Author Archives: Andrew

Shanghai, China

From Seoul we flew into Shanghai, which makes China the first country we’ve visited twice on our two year trip. The first time we explored the north in and around Beijing, and we knew then that we’d be back to see more of this vast, welcoming country.

Arriving in style, the Shanghai Maglev!

The Shanghai Maglev, one of only 3 Magnetic Levitation commercial train services in the world, also holds the record for the fastest train in the world – it’s levitation, Holmes!

Shanghai has a magnetic levitation train line connecting the airport to the downtown financial district, and as soon as I found out I knew we had to try it! Unlike conventional trains that use wheels and tracks, maglev trains use powerful electromagnets to float, or levitate, over a rail. Because there are no moving parts or contact, there’s less noise and energy lost due to friction which means they can travel faster, but they do need more energy to run and they’re a lot more expensive to build.

The 30.5 km of rail in the Shanghai Maglev uses electromagnetic suspension which means expensive electrified rail

While the Maglev doesn’t run at its record-breaking speed of 501 km/h (311 mph), the journey took just over 8 minutes and hit a top speed of 301km/h – not quite as fast as the Shinkansen in Japan or the express trains in the rest of China, but it was noticeably smoother and quieter. At ¥40 a ticket (about £4), it was easily worth the experience!

The Bund

The beautiful old architecture of riverfront Shanghai, known as The Bund

There’s a long history of European influence in Shanghai, the legacy of which can be seen in the riverfront architecture of The Bund. We found a number of self-guided walking tours that describe the various buildings and picked a day that turned out to be clear but very hot indeed!

No. 2 The Bund. Originally the Shanghai Club which was the most exclusive Gentlemen’s club in Shanghai in 1920s and 30s, and now it’s the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai (and very swanky it is too – we popped in to cool off in their air conditioning!)

The cool and inviting foyer of the Waldorf Astoria, Shanghai

“The Bund Bull” – designed by the same Arturo Ugo Di Modica who designed the Wall Street Charging Bull and more recently one in Amsterdam. The large domed property in the background is the HSBC Building

The Bund stretches for 1 mile from the Suzhou Creek in the north to Yan’an Road in the south. About ¾ of the way up, Nanjing Road goes inland to the west, and used to be the site of the British concession. Sadly the concession buildings and settlement are no longer there, though we did stop in a nearby alleyway for a spot of lunch.

Our side-street lunch just off Nanjing Road – fried dumplings with a “little” bit of spicy sauce, and pork rolls which we’d missed after eating them every day in Datong!

Somewhat ironically, the old financial institution buildings and the Bund Bull face the growing might of the Shanghai Financial District of Pudong just across the Huangpu river.

The Shanghai Pudong Financial District, including the 2nd tallest building in the world, the Shanghai Tower (centre right)

The Propaganda Poster Art Center

Yang Pei Ming in his Propaganda Poster Art Center (photo source: CNN Travel)

The enticingly named Propaganda Poster Art Center is the life-work of Yang Pei Ming, a private collector, housed in 4 adjoining basement apartments of an otherwise nondescript Chinese high-rise block.

The mundaneness of the surroundings only heightens the feeling of discovery and clandestineness as we looked through nearly 100 years of Chinese public poster art from early 1900s, and through the rise of Chairman Mao.

The first room is largely chronological from the 1930s (photo source: GoAsia.co)

Understandably we weren’t allowed to take photos as the museum supports itself by selling prints and postcards of many of the works (as well as the small entrance fee), and although the overall order seemed a little disjointed in places, there were translations and explanations for most of the posters which set them in their historic context of Chinese and world events.

No. 187 – “Long live Marxism, Lenism [sic], and Mao Zedong Thought poster” (photo source: Propaganda Poster Art Center)

While most of the art was inward, enthusiastic Communist messaging, there were some examples that rally the East against the Western aggressors during the Second World War and the Vietnam War. I love to see history from the other side to that which I have been taught, and this collection of poster art is fascinating for both its historical significance as for its artistic style and development.

Propaganda poster depicting the UK. The caption reads: “John rides the ox and I ride the horse, what a shame if he wins the game.” (photo source: Agustinus Wibowo)

South Korea Round Up

What photo takes you right back to South Korea?

Us hiking the Geumjeong Fortress walls in Busan

Summarise South Korea in three words.

Kimchi – 3 times a day is the minimum ration!
Mountains – make up about 70% of the country so it’s no wonder South Koreans are such avid hikers
Smartphones – they’re ubiquitous. Lots of people watching videos or messaging while on their commute leads to some frustrating travel for those of us who aren’t dumbwalking

You really know you’re in South Korea when…

… everyone is wearing some kind of hiking apparel. It’s like the whole country is ready for adventure!

