28 Mar 2011, Posted by Matt in all destinations,Festivals & Holidays,Gyeongsang,Transportation,0 Comments Jinhae’s Naval Port Festival 2011!

Korea’s biggest spring flower festival of them all is nearly upon us! From April 1st through the 10th, the charming town of Jinhae on Korea’s southern coast will welcome an estimate 2.5 million people (!) to its 49th annual Jinhae Naval Port Festival to view its thousands upon thousands of cherry trees.

Festival organizers have put together helpful information in English for the event. To view the festival’s daily programs, go here. For information on local attractions,go here. For more details and photos, I wrote about my trip to a previous Naval Port Festivalhere.

To reach Jinhae from Seoul or Busan, you can travel via bus or train. While Korea’s express buses are typically fast and comfortable, note that the roads will be very congested around Jinhae. With that in mind, to help you plan your trip, I’ve put together some train schedules to and from Jinhae from Seoul and points northwest, and from Busan and points southeast.

The times on the charts refer to departures. The alphanumeric codes refer to train type and number. Korail operates four types of passenger trains: Korea Train eXpress (KTX), Nooriro (NOO), Saemaeul (SAE) and Mugunghwa (MUG). In terms of speed, comfort and cost they roughly go in that order (with KTX as the most comfortable, fastest and most expensive). When putting together these itineraries, I’ve tried to pick the most convenient options. Please note, however, that some of the transfers are quite fast

04 Mar 2011, Posted by Matt in all destinations,Chungcheong,Festivals & Holidays,Gyeonggi,Gyeongsang,Jeju,Jeolla,Nature,Seoul

Last Update: 4 April 2011, 0:50 KST)

It’s March, and that means it’s almost time for Korea’s annual spring flower festivals! It also means that I’m receiving a lot of questions from potential travelers… namely, ”When and where can I see the flowers?”

Starting today, I’ll do my best to answer those questions via a special three-part post. Today’s post provides a quick overview of this spring’s flower festivals. Part 2 will provide program and comprehensive transportation information about Korea’s largest cherry  blossom festival, the 49th annual Jinhae Naval Port Festival (April 1~10, 2011), and Part 3 will do the same for Seoul’s biggest flower fête, the Hangang Yeouido Spring Flower Festival (April 13~17, 2011).

Hopefully, these posts will save you the trouble of sifting through outdated festival websites or confusing bus and train schedules as you plan your pilgrimage to see those ephemeral pale pink blossoms. Please note that 1) festival dates are highly subject to change, depending on how weather impacts the fickle trees’ flowering schedules. 2) The ongoing foot and mouth disease (FMD) and avian influenza (AI) outbreaks among livestock have already cancelled two early festivals and may force others to do the same. Please check back frequently as I’ll make updates as they become available.

Now… let’s take a look at Korea’s 2011 Spring Flower Festivals:According to the Buddhist calendar, it’s the year 2,554, and to celebrate the birth of the Buddha some two and a half millennia ago, over 100,000 brightly colored lanterns have been strung up along Seoul’s streets.

Yeon Deung Hoe (연등회), or the Lotus Lantern Assembly, is a traditional Korean folk festival that began centuries ago during the Goryeo Period, when Buddhism reached its zenith as ancient Korea’s state religion. But even today, the festival continues the tradition of making and hanging lanterns as symbolic offerings of light, wisdom and compassion in a world too often filled with darkness and suffering.

Today, about one-quarter of Koreans are Buddhists, and the Jogye Order is Korea’s largest Buddhist sect. As festival hosts, they kicked off the annual celebration last Friday, when Bongeunsa Temple (봉은사) near the COEX Conference and Exhibition Center opened an exhibition of traditional lanterns made from Korea’s exquisite traditional paper called hanji. That exhibit will run through May 23rd.

