Động Thiên Cung

天宫洞 - Thien Cung Cave - Taing Kong Cave - Heaven Palace - Heavenly Palace Grotto

Useful Information

Location:	Ha Long Bay, 4 km from the wharf of Ha Long City. North side of Đầu Gỗ Island. Tuan Chau Port. (20.9126814, 107.0172114)
Open:	All year daily 8:30-17:30. [2023]
Fee:	Adults VND 50,000. With boat ride: Adults VND 440,000. [2023]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	Incandescent Coloured Light
Dimension:	A=25 m asl.
Guided tours:	D=4 h including boat ride from Tuan Chau Port.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Động Thiên Cung.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

Dong Thien Cung is one of the caves in Ha Long Bay which is closest to the city Halong, only four kilometers from the pier. The cave is a rather young discovery, and so it is more pristine than other, long-known caves. The last chamber of the cave has a small cave river which never dries.

A long time ago, a dragon king lived in the cave. One year, the weather was so harsh and dry that the people lost their entire harvest and suffered from constant hunger. They tried to ask the dragon king for help in the hope that he would make it rain. Many people went to the king’s cave but did not return. One young couple was determined to make their way to the cave. They managed to persuade the king and thus save their people. After returning from their journey, the couple gave birth to a daughter. When she grew up, her beauty captured the heart of the dragon prince, who wanted to make her his bride. Their love blossomed and led to a lavish wedding in the cave which lasted 7 days and 7 nights.

At the cave the Dragon Prince Long Vuong held his wedding for 7 days and 7 nights with his wife Nang Mây. She was the daughter of an ordinary couple in the village. The three ponds at the end of the cave are the place where Mây bathed her 100 children, bringing them up wisely and happily until adolescence. Then she left the cave with 50 of her children, to harvest new lands, while the 50 remaining children stayed with their father to build the native land.