FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2010 5

퉐팦 Gyeongbokgung Palace

퉐팧 Fortress Walls

퉐팱 Myeong-dong Nightlife inSeoul: Young ladies explore the brightly-lit shopping streetsof Myeong-dong. Myeong-dong is Seoul’s most popular shoppingdistrict, though thereoften seem to be moreJapanese and Chinese tourists than locals. Photos: Cho Seung-ha

By Cho Seung-ha just ten minutes away on foot, is a 퉐팪 Bukchon Hanok Village modern, pedestrianized shopping 퉐팦 Gyeongbokgung Palace district, packedwithboutiques, The “Palace of HeavenlyBlessings” restaurants and departmentstores. around which thecapital itself was built 100 years before Columbus discovered the New World is a beautifully restored complex offairy taleAsian architecture thatremains 퉐팲 Insa-dong the heart of Seoul. It boasts a colorful Insa-dongisSeoul’s premier arts, and bloody history; ’s most crafts and antique district. Antique notorious-ever murder, that of Queen shops, art galleries, restaurants, MinMyeong-seong atthe hands of bars and tea shops lineitsmain Japanese assassins, took place here street; more are hidden away in 퉐팫 Samcheong-dong Road in 1895. Today,itsponds, pavilions the maze-like alleyssprouting off and throne halls are aphotographer’s it. Insa-dongisthe place for dream and the attached Royal Palace heatingsystems. Bukchon Hanok of historyandculture. Thecollection souvenirs suchastraditional Museum is worthavisit. The Village is apreservation areaand is so extensive it is difficultto Korean paper, fans, inkstands, excellence of Gyeongbokgung’sfeng one ofthe last remaining oases of take it all in, butfivemust-sees screens and porcelain, at prices shuican be judgedbythefact that hanokin thecapital.Aslow walk are: The Pensive Bodhisattva thatrange from thecheap to the the presidential Blue House is sited throughBukchon’s picturesque with the “Thousand-year-smile” of ridiculous. A plate ofscallion directlybehind the palace. narrow alleyways will transport you the SillaDynasty (No.713in Room pancakes withapot of makgeolli - back to the days of OldSeoul. The 301); theelaborate Baekjeincense apopularricebrew-at a restaurantin finest hanoks are at #31 Gahoe- burner (Room 106); thegold crown 퉐팯 Coex Mall one ofthe alleys, or alternatively, dong on Bukchon Road 11. and other ornaments from the Coex, thesiteofthe G20 summit, a cup ofginger orginsengteaat 퉐팧 Seoul Fortress Walls Three Kingdoms Era (Room 108); is Korea’s largest convention center. one ofthe district’s many teahouses, Seoul is auspiciously sited: Mountain the Celadon vase with incised Itcomprises adepartmentstore, will break up theshopping and 퉐팭 Pensive Bodhisattva in National Museum of Korea ridges loom atitsback, the lotus-scroll design (No.769in Room two hotels, a concert hall, a city window-shopping. curves along its front. Theridges 303); and the 10-storyGoryeo airport terminal,the Trade Center are natural fortifications, which Dynastypagoda in the lobby ofthe building and theASEM Tower Dynasty (1392-1910) engineers 퉐팫 Samcheong-dong Road museum. building. The mall below accommodates 퉐홣홢 Riverview 8thAvenue buttressedwith 18.2 kilometers of Samcheong-dong, to the north a kimchi museum, a multiplex cinema The Han River, whichbisects the defensive walls. Alongthe 342 meter- and east of Gyeongbokgung, is a and an aquarium;the mall is also capital city intonorthandsouth,is highMount Bukak, behind the Blue winding, tree-lined road thatclimbs hometo 84 eateries and 176 stores. abroad watercourse linedwithhigh- House, these medieval walls have up Mount Bukak, ending atthe Visit thefood court if you wantto rise architecture and spannedbyfoot, been restoredandopened to the entrance toSamcheong Park. 퉐팮 Changing of the Guard tryavarietyofreasonablypriced road and rail bridges. Several public. A twenty-minute hike from Samcheong-dongisperhapsthe Changing ofthe Guard ceremonies, Korean and international foods; you observatories have recentlybeen the park inSamcheong-dong, (see capital’s prettiest neigbhorhood: scrupulously researched recreations will see thechefs at work in their installedalongtheriverto view the below), up through forested slopes, A low-rise district ofsmall museums, of medieval militarydrills, are open kitchens. bridges, many of whichare floodlit 퉐팮 Changing of the Guard will take you to the walls, from restaurants, coffee shops, wine bars mounted in front ofthe Gyeongbokgung at night. Riverview 8th Avenueisone where theviews over downtown and traditional teahouses, many and Deoksugung palaces several 퉐팱 Namdaemun Market and Myeong- such, attached to the GwangjinBridge. Seoul are breathtaking. builtinsiderenovatedhanoks. Try times eachday. Eachparadefeatures dong The observatory, whichappears to the persimmon punch,sweet rice 70-80 guardsmen in traditional Namdaemun Market and Myeong- floatin the air, provides widevistas drink orsweet redbean porridge at attire, armedwith swords, spears dongin central Seoul are thecapital’s oftheriverand its surroundings the “Second Most TastyHouse in and other medieval weaponry. “thenandnow” shopping districts. through its expansive windows and Seoul,” a traditional tea shop. Adding aural ambience, a traditional Namdaemun, a labyrinthine street part-glass floor. Live jazz plays militarybandperforms after each market whichdates back 600 years, here duringthe weekends. ceremony,then lines up in front of exudes an earthy,folksyambience. 퉐팪 Bukchon Hanok Village thegates to guard the palaces, where Things livenupafter 5pm when Hanok are traditional Korean 퉐팭 National Museumof Korea theguardsmen can be photographed vendors fill the alleys, hagglingfills cottages, typifiedbytheir curved, The National Museum of Korea with tourists. the air and goodsflyoff theracks tiled roofs, their enclosed courtyards, grants visitors a 360-degree atknock-down prices. Myeong- 퉐팯 CoexMall woodenbeams and under-floor panoramaof Korea’s 5,000 years dong(also spelledMyung-dong), [email protected]