But the biggest festival events occurred on the street outside Jogyesa Temple, in the heart of downtown Seoul. Over the weekend, thousands of people enjoyed stage performances starring monks clad in colorful robes and experience events

Not to be missed is Jogyesa Temple (조계사) itself, a main temple of Korea’s largest Buddhist sect. The tightly packed compound felt all the more intimate thanks to the thousands of colorful lanterns strung from roof eaves and trees that created a false ceiling. On a packed earth plaza in front of the main hall, a salmunori troupe performed

In addition to all of the day time activities is the big event itself – the Lantern Parade. At dusk the street festival makes way for what is said to be Seoul’s largest street procession. From Dongguk University Station to Dongdaemun and Jogyesa Temple, Seoul’s night sky was lit by thousands of lanterns in the shapes of dragons, pagodas, phoenixes, and, of course, lotuses. At about 9:30 pm, everything culminated with the Daedong Celebration. Meaning “being together,” the final event of singing and dancing at the Jonggak intersection reached a finale at 11 pm, when revelers were showered by pink lotus petals

. When King Taejo founded the Joseon Dynasty in 1392 and designated Seoul its new capital, he built the Jongmyo Royal Shrineto honor his ancestors. Six hundred years later, Jongmyo is the world’s oldest and best-preserved royal Confucian sanctuary.

For residents and visitors to Seoul, the royal shrine is also one of the city’s most peaceful areas, thanks to the mature tree cover and the subdued elegance of the regal buildings.

The Jongmyo Jerye memorial rituals were added to UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2001 [full gallery].

Over five centuries, Taejo and subsequent monarchs performed neo-Confucian memorial rituals called Jongmyo Jerye (종묘제례) five times annually. The ceremony was temporarily suspended during the turbulent years of colonization and war, but in 1969, descendants of the Jeonju Lee royal family reinstated the ritual and opened it to the public.

These days, the Jongmyo Daeje (종묘대제) or “great rite” is performed on the first Sunday in May. Korea is the only country to have preserved its royal Confucian shrine and ancestral rites, which is why the royal rites were added to UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2001.

Sixty-four young women participate in the Parilmu, or Eight-Row Dance [full gallery].

The solemn ceremony begins with a procession from Deoksugung Palace (덕수궁) [video] to Jongmyo. At the front gate, women dressed in royal blue hanbok politely ask visitors to remain off the stone processional pathway that leads to the shrine halls.

The six-hour rite can be described as 12 elaborate steps organized into three main parts – welcoming the arrival of the royal ancestral spirits, entertaining the spirits and finally, bidding farewell to them. A precise protocol oversees the ceremonial recitations and presentation of special foods and wine from bronze water porters and wine casks

The Jeonju Lee Family, whose ancestors ruled Korea during the Joseon Dynasty, administers the ceremony [full gallery].

A broad stone terrace in front of the shrine accommodates scores of musicians and attendants in full court dress who carefully perform the ritual. Two lines of men wearing the barred coronet of upper terrace officials stand to the right, while 64 young women perform the Parilmu (팔일무), or Eight-Row Dance to the left. The unique ceremonial music, called Jongmyo Jeryeak is performed by the Royal Court Orchestra.

Unlike small bits of traditional culture that are repackaged for the benefit of tourists, Jongmyo Daeje is a living treasure. And watching the hundreds of people perform this powerful and sacred ritual annually, it’s no wonder that neo-Confucian ideas still hold considerable influence on Korean societ

Christianity is relatively new to Asia, but today about 30% of the South Korean population is Christian. Christmas (Sung Tan Jul) is celebrated by Christian families and is also a public holiday (even though Korea is officially Buddhist). Korea is the only East Asian country to recognize Christmas as a national holiday.

Christmas Traditions

Korean Christians celebrate Christmas similar to the way it's celebrated in the West, but since it's primarily a religious holiday in Korea, there is considerably less fanfare and presents. Some families do put up Christmas trees, people exchange presents, and stores do put up holiday decorations, but the festivities start much closer to Christmas day. Families may attend mass or a church service on Christmas Eve or Christmas day (or both), and caroling parties are popular for young Christians on Christmas Eve. Grandpa Santa is popular with kids in Korea (Santa Harabujee) and he wears either a red or blue santa suit. Kids know him as a happy grandfather figure who gives out presents, and stores employ Santas to greet shoppers and hand out chocolate and candies. People in Korea usually exchange presents on Christmas Eve and instead of piles of presents, one present (or a gift of money) is customary.