Gyeongsangbuk-do

The first full moon of the lunar year, called Jeongwol Daeboreum (정월 대보름), is celebrated across Korea. The celebration is a way for farmers to pray for a good crop in the coming farming season. It’s also a time for individuals to make wishes for their future.

When one thinks of bull fighting, an image of a Spanish man in sequence tights holding a red blanket and staring at a bleeding and soon to be killed bull probably enters the mind. However, this is not the only kind of bull fighting the world has to offer. Korea has long had its own version of bull fighting, and this is what I will discuss here.

In springtime in Korea, cherry blossom trees bloom everywhere. Many places celebrate this event with a festival, but even without a festival, places with cherry blossoms attract thousands of people. Ask a Korean where the best places to see cherry blossoms in the spring and you will probably hear them say Gyeongju, or Jinhae. This article will discuss my favorite of these two destinations, Gyeongju, and my next article will discuss the festival held at Jinhae.

If I were to create a top 10 list of activities to do in Korea, I’d probably include a day trip to the Andong Hwahoe Maeul, a small village made up of historic Korean homes located in the countryside of Gyeongsangbuk-do.

More than few things come to mind when thinking about Andong. There is an annual international mask dance festival in the fall, a beautiful traditional folk village which you can rent a small room at and be served Andong Jjimddak (noodles & chicken dish) for dinner, weekly free mask dance performances, a mask museum, Andong soju (hard alcohol) and its own museum as well.

According to the UNESCO website, "The Gyeongju Historic Areas contain a remarkable concentration of outstanding examples of Korean Buddhist art, in the form of sculptures, reliefs, pagodas, and the remains of temples and palaces from the flowering, in particular between the 7th and 10th centuries, of this form of unique artistic expression."

For sure, "remarkable" is the right adjective to use when describing the historic sites of Gyeongju.

Pohang is a city of about 500,000 people located on the east coast of Korea.  Pohang's Yeongil Bay Port allows the city to be involved in international trade.  Hence the catch phrase "Global Pohang".   The main industry in the town is dominated by POSCO, a major steel manufacturer with an enormous factory sitting right on the edge of the ocean.  Also, Pohang boasts 7 beaches and a yearly summer fireworks festival at Bukbu Beach.