Where Nights Are Better Than Days in Summer
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Even though it's still early in the summer season, a walk can already cause one to sweat. A nighttime stroll can be a good option to enjoy the early summer breeze, and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) recommends five places with attractive night scenes.
Starry Night at Songam Observatory
Songam Starvalley in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, is a place recommended families and lovers alike.
Opened in July 2007, the space complex has a space center with an educational facility, an astronomical observatory, hotels and restaurants. Visitors can learn about the universe and constellations at the center's digital planetarium and other facilities equipped with state-of-the-art technology.
Visitors can go up to the observatory located on top of Mount Gyemyeong by a cable car. There they can view the stars through several types of telescopes, as well as enjoy the night scenery from the observatory, including the ridges of Mount Bukhan, night sky and stars.
A dance show by small-sized robots at the observatory is also a must-see.
Jangheung Art Park and Jangheung Natural Arboretum are also nearby.
For more information about the observatory, call (031) 894-6000 or visit www.starsvalley.com.
Millenary City at Jeonju
Walking along stonewalls of ``hanok,'' or Korean traditional houses, is rather like taking a journey in a time machine.
``Hanok Village'' in Jeonju has some 800 hanok along with other places of great cultural interest, a museum housing traditional liquor, and a traditional cultural center. The cultural properties include Jeonju Confucian school; Gyeonggijon, a palace where Joseon Kingdom founder's portrait scroll is enshrined; Pungnammun, the gate for Jeonju city during Joseon era (A.D. 1392-1910); and Jeon-dong cathedral, one of the oldest modern-style examples of architecture from the Jeolla region.
Visitors can lodge at hanok, and enjoy traditional foods and wonderful summer nights in the courtyard. They can also try traditional teas, experiment on traditional musical instruments and play folk games.
At the nearby Jeonju Traditional Wine Museum, visitors can learn the art of Korean liquor making. A free sampling party is held at 3 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month.
For more information, call the village's tourist information center at (063) 282-1330 or visit https://hanok.jeonju.go.kr.
Moonlight of Silla in Gyeongju
Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province was the capital of the ancient Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.-A.D 935).
To learn more about the kingdom, one can visit historic sites during day, such as Gyeongju National Museum and Cheonmachong (a tumulus which has a mural of Cheonma, a heavenly horse).
However, to ``feel'' the kingdom, it is recommended that one take a walk from the museum to the tumulus at night, as lighting illuminates many cultural properties gathered between the two sites.
Anapji, an artificial pond, and Cheomseongdae, an astronomical observatory, show one of the finest night views in Gyeongju. Not only the sites but also the promenades between them are also charming.
Gyeongju Namsan Institute and Silla Cultural Institute provide night tours to those historic sites. For more information, visit www.kjnamsan.org or www.silla.or.kr.
Yeosu, Oriental Naples
The port city of Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, is often called ``Oriental Naples'' with its beautiful natural scenery along with numerous islands and heavily indented coasts.
The trading port is lit up at night. Dolsan Grand Bridge is the highlight of the night scene, with colorful lighting creating an exotic mood along with the scenery of the sea, islands and the port.
A cruise tour at night is also available, from Odong Island to Jasan Park, Dolsan Bridge and the fishing areas. Odong Island is also famous for a forest of 194 kinds of rare plants and its oddly-shaped rocks and cliffs.
Yeosu's other attractions include Jinnamgwan, the nation's largest single-story wooden architectural structure, and Bangjukpo Beach which is famous for its fine sands.
Fortress of Filial Piety
Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, is a UNESCO-designated World Cultural Heritage. A construction record of the fortress was also registered as the Memory of the World.
The fortress was built during the era of Joseon's King Jeongjo. Jeongjo moved the tomb of his father, who had been murdered as a result of palace intrigue, to a mountain in Suwon, and built the fortress and a new town to live there with his mother after he withdrew from the position.
There are many structures from the late Joseon period at Hwaseong, where the soap opera ``Jewel in the Palace'' was shot. Visitors can also try traditional Korean archery and a dragon-shaped shuttle train.
About 20 minutes away from the fortress by car are tombs of Jeongjo and his father.