Where do they get all this gear from? In the towns and cities we visited, every main high street consisted of hiking shops, cosmetic shops with shouting clapping staff outside trying to outdo each other, or multi-storey chain coffee shops.

What one item should you definitely pack when going to South Korea?

A small towel. It’s a humid, hot country and you’ll definitely need it to wipe your brow on the mountain hikes.

Seoul, South Korea

2 Replies

We spent a couple of weeks in South Korea’s capital city at the start of the rainy season. As well as the excellent DMZ tour with the USO, and learning how to make kimchi, here are some of the things we got up to in and around Seoul..

Sunset from southern edge of Namsan Park looking over south west Seoul, just up the hill from our apartment

Changdeokgung Palace and Secret Garden

Injeongjeon Hall (a National Treasure) – is the throne hall of Changdeokgung, it was used for major state affairs including the coronation of a new king and receiving foreign envoys

Completed in 1412, Changdeokgung is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the “Five Grand Palaces” built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897). Although it has been destroyed many times by war and fire, nearly 30% of the buildings are original and the rest are either being restored or are completed.

The administrative area - a warren of buildings to support the Joseon government

The administrative area – a warren of buildings to support the Joseon Dynasty government

We started in the administrative quarter and were surprised by how many beautifully ornate buildings there were.

Old tree in the administrative area of the Changdeokgung Palace

After making our way through the main gate and up to the mightily impressive Injeongjeon Hall, we had a quick look around the King and Queen’s residences and yet more administrative buildings before heading to Huwon, also known as the Secret Garden.

Starting the guided tour of the Secret Garden. Tours are arranged by language, and the English ones are booked up a few days in advance – best to book online before you go!

We’ve become accustomed to the Asian definition of “garden” being a meticulously manicured space, but in Korea, it seems that nature has more of a hand in the planning – of the ones we’ve visited at any rate. The Secret Garden is so-called because it was reserved for royalty and their guests, and, really, I’d call it a forest: firstly because it’s huge – almost twice the size of the palace grounds; and secondly, visitors would have ridden a horse or have been carried around it, stopping at pagodas to admire the small set pieces of scenery. This explains the scale and the lack of view for strollers.

Us in the Secret Garden. In the background is the Buyongjeong pavilion, a recently restored National Treasure of Korea

Access is by guided tour only, and our bubbly guide was very good, but there were a lot of people in the group and we found we had to be near the front as she would start the explanations as soon as she arrived at each point of interest. We missed a lot of the introductions, and we were by no means at the back!

This pagoda seems to float on a field of rice

“Ongnyucheon” or Jade Stream – a narrow channel carved in the rock curves its way to a tiny trickle of a waterfall

Suwon Hwaseong Fortress Walls Hike

Hwaseong Fortress walls, looking down at the Hwaseomun west gate

We’ve done quite a bit of hiking in Korea, and after the 13km of the Geumjeong Fortress hike we did in Busan, we figured the 5.7km of the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress south of Seoul would be a nice stroll in the park!

It was a lovely clear day, but it was hot work as we elected to go clockwise from the Paldalmun – the main south gate, which meant we had a steep climb followed by a gentler descent. We took it slow and were rewarded with lovely views of the city and the old walls snaking around the centre.

The climb, starting at Paldalmun past NamChi and NamPoru watchtowers to the SeonanAmmun secret gate

A lovely park with a lotus pond just outside the walls, with DongbukGaknu pavilion on the left

About two-thirds of the way round is a visitor centre where we stopped for some shade and a well-deserved ice-cream. Here they offer basic archery tuition as the site was historically used by soldiers for combat training.

The archery instructors giving a quick (and very accurate) demonstration in front of DongbukGongsimdon. “Gongsimdon” means an observation tower and its design allows for spotting enemies inside the walls

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Gwacheon branch)

Set in the Grand Park, which also contains a zoo and a theme park called Seoul Land, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art is a delight. Not only are the permanent collections free (bonus!), but it’s well laid out, had a fascinating and varied collection of artworks on display, and features a sculpture garden in its grounds.

Kids enjoying the centrepiece of the museum – “The More, the Better” by Dadaikseon, 1988 – produced in celebration of the Seoul Summer Olympics of the same year. It reminded us of the “Tower of Babel” we saw in Helsinki

Each gallery has a specific genre, such as painting, architecture, or photography (to name a few), we both enjoyed the design gallery exhibition entitled “Objectology” which explored the appreciation of everyday objects as art.

“Drum & Bass”, by Mathieu Mercier, 2011 – we loved this mass-produced object interpretation of Mondrian’s famous geometric compositions, very clever!

