Bukchon Hanok Village

Earlier today, I ventured into a part of Seoul so far untouched by developers (I know, this is a pet peeve of mine!) known as Bukchon, an area where traditional Korean houses or hanoks have been preserved. Bukchon is inbetween the Gyeongbukgung and Changdeok palaces overlooking Samcheong (which I visited a few weeks ago)

A hanok

The area dates back 600 years or so and was once home to high-ranking officials and aristocrats. Bukchon is still residential although some hanoks have been converted into museums and guesthouses. Its a peaceful area which gives you some idea of what Seoul was like in the past (for rich people anyway) and is ideal for walking around. There are some good views from the top of the hill which were presumably clearer in Joseon times!

Bukchon street

View over Seoul from the top of the street

View in the other direction over Samcheong

Steps leading up to Bukchon from Samcheong

Getting there: the nearest subway station is Anguk. Follow the walled road which is directly across the road from Insadong-gil. Turn right and walk up the hill until you come to the Bukchon visitor centre. Various hanoks are scattered around this area, but to see the main concentration, turn left and the area above is on your left.

Monsoon Season

When I first arrived in Korea, I was warned about how hot and humid it would get during the summer months. So far, we've had a few weeks of nice, sunny weather (hot, but not so hot that you have to spend every moment huddled under the aircon), mostly perfect summer days (the type we have in Britain about once a year). However, no-one warned me about monsoon season! For the last week or so, we have had torrential rain. Busan (which I am visiting next week) made international news earlier in the week when flooding caused one street to be blocked by various debris including several upside down cars (for a picture, check out the BBC website http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8153739.stm).

Apparently monsoon season lasts a couple of weeks, then there is a brief respite of sun and clear skies (when all of Korea takes their summer holidays) before typhoon season starts in mid August! Still, the rains gave me the impetus I needed to properly sort out my new-ish apartment which is now tidy and gleaming in readiness for Lisa's arrival on Thursday.

Some school students in Bucheon have been diagnosed as suffering Swine Flu, so several of the public schools here have closed for summer a week early. We were a little hopeful last week that we may get an extra week off for vacation, but sadly money rules at a hagwon, so it looks doubtful.

Samcheong-dong

Samcheong-dong is a nice little area to the north of Gyeongbukgung Palace which I stumbled across by accident. Its a pretty low rise neighbourhood with lots of traditional tile roofed buildings housing coffee shops, boutiques, galleries and restaurants. And the intriguing sounding Museum of Chicken Art!

Coffee shopRestaurant

The neighbourhood has a nice cosy feel at odds with much of what I have seen of Seoul so far.

The Museum of Chicken Art!The blatant disregard for this sign amused me!

Getting here: from Anguk station, take the opposite exit to Insadong-gil and follow the walled road.

Jongmyo Shrine and Changdeokgung Palace

Last weekend, I visited the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Jongmyo and Changdeokgung Palace. In the park outside Jongmyo were hundreds of adjoshis (they were all men) playing the same board game (not sure what it was, possibly Baduk or Changgi?)

Jongmyo is a shrine to deceased Kings and Queens of the Joseon era and is the oldest preserved Confucian shrine in the world (building started in 1394). The main hall, Jeongjeon, has 19 spirit rooms (there is also another hall called Yeongnyeongjeon built to house the memorial tablets of later Kings and Queens). Each year in May, an ancient ritual known as Jongmyo jerye is held to commemorate the late Kings and Queens which includes court music known as jerye-ak and dancing.

The park surrounding the shrine is very peaceful and its hard to believe you're in the middle of Seoul.

Jeongjeon - Main Hall

The south gate through which the spirits were believed to enter and depart (the King would enter from the east gate and the performers would enter through the west gate.

Korea was a monarchy until the Japanese annexed Korea at the start of the 20th Century and deposed the royal family. After the end of the Second World War and Korean liberation in 1945, South Korea became a republic and most of the assets belonging to the royal family were seized and they were stripped of any authority (they were seen as being partly responsible for allowing the Japanese annexation). The current heir, Yi Chung, currently lives in his ancestral home in Seoul.

Nearby Changdeokgung Palace (Palace of Prospering Virtue) is one of the 5 grand palaces of Seoul and was the site of the government until Gyeongbukgung was rebuilt in 1872. Changdeokgung became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997 as it is an "outstanding example of Far Eastern palace architecture and garden design". To me, it didn't look a whole lot different than the other palaces in Seoul that I have visited as they are all very similar in style, but then again, the entry fee for Jongmyo and Changdeokgung was a paltry 1,000 won (about 50p), so I thought I may as well have a look around!

Changdeokgung

Outside Changdeokgung I stumbled across these sculptures made out of grass and flowers obviously harking back to a more pastoral past. Not that long ago, most Koreans lived in the countryside, but rapid economic growth in the 1970 caused mass migration to the cities. Seoul has a population of around 10 million, but is classed as one of the biggest megacities in the world as the surrounding metropolitan area (of which Bucheon is a part of) takes its population up to around 25 million. No wonder the subways are always so crowded!

Seoul is an interesting city, but the bulk of it is not very pretty and fairly monotonous (step off at any subway station and you will probably see the same vista of Dunkin' Donuts, Paris Baguette, Baskin Robbins along with identikit tower blocks. It seems a shame that the more interesting low-rise areas seem particularly susceptible to the wrecking ball. This is one side of the Cheonggycheon stream near Jonggak which is lined with coffee shops and pizza places, all nice and clean.

On the other side are lots of little Korean shopfronts ready for redevelopment. Korean history and culture isn't just royal palaces and museums, its about ordinary people too and it seems that city planners are all too keen to sweep away anything that isn't seen as modern Korea and that is a shame.