Dong Van Karst Plateau UNESCO Global Geopark ( Tuyen Quang ) has been awarded the title "Asia's Leading Regional Cultural Destination in 2025".
This is an award within the framework of the World Travel Awards (WTA) Asia and Oceania 2025 ceremony held on the evening of October 13 in Hong Kong (China).
This is one of the most prestigious categories of WTA, honoring destinations with outstanding achievements in preserving indigenous culture, developing sustainable tourism and preserving natural ecosystems.
This award is a great source of pride, affirming the right direction in the strategy of sustainable tourism development associated with preserving and promoting the cultural identity of the rocky plateau region.
This will be the driving force for Tuyen Quang to continue expanding connections, improving product quality and promoting the destination's image to the region and the world.
Previously, Dong Van Stone Plateau was honored by WTA for two consecutive years with the titles "Asia's Leading Emerging Tourist Destination 2023" and "Asia's Leading Regional Cultural Destination 2024".
On October 3, 2010, Dong Van Karst Plateau became the first UNESCO geopark in Vietnam and the second in Southeast Asia.
“Tsi muaj lub roob siab dua koj lub hauv caug” “There is no mountain higher than the knee” - this Mong people’s proverb sounds so proud. You will feel this saying even more when you come to Dong Van Stone Plateau, a majestic limestone mountain range with an altitude of over 1,000m.
This geopark has a total natural area of 2,356km2, with over 70% of the limestone area exposed.
This land is a spectacular and unique combination of towering mountain peaks and deep canyons, with the highest peak - Mac Vac (1,971m) and the deepest canyon - Tu San, which is also the deepest canyon in Southeast Asia, with a cliff depth of up to more than 700m.
Dating back to the Cambrian period (about 550 million years ago), Dong Van Stone Plateau has gone through 7 different geological periods. Visitors coming here can see with their own eyes the traces left in important paleontological, stratigraphic, geomorphological, tectonic, karst, cave and fault sites.
These "traces" also reflect two of the five major events in the Earth's biological history that were mass extinction boundaries. Specifically, the Late Devonian biotic event occurred at the Frasnian-Famennian boundary, about 364 million years ago, causing the extinction of 19% of paleofauna families and 50% of paleofauna genera, and the Permian-Triassic biotic event occurred 251 million years ago, the largest of the five events of the biological world, causing the extinction of about 90% of marine genera and species.
Not only is the Dong Van Karst Plateau diverse in paleontology, it also has two nature reserves: Du Gia Nature Reserve and Khau Ca Species and Habitat Reserve. These two reserves are rich in flora and fauna such as conifers, southern serow (a solitary mountain goat) and many native bird species.
Therefore, this place has a very rich flora and fauna, including 289 species of higher plants, belonging to 83 families; the fauna on limestone mountains with 171 species in 73 families and 24 orders. There are 27 species including 17 species of mammals, 2 species of birds and 8 species of reptiles which are rare animals listed in the Vietnam Red Book.
The most famous species here is the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey. Tonkin snub-nosed monkey, also known as snow-haired langur (Rhinopithecus avunculus) belongs to the family of monkeys, is one of five primate species endemic to Vietnam. This animal is also found in the mountains of Asia, southern China, often living in high, rugged mountain areas with harsh weather.
This is one of the 25 most endangered primates in the world, classified as critically endangered in the Red Book of threatened animals of the World and Vietnam Union for Conservation of Nature. The Tonkin snub-nosed monkey was once considered extinct until its rediscovery in the early 1990s, found only in Ha Giang province with 200 individuals.
Dong Van Stone Plateau is home to more than 250,000 people of 17 ethnic groups including Mong, Na Chi, Pu Peo, Lo Lo, Nung, Hoa, Giay... of Vietnam. Each ethnic group has its own lifestyle and festival customs, creating a unique and rich cultural heritage of this area with Khau Vai Love Market, Gau Tao Festival of Mong people, Forest God Worship Festival of Pu Peo people, Ap Sac Ceremony of Dao people...
From a difficult and little-known rocky region, Dong Van Stone Plateau has flourished and developed, becoming an attractive domestic and international tourist destination. Heritage sites and cultural values have been built into diverse and unique tourist products and destinations, typically Lung Cu Flagpole, Vuong Dynasty Relics, Dong Van Ancient Town, Tu San Alley, Ma Pi Leng Pass; Mong Panpipe Festival, Khau Vai Romantic Market; Nam Dam, Pa Vi, Lo Lo Chai Ethnic Cultural Villages; Mong-Quan Ba, Papiu-Bac Me Village Resort... and many other attractive, natural, typical and unique culinary and agricultural products.
In 2014 and 2019, UNESCO re-recognized Dong Van Karst Plateau as a member of the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network for the 2015-2018 and 2019-2022 periods.
In September 2023, the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network Council at the 10th International Conference held in Morocco highly appreciated and continued to recognize the title of UNESCO Global Geopark for Dong Van Karst Plateau for the third time./.
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/cao-nguyen-da-dong-van-diem-den-van-hoa-khu-vuc-hang-dau-chau-a-nam-2025-post1070264.vnp
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