Tourist information in Suwon
by mke1963
Suwon’s tourism people have really got their act together, and provide numerous brochures and literature on the town’s sites and sights, and operate a tour bus twice daily. Their hard work and the quality of maps and brochures, and the informative signboards everywhere (all translated into English, Japanese and Chinese) sets a benchmark for tourism authorities globally. The town ahs started using the tagline “Happy Suwon” and for once, such a phrase seems entirely appropriate and meaningful.
The main tourism office is by the railway station: immediately to the north of the station building by the bus-park. The staff are incredibly helpful and even walked us to the taxi stand to tell the driver where we wanted to go after we had just missed the free shuttle bus to the folk village.
This tourist office also sells an excellent book showing 3-D maps of the whole of Gyeonggi-do province: a brilliant find that will make planning future holidays here easier. They also sell a picture book of the fortress which is somewhat less compelling: it has some very odd montage photographs, very little information about the fortress and some appalling spelling mistakes – as in China, publishes would do well to pay an editor or proofreader a couple of hundred dollars to avoid the unfortunate result of utterly nonsensical text.
Getting all the information booklets that Suwon Tourist Authority offer will make a huge, positive difference to your visit!
Website of Suwon Tourism office
Address and Phone Number of Information Office at Suwon Station
Gwonseon-gu Maesanro1-ga, 18 Suwon Station Plaza
031 228 2785
See-saw
by iwys
See-sawing is a traditional game in Korea. but it's far more vigorous than the western version. Koreans don't sit on the see-saw; they jump up and down on it. There are several see-saws at the Korean Folk village for visitors to use, but there are also spectacular performances of see-saw acrobatics, where performers go hurtling high up into the sky, twirling ribbons, jumping through hoops and doing somersaults.
Performances at the Korean Folk Village start at 11.30am and 3.30pm daily (3pm Nov-Feb).
The Sled Field
by iwys
The sled field on the fozen river at the Korean Folk Village is great fun. It is included in the price of your admission ticket. There are plenty of sleds and "oars/ski poles" to propel you around the ice circuit. It is very good exercise. Try doing three laps at high speed!
For first-timers: you sit cross-legged on the sled and propel yourself forward by driving the ski poles as hard as you can into the ice. Once you pick up speed, you need to use one ski pole only sometimes in order to steer round corners. Be prepared to swerve around other sleds slowing down or stopping in front of you. Have fun!
Hwaseong Fortress - Part III
by mke1963
In 1989, two hundred years after the original palace was started, plans were unveiled to rebuild the palace from the ground up, and in 1996 reconstruction started