Visitors enjoy custom tour programs in Korea

Laura Castillo, right, and Beatriz Martin, Spanish students majoring in architecture, talk about the architectural style of traditional Korean buildings at Deoksu Palace in Seoul on Oct. 21.

By Kim Rahn

When foreigners think about trips to Korea, many may think of widely-known tourist attractions or signature foods, such as shopping in Myeong-dong, visiting Gyeongbok Palace and Gwanghwamun Square for photos, and eating bulgogi and kimchi.

However, some may want to experience other things according to their own interests.

Some 190,000 foreigners presented their own “to-do” lists at the “To:ur Imagination” event organized by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), and eight teams were picked.

They came to Korea between October and November on different schedules and enjoyed Korea according to their own lists. Here are stories of two teams: Spanish architecture majors from Valencia and a Chinese girl who is an avid fan of Korean dramas.

Liao Xinyi, left, and Wang Wei, tourists from China, look at Korean snacks while shopping at a Lotte Mart outlet in central Seoul on Nov. 4. / Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization

Mix of traditional and modern architecture

The itinerary of Laura Castillo and Beatriz Martin, who call themselves “architecture freaks,” was full of visits to traditional and modern buildings.

The places included Deoksu and Gyeongbok palaces, Seoul City Hall, Bukchon Hanok Village, Insa-dong, Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), Ewha Campus Complex (ECC), Galleria Department Store and 10 Corso Como.

The students at Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio said Korea is unique as traditional and modern buildings coexist.

“The mix of traditional and modern was shocking for me. It’s the most special thing about Korea because you have the biggest building and all the glass, and just near, you have the traditional one with all the trees and everything. This can’t be in a same place,” Martin said.

Castillo agreed. “Then you can take a picture with an old and a new one together. You can get more peace just walking around in palaces, temples and parks in the city. You don’t have to walk far to get to a place with trees. We were shocked about it.”

They said while castles in Europe are massive and defensive, and rather cold and dark because of the material of stone, they felt warmer and more relaxed in Korean palaces.

Among modern buildings, their top interest was the ECC, designed by French architect Dominique Perrault.

“We really wanted to go there because we had to do a project for a class last year and we had that building as our reference,” Castillo said. Martin said she had visited some of his buildings before such as the French National Library in Paris, saying, “Normally an architect does one type of architecture, so I wanted to see and compare this with his other works.”

It was Castillo who applied for the KTO program. She first became interested in Korea after visiting the Korean pavilion during an expo in Spain in 2008. Then she learned about Korea through K-pop, soap operas and TV entertainment programs. “I like all the YG family singers,” she said.

Everyday life can be a tourist program

Liao Xinyi, a high school graduate in Sichuan, was curious about Koreans’ ordinary life which she watched through Korean soap operas.

The hallyu fan’s first impressive drama was “Full House,” starring Song Hye-kyo and Jung Ji-hoon. “Song went to Jung’s house in the drama, and his grandmother cooked for her. The food looked so delicious,” Liao said.

So she and her friend, Wang Wei, tried to make Korean food at a cooking class here, succeeding in making bulgogi and kimchi.

“I also ate ‘tteokbokki’ (rice cake in spicy sauce) here. It was different from what I had before at a Korean restaurant in China,” she said.

The two went shopping at a Lotte Mart outlet in Seoul, filing their cart with Korean snacks, drinks, dried seaweed and some beauty products.

Another destination was Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market. “We had fisheries market in China, too. But in China, we have to buy fish, bring it home and cook it, while here people can buy fish and have it cooked right away at restaurants just near,” Liao said.

They also visited Insa-dong, Samcheong-dong, Gwangjang Market and Hongdae area in Seoul as well as Petit France in Gyeonggi Province and Nami Island in Gangwon Province, famous tourist spots shown in Korean soap operas.

For food, they had “hanjeongsik” (Korean full-course meal), “samgyeopsal” (pork belly grill) and the anticipated “chimaek,” a compound word of chicken and “maekju” (beer) which is widely known in China after a heroin at drama “My Love from the Star” had the food combo.

At night, Liao and Wang had soju at a “pojangmacha” (street tent restaurant) as many Korean people do so after work.

“I don’t want to go back home but stay here more,” Liao said during the interview, holding a paper coffee cup on which a picture of her favorite Korean star, Lee Min-ho, was printed.