Seoul Lantern Festival

The Seoul Lantern Festival is an annual event held at Cheonggyecheon Stream.The festival is a  remarkable display of hundreds of lanterns (one site mentioned 30,000 lanterns in all). The various entrances to the stream are blocked so that visitors must enter at the beginning (then everyone is headed the same direction for the most part).  We ended up at the other end, walking backwards (not knowing there was a directional flow), but we weren't the only ones.

The line snaking around the stream entrance.

The festival lasts for 3 weekends.  We managed to visit on the first night of the festival, figuring there would never be a "good time" to see it.  Since the festival was right downtown we decided it would always be busy.  It turned out to be a great, busy activity.
The lanterns aren't your typical Chinese lanterns.  They are huge displays/creations that are lit.  They don't float on the stream (although you can pay to make a paper lantern to float on the stream).  They are mounted on huge platforms and lit with electric lights.  It is still a pretty sight.



 

 



Changdeokgung Palace and Huwon (창덕궁과 후원)

Injeongjeon, the main hall.

Changdeokgung Palace was the second royal villa built following the construction of Gyeongbukgung Palace in 1405. It was the principal palace for many of the Joseon kings and is the most well-preserved of the five remaining royal Joseon palaces. During the tour of the palace grounds you can see the public palace area, the royal family residence building, and the rear garden (known as the Secret Garden, Huwon). The garden was a place of rest for the kings, and boasts a gigantic tree that is over 300 years old, a small pond, and a pavilion.

The palace was burned by fire in 1592, but restored in 1611.  It became a World Heritage site in 1997.

It was a very interesting tour for me as this palace had both public and royal areas.  You could clearly see the difference between the two areas.  The non-royal areas were very plain compared to the royal buildings with all their paint and detail work.  The garden was also amazing.  A very natural wilderness area that provided a private setting for the king and his family to relax; be one with nature.  We went at the end of fall colors so didn't catch it in its full glory.  It was still a beautiful sight.  I can imagine it was a very dear place for the royal family.

Throne of the king in Injeongjeon.

Ceiling detail work in Injeongjeon.

Dampers in a chimney.

A non-royal building in the palace.  Notice the lack of color and detail.

One of the gates in Changdeokgung.

Tile work on the palace walls.

Buildings were elevated like this one so that during the winter they had heated floors (Ondol).

Roof lines of the palace grounds.

Small pavilion on Buyongji pond.

The Buyongji (34.5m by 29.4m) is a rectangular pond with a round island in the center in the secret garden. The island is 9 meter in diameter. It was built in 1707.  The king and his family would come to fish, relax, and learn here in the garden area.

http://jikimi.cha.go.kr/english/royal_palaces_new/Changdeokgung.jsp?mc=EN_05_01_01

Changgyeonggung Palace a Second Time

We visited Changgyeonggung Palace a second time with new friends. 



Looking down on the palace grounds and the city beyond.

The main courtyard in front of Myeongjeongjeon.

Located in the heart of Seoul, Changgyeonggung Palace was first built by the 4th ruler of the Joseon Dynasty, King Sejong (r.1418-1450), for his retiring father, King Taejong. During the Japanese colonial rule the palace became a park with a zoo and a botanical garden. The pond in the palace was enlarged during the Japanese rule and cherry blossom trees were planted.  During the restoration the zoo and park were removed.  The cherry blossom trees were replaced.  The palace was restored.

Past the entrance of Changgyeonggung Palace you cross Okcheon Bridge, an arched bridge, which leads you to Myeonjeongjeon. This is the office of the King,Tongmyeongjeon, built for the queen, is the biggest building in Changgyeonggung Palace.  There are many buildings to see in the palace area.  There is also a sun dial that tells the time and the season, a placenta shrine, containing the placenta of royal family members (If I understood the tour guide correctly, the shrine was moved to this location during the Japanese rule and does not contain a placenta), and a botanical garden.

