It’s not completely by chance that the island was host to many international events including the Miss Vietnam 2004 Beauty Pageant, 22nd General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO) and ASEAN foreign minister conference last year.

The island’s lush greenery, white sands and international-standard facilities have attracted many visitors.

Miss Vietnam’s first runner-up Trinh Chan Tran has also chosen to work for the resort’s developer, Ha Long Bay Group, as sales deputy director to mark her first step in the business community.

The group, established in late 2004, is a joint-venture of Vietnam’s Au Lac Company and American partners, the Andy Dye and Tree Groups.

Island of feats

Located eight kilometers from Ha Long city, Tuan Chau is the most beautiful and only populated island among 2,000 islands in Ha Long Bay, which has twice received UNESCO recognition as a World Heritage site in the past.

Tuan Chau used to be deserted just like all the other islands on the bay until Dao Hong Tuyen, chairman of Au Lac Company cum vice president of the group, decided to take a big risk and transform the island into a five-star resort.

In 1988, Mr. Tuyen was regarded as eccentric and extravagant when he spent 80 billion VND to build a two-kilometer road, the first of its kind in Vietnam to go across the sea, linking the mainland to Tuan Chau.

Another great feat for resort developers was the man-made beach that spreads across four kilometers, and from a bird’s eye, looks like a silk strip edging the island.

More than one million cubic meters of sand were transported for 200 kilometers to set up the beach where tourists can indulge in sunshine and do water sports like surfing, paragliding, canoeing and beach volleyball.

Visitor can also take refuge in the green hills at the five-star hotel complex with 400 rooms. The resort is also building 300 more rooms as well as a seaside resort where villas will be designed with a traditional architectural style.

An international convention center and outdoor stage, dubbed the most magnificent stage in Southeast Asia, take center stage at the island. The 12,000-seat outdoor stage is home to several marine animal shows including dolphins, seals, belugas and crocodiles as well as a circus and high-tech laser fountain show.

The culinary area is a complex of many apartments designed to imitate the architecture of a 17th or 18th century traditional Vietnamese imperial palace. The area is surrounded by green pine trees that make visitors feel like they are going through heaven.

The complex covers 20,000 square meters and can serve 5,000 guests at the same time.

In the near future, the island will also have a 27-hole golf course, an Asian Residence Area with 50 first-class buildings earmarked for heads of state and billionaires as well as a luxurious villa complex.

Other projects are a helicopter landing pad, yacht club, international-standard hospital, sports complex and schools. There will also be an Underwater World, a port for direct cruise journeys to Hong Kong and a cableway leading to Cat Ba Island.

Trinh Chan Tran has spent most of her time, at times 18 hours a day, working in hopes of applying what she learned abroad to develop the island into an even bigger attraction.

What attracted Tran to the island were the folk tales of the bay.

The story goes that the ancient Vietnamese, when first discovering the country, faced threats from foreign conquerors and struggled to beat their enemies who attacked from the sea.

But, a mother dragon and her offspring, sent by the God to help the people, breathed out countless pearls and gems which eventually transformed into the bay’s 2,000 islands. The invaders’ boats crashed into the islands and broke to pieces.