| Bãi Cháy | |
| Settlement Type: | Ward |
| Pushpin Label Position: | top |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Vietnam |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Quảng Ninh |
| Subdivision Type2: | City |
| Subdivision Name2: | Hạ Long |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | 1981[1] |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Total Km2: | 21.02 |
| Population As Of: | 2019 |
| Population Total: | 30,280 |
| Population Density Km2: | 1,440 |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
| Timezone Link: | Time in Vietnam |
| Timezone: | Indochina Time |
| Utc Offset: | +07:00 |
Bãi Cháy is a ward in Vietnam. It, along with the eastern part known colloquially as Hòn Gai, together make up the city of Hạ Long.[2] Known as the city's "tourism zone", many hotels, beach resorts and other tourism hotspots are located within Bãi Cháy.[3] The ward was linked to Hòn Gai via a ferry line until the inauguration of the Bãi Cháy Bridge in 2006.[4]
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" .[5]
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 .[6]
Bãi Cháy has an artificial sandy beach located along the shores with a length of more than 500m (1,600feet) and a width of 500m (1,600feet). The ward's general topographic feature is a low elevation range of hills sloping gently toward the sea.