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A child walks through a road lined with forsythia blossoms Sunday at Mt. Eungbong, Seongdonggu, Seoul. |
 By Shim Hyun-chul
Staff Reporter
Bright yellow forsythia flowers are in full bloom on every street corner, capturing the attention of passersby. They soak up the rays of the midday sun and form cascades of golden yellow.
Mt. Eungbong in Seoul is famous for forsythias, and the bright blossoms adorn the place without fail this year. Forsythias are the first signs of spring and can be found in every corner of the city, but Mt. Eunbong is home to a mass of the flowers and the entire mountain is dyed yellow.
Every year in April, Mt. Eungbong becomes covered with forsythia, royal azalea petals and cherry blossoms, and a forsythia festival has opened in Seongdong-gu just in time.
Mt. Eungbong can be easily reached from Eungbong Park, near Eungbong Station on the Jungang subway line. Only 95 meters high, it is rather small, but offers an open view of downtown Seoul and the Han River. An octagonal pavilion acts as an observation platform, which is also a popular place for photography enthusiasts to capture splendid cityscapes at night.
It is also the only mountain with a rock climbing facility in the city. Mt. Eungbong was once called Maebong because of its ``mae,'' or falcon-like shape, and served as a popular falcon-hunting venue for kings of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910).
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