shapes, all in Ha Long Bay - the World Natural Heritage. This tells a very particular beauty of Van Don. But more than that, in the space of mountains and waters, Cai Bau, Quan Lan and Minh Chau among other islands not only stay intact but also holds cultural and historical traits left nearly a thousand years ago.

 

The Complete Annals of Dai Viet reads “In the spring of the Year of the Snake or in 1149, under the reign of Emperor Ly Anh Tong, boats of three nations, namely Trao Oa, Lo Lac and Xiem La (Siamese), arrived in Hai Dong and asked for permits to open trading. The Emperor then decided to establish a trading site called Van Don to trade valuable commodities. Van Don Site opened the formation and development of Van Don trading port system - the first door of international integration and the first trading port of Vietnam. The Van Don trading port thrived in Ly, Tran and Later Le dynasties, but was forsaken in the Mac Dynasty. When he set foot in this place, Nguyen Trai (1380-1442) - an illustrious Vietnamese Confucian scholar, noted poet, skilled politician and master tactician - emotionally writes: The road to Van Don is surrounded by mountain after mountain; High heaven and broad earth beautify the wonder; ... Far in distance is vast evergreen grass; Earlier, merchants anchor the boats to trade here.

 

According to the plan made by the Ministry of Transport, Van Don Airport Project will be built on an area of 284 hectares in Doan Ket commune and meet 4A Standards (serving international flights). According to the design, Quang Ninh Airport will serve over 2 million passengers by 2020 and 5 million passengers by 2030, an important premise for Van Don to become a special economic zone.

Nowadays, a lot of artefacts have been found in island communes in Van Don District, particularly in Cai Lang in Quan Lan commune. In Cong Dong Island (Thang Loi commune), archaeologists found traces of several sizeable Buddhist architectural works backdated to the Tran Dynasty, including temples, towers, stone steles, handrails and column pedestals. These are the clearest evidence of the prosperous commercial development in the reign of Tran Dynasty. The ancient trading port of Van Don was not merely a harbour of trade with serial piers in a site, but it stretched on many directions with sub-harbours over a vast area.

 

The formation and development of the Van Don trading port partially proves the favourable location of this land. In history, Van Don always plays an extremely important role and position in economy, security and defence. Historian Phan Huy Chu writes in his Liсh Trieu Hien Chuong Loai Chi “Climate and soil are good. People and things are crowded, rich and prosperous. Trading activities are bustling. This is not only a thriving place, but also a really picturesque scenery of Vietnam. Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi Book writes “People (of Quang Ninh) live on fishing or trading. Interests are found from mountains and the sea. Trading is very busy from north to south.”

 

This was also why kings came here and set specific regimes for Van Don. Because of its importance, in 722 articles of Hong Duc Legal Code, Van
Don is the only geographical name to be mentioned, not only once but thrice (Articles 612, 615 and 616). From a particular location, Van Don became a special status attached to the country.