Tuan Chau Island

Tuan Chau Island is the only earthen island of any size in Halong Bay. The fertile earth supports the island’s beautiful, natural treasures: pine trees, lakes, and a beautiful beach, and these are the reasons why President Ho Chi Minh chose Tuan Chau Island as a place to relax with other political leaders in 1959.

Tuan Chau Island’s name is a combination of ‘Linh Tuan’ (the patrolman) and ‘Tri Chau’ (district chief) because in feudal times, the royal army set up a guard station here to patrol and defend the borderlands. Prior to 1999, the island’s residents suffered from a very modest living standard. There was no power network and no clean water. Roads were only trails and there were no mechanical means of transportation. Tuan Chau was a very poor town where fishing with very rudimentary tools was the only means of earning a living.