Bãi Cháy is a ward in Quảng Ninh, Vietnam. It, along with the eastern part known colloquially as Hòn Gai, together make up the city of Hạ Long.Rough Guide to Vietnam: Volume 4 - Page 429 Jan Dodd, Mark Lewis, Ron Emmons - 2003 "The neighbouring towns of Bai Chay and Hong Gai are officially referred to as Ha Long City, though few locals use this term. The epicentre of tourism in Ha Long Bay is Bai Chay, a beach resort on the north shore, which offers an enormous choice" Known as the city's "tourism zone", many hotels, beach resorts and other tourism hotspots are located within Bãi Cháy. The ward was linked to Hòn Gai via a ferry line until the inauguration of the Bãi Cháy Bridge in 2006.
Etymology According to local legend, Bãi Cháy is the place where the Trần dynasty's forces, led by Trần Khánh Dư, burned the Mongols' vessels. A northeast wind then blew the fire toward the west side of the Cửa Lục Bay and inflamed the dry forest nearby. This story gives rise to the name "Bãi Cháy" ().
Another local folk story tells that boats used to anchor at the west side of Cửa Lục. Fishermen gathered and burned Casuarinaceae's leaves around those vessels in order to deal with shipworm that bored into them. As people from Hồng Gai and elsewhere saw fire blazing up from this place regularly, they coined the term "Bãi Cháy" for the area. Under French rule, Bãi Cháy was named Vatchay or ().
Geography Bãi Cháy has an artificial sandy beach located along the shores with a length of more than and a width of . The ward's general topographic feature is a low elevation range of hills sloping gently toward the sea.
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