Placental Shrine

Our group at The Chundangji (Pond).

http://jikimi.cha.go.kr/english/royal_palaces_new/Changgyunggung.jsp?mc=EN_05_01_03

Transport

The Seoul Subway system is a huge system of trains (above and below ground).  It is an inexpensive way to get around all of Seoul proper as well as many of the outlying communities (we have ridden it an hour out of town to Osan.  On the train it took 90 minutes).  The subway lines intersect making transferring easy, although sometimes the walk is long.



Here the boys are at a transfer station.

The subway is clean and safe.  There are over 14 million CCTV cameras in Seoul.  That is more than one per person in the city!  There are cameras in the stations and on the subways.  The boys and I have been all over the city on the train without any problems. 

We purchased T-money cards and loaded them up with Won.  Now we just swipe our cards at the entrance and off we go.  When we run out of money we just recharge the car at the Reloading stations located at every subway stop.



Reloading machine, and it can be in English.

The signage and digital information is in Korean and Romanized letters.  It makes it easy to know where to go.  The kids like to watch the commercials (about subway maintenance, cleaning, and etiquette) on the monitors on and off the trains.  The information is up to date and shows where the trains are on the track so you can gage how long the wait is for the next train.

Bukhansan National Park

Bukhansan became a national park in 1983 and lies at the edge of Seoul.  Bukhansan Mountain is covered in trees and granite outcroppings.  Surrounded by cities, the park is an oasis to five million visitors each year.  You can get the park by subway, bus, and car so it is a popular place for those in Seoul and the surrounding area.

We hiked to the top of Sapae Mountain on the Northern side of the park.  It was a great escape from city life, and for a moment we were away from it all.  Too bad the morning was hazy.  We had a great view at the top.

Olympic Park

Olympic Park is from the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul.  The grounds, which include two arenas, a few historical locations, a sculpture garden, and the gallery of flags is now a public park.  There is also an Olympic museum, which we did not visit on this trip.  It was a great place to explore.

The Peace Gate, the main entrance to Olympic park.  The center of the gate holds the Olympic flame, which is the flame of peace.

The underside of the Peace Gate.

The gallery of flags.

The boys down by the pond.

Part of the park contains an old earthen wall of Mongchon Fortress, which was originally surrounded by a wooden fortress.  This sculpture depicts the wooden fortress wall.

Looking down at Peace Gate from the top of the fortress wall.

The tomb of Kim Gu (1649-1704) and his wife, Lady Yi.  It is located outside the fortress wall within the Olympic Park.

A bit of the scenery in the park.

Amsa-Dong

This prehistoric village is pretty neat.  It was originally discovered after the Han River flooded in the 1925. Large quanities of Neolithic earthenware with diagonal-line patterns were exposed.  Since its finding the site has been excavated several times.  It is a small exhibit, but just right for the boys.  We explored the straw huts and the small museum located on the site.  We talked to a group of Korean kids who were on a school field trip.  It appeared as if they had a "living history" exhibit where you could explore a real live village they had set up on the grounds, but it wasn't running the day we were there.

Osan Airshow

The boys and I spent a day at the Osan air show.  It was an hour and a half subway ride, followed by a 20 minute walk to get to the base.  It was a great show.  We got there early and avoided most of the crowds when touring the aircraft.  We stayed until the Black Eagles (the Korean version of the Blue Angels) flew.  They put on an amazing performance.

The Black Eagles

Itaewon Global Village Festival

There are tons of festivals here in Korea: Apple festival, Soybean festival, Fireworks festival, Ginseng festival.  We visited the Itaewon Global Village Festival.  It was two days of international food, dancing, entertainment, and music.  We spent the morning enjoying the sights and sounds.  Will be on the list of things to do again next year.

Learning to play the Korean drums.

Seoul Land

One of several amusement parks in the Seoul area is Seoul Land.  It is located right next to the zoo in Seoul Grand Park. The park is getting old and a little out dated, but it was another stop on our Korean adventure.  The boys had a blast.

A ride on Santa's Sleigh.

Lost in translation - this was in the wild west portion of the park...

Fun musical merry-go-round.

Still going strong at the end of the day.