Thach Long Pagoda

Thach Long Pagoda (“Stone Dragon”) sits inside a limestone cave in Cao Ky commune, Cho Moi district, Bac Kan province, at nearly 300 m above sea level and about 400 m from National Route 3. It is regarded as one of the largest and airiest cave pagodas in northern Vietnam, able to hold thousands of worshippers.

Legend has it that villagers of Vi Huong (Bach Thong) were ferrying a golden statue of Shakyamuni Buddha up the Cau river when their raft began spinning in circles at Bo Mi, in today's Cao Ky commune, and would go no further. The next morning the statue had vanished; following the smoke of an incense offering, the villagers found the Buddha enshrined in a vast, beautiful cave across the river and founded the pagoda on the spot. The name Thach Long comes from the cave mouth's resemblance to an open dragon's jaw.

The pagoda took shape around the 17th century. During the resistance war against the French the cave served as a hiding place for weapons. On 2 November 2011 it was recognized as a provincial-level historical and cultural relic.

The pagoda has two main areas: the Upper Pagoda, reached by stone steps leading from the foot of the mountain straight to the cave mouth, whose highest chamber enshrines Shakyamuni Buddha; and the Lower (Mother Goddess) Pagoda, entered by a narrower path around the hillside. The cave contains many deep recesses and an unusually spacious, clean and airy interior.