"Iron Plate+Wires+Plumbum", by Yoon Jeong-sup, 1995. Part of an exhibition of various works entitled "Wall"

“Iron Plate+Wires+Plumbum”, by Yoon Jeong-sup, 1995. Part of an exhibition entitled “Wall”

“Visual Point-Opener” by Kwon Dal-Gool, one of the many works in the sculpture garden

Bosingak Bell Tower

The Bosingak Bell Tower in central downtown Seoul

After our kimchi making class, we wandered through the centre of Seoul towards the Bosingak Bell Tower, and arrived to find a small queue near the steps and 3 guards at the entrance. As we approached the tower, the more flamboyantly dressed head guard turned to us and said “10 minutes” – we checked the time – it was 11:40.

We stood in the shade of the tower and a few minutes later the guards beckoned all of us inside and up the stairs to the second level – we followed the other group, feeling like we’d sneaked our way in. On the second floor we were treated to a bi-lingual explanation of the bell’s history before witnessing at arm’s length the mid-day bell ringing ceremony. Our timing could not have been better!

Introduction of the bell and the tower’s history, followed by 12 loud dings of the massive bell

Gwangjang Market

For our last day in Seoul, we’d thought about finding a street food tour like the one we really enjoyed in Hanoi, but when we looked at the menus of 12 or so Korean specialties, there were only 2 or 3 things we hadn’t yet tried, so armed with a short list and a pair of hungry bellies we headed to the Gwangjang Market – home to rows of street food stands!

The main entrance to Gwangjang Market. It starts out with clothes, souvenirs, toys and herbs, but quickly gets going into food

The market is mostly small, independent clothing and shoe shops, except that the main east-west and north-south thoroughfares are given over to stand after stand of interesting, mouth-watering and occasionally stomach-turning delicacies!

Most of the clothes shops were closed as we visited on a Sunday, but most of the food stalls and mini restaurants were open and there was plenty of business!

Julie spotted the shallow-fried mung bean pancakes straightaway, but we walked the length and breadth to see if we could find everything on our list. First, we sat down to a plate of kimchi dumplings..

Is there no end to the uses of kimchi as a food ingredient? I’ll wager it’d do a grand job of your brassware too

Next up was the mung bean pancakes from one of the many mini factory-stalls turning the plain-looking beans into tasty, probably-not-so-healthy fried pancakes in front of our eyes

There were quite a few fried pancake stalls grinding down the mung beans and turning them into pancakes

There were quite a few stalls grinding down the mung beans and turning them into pancakes

The finished product, a mung bean, cabbage and shallot pancake. They come with all sorts of additional ingredients, including, yes, you guessed it, kimchi

Footnote: Not so much a sight, but something I want to remember about Seoul.. the subway screens play curated clips from Vimeo and Youtube in between public service announcements, and a series of short animations featuring two larvae caught our attention. It turns out they’re by a Korean animation studio, and I found the humour to be just my cup of tea.. here’s one of my favourites, and there’s a lot more on this Youtube channel if you like it too.. enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXO-dPkXQMk]

Hahoe Folk Village, Andong, South Korea

Gyeongju, South Korea

3 Replies

Gyeongju was once the capital of the long-lasting Silla dynasty which started in 57 BC, ran for almost a thousand years, and grew to rule most of the Korean peninsula. Often described as a ‘museum without walls’ the area in and around the main city has more palace ruins, burial mounds, rock carvings and Buddha statues than anywhere else in South Korea. With so much to see, it was tough to decide where to spend our time..

The Gyeongju “Tumuli” (Burial Mounds)

Tumuli or burial mounds in Gyeongju. These ones are in the Daereungwon Tomb Complex which has a small entrance fee, but there are so many more that are in open parkland

The tumuli, or burial mounds, were a lot bigger than we thought they’d be, and the many open parks to the south of the city are full of them. Their size denotes the importance of the person buried inside, and while some have been looted or excavated over the years, a lot of them have been left untouched.

In the Daereungwon Tomb Complex, the highlight is the Cheonmachong tumulus – half of the mound has been hollowed out so you can see the construction from the inside. In this tomb, believed to be that of an unknown Silla King, the body was laid east-to-west, surrounded by a large, thick wooden coffin, which was covered in rocks, then covered in earth to form the mound. Replicas of the items buried with the King are on display, including a piece of his saddle that depicts a flying horse which gives the tumulus its name.

Cheonmachong tumulus is so-named because of a painted saddle found inside that depicts a flying horse

Cheonmachong tomb is so-named because of a painted saddle found inside that depicts a flying horse

Just next to the tumuli is the Cheomseongdae Observatory. Built around 632~647, it is the oldest astronomical observatory in East Asia. It has 12 main stones forming the base – 1 for each month, 30 layers – one for each day of the month, and is constructed of 366 stones – one for each day of the year (OK, they’re one or two off!). Unlike the tumuli, we were expecting the tower to be a lot bigger than its description belies!