truths discoveredwhilesippingthe Buddhist SerenityBeckons G20 Attendees beverage are equal to those found through meditation. There are many forms of meditation; By Min Byong-seon Muchofthetemple wasrazed in statue yearningfor national reunif- Bongeunsa specializes inZen. In a 1939 fire, aperennial peril for ication. Thetemple also remembers this tradition, meditators concentrate It may stand in the midst of a wood-builttemples, with theresult victims ofthe peninsula’stragic upon a koan, orcritical phrase bustling metropolis, but Bongeunsa, thatthe oldest buildingtoday is modernhistory: It houses a shrine (“hwadu” in Korean). Through this an 8th centuryBuddhist temple only Panjeon,completed in 1855. Even to thespirits ofspecial operations process, people may rid themselves 퉐팲 Insa-dong steps away from Coex, the ultra- so,thetempleishometoanumber troops lost in the Korean conflict. of desire and achieve judgment and modernG20 summit venuein southern of Buddhist cultural assets. Though thethen-rural temple peace of mind. Seoul,retainsthetimeless serenity Panjeon is ahall storing3,438 wasengulfedbytheexpanding Forstressed-out G20 visitors who common to temples set inhidden wooden templates ontowhichare capital in the 1980s, life inside Bongeunsa, an 8th century Buddhisttemple wish to transcend thesummit and valleys orremote mountains. carvedBuddhist scriptures tobe Bongeunsa is still lived inaustere take atstab at achieving Nirvana, Founded in 794, Bongeunsa printedonpaper. Buddhist style, markedbymeditation, in silence; even thesound ofscraping Bongeunsa is holding a special blossomedafter beingselectedas The23-meter Grand Statue ofthe vegetarian meals and prayers. The bowlsisfrownedupon. ’s program, “Temple Life” from November thecaretaker ofthetombof King Buddha is another treasure. public visit topray,consult and in-builtenvironmental consciousness 9-12. “Thesummit will be an excellent Seongjongin 1498; its name means, The Maitreya, or Buddha ofthe Future, take teawith the monks. is seen in lack of wastage: Meals opportunity to spread the wordon literally, “To Receive the Grace of refers to the Bodhisattvawhosaves The principle behind temple meals end with thecleansing of bowls templestays as world leaders will King Seongjong.” In 1550, Bongeun- mankind. Construction ofthestatue is equality, boosting unityand withwater. becoming,” said Kim Sang-ki, head sabecame Korea’scentral temple began in 1986 to fulfill the will of harmony by sharing. Meals are a Buddhist monks are also great ofreligious affairs at Bongeunsa. for Buddhism. thetemple’s late abbottobuilda form of asceticism and are eaten teadrinkers, maintainingthatthe [email protected] 퉐홣홢 Riverview 8th Avenue