Us at the Cheomseongdae Observatory

Still surrounded by tumuli (yes, there are a lot of them!), are several lotus ponds. We were just a little late to catch them at their best, but we were just in time to see the tadpoles turning into itty-bitty frogs!

Frogs and lotus flowers

Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram

Us at the Bulguksa temple

Bulguksa temple is on the UNESCO World Heritage list and if that isn’t reason enough to visit, it’s also listed as a national Historic and Scenic Site and home to a number of designated national treasures as well as being the head temple of the 11th district of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism!

We arrived by bus and made our way up the steep winding pathway and through the lovely landscaped pond area to be greeted by the two magnificent stone staircases that lead up to the temple. In the main courtyard are Dabotap and Seokgatap – a pair of stone pagodas that are national treasures, one of which features on the ₩10 coin.

One of a pair of UNESCO recognised stone pagodas in the Gulguksa temple courtyard

Dabotap stone pagoda in the main Bulguksa temple courtyard

Dabotap features on the ₩10 coin (Photo source: <a href="http://www.koreanclicks.com/do-you-know/dabotap-%EB%8B%A4%EB%B3%B4%ED%83%91-drawing-on-koreas-10-won-coin">KoreanClicks</a>)

Dabotap features on the ₩10 coin (Photo source: KoreanClicks)

Bulguksa temple is beautiful. We especially loved the brightly painted eaves and the separate courtyards that had their own distinctive styles – particularly Nahanjeon which was surrounded by little piles of stones, and the surprise of a finding a bronze pig in front of Geuknakjeon!

Some of our favourite things at the Bulguksa Temple: beautifully carved and decorated eaves; Julie playing with the bronze pig; South Korean cairns, which are said to bring good luck, surround Nahanjeon

From Bulguksa, we made the short hike through the forest to the Seokguram Grotto..

Hike from Bulguksa to Seokguram Grotto

The Seokguram Grotto was completed in 772 and is home to a large stone sculpture of the Seokgamoni Buddha, the historic Buddha at the moment of enlightenment, which is regarded as one of the best examples in the world.

Seokguram Grotto. Repair work was being carried out (very noisily I might add) but we could still get in to see it

Seokgamoni Buddha statue inside the Seokguram Grotto (Photo source: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seokguram_Buddha.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Seokguram_Buddha.JPG" title=""Seokguram Buddha" by Richardfabi - Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a>)

Seokgamoni Buddha statue inside the Seokguram Grotto (Photo source: Wikipedia)

Brightly coloured lanterns outside Seokguram Grotto, where we paused for ice cream :o)

Golgulsa Temple, home of the Sunmudo Martial Art

Golgulsa Temple with a carved Tathagata Buddha under the canopy in the background

The Golgulsa temple is the home of Sunmudo, a Korean martial art practiced by Buddhist monks initially as a method of dynamic meditation, and later revived to help repel invasions from the Japanese.

Set in a valley up the the side of Mt. Hamwol, the road through the grounds gets progressively steeper, and culminates in a hillside temple with an outside training area and display platform where demonstrations take place. As we had some time, we climbed up to see the Buddha carvings, and watched a chanting monk in Korea’s only cave temple.

Sunmudo martial arts demonstration

Every day at 11am and 3:30pm (except Mondays), students of the temple give a short demonstration of their skills and flexibility, which was very impressive indeed! The head monk’s routine looked more like Ashtanga yoga to our eyes, and in his Korean speech afterward we heard him say ‘yoga’ a few times. It made us want to take up our practice again..

Sunmudo martial arts demonstration

Namsan Mountain Range Hike – the museum without walls

While the whole of Gyeongju befits its description of a ‘museum without walls’, we agree with Jim Cheney’s sentiment that nowhere in Gyeongju is this truer than the Namsan mountain range.

The range itself is 8km by 12km and contains various artefacts thought to date from the Silla period. We chose a simple yet steep climb up the Samneung Valley to the top of Mt Geumobong (468m high), and down the Yongjanggol valley on the same side of the Namsan range.

The start of the path in Samneung Valley. Just around the corner it got very steep, very quickly!

I don’t think it would have mattered which path we chose, it seemed like every few steps there was a signpost directing us left or right a few metres to some carving, statue or other point of interest. Not only was it great to see so many works of art in such close proximity (and without barriers or ropes), but it helped break up the hike so it didn’t feel so strenuous!

Stone seated Buddha in Samneung Valley

The popular 7-metre tall Maitreya Buddha carving, sadly undergoing some preservation works during our visit so we could only see it from afar

The views over Gyeongju were very nice too

Our favourite of the artefacts we saw on Mt Namsan – the three-storey stone pagoda at the top of the Yongjanggol Valley

We were only in Gyeongju for a few days and we packed quite a bit of sightseeing in. We’re glad we did – there’s so much to see here and having a lot of it outside is a welcome change from air-conditioned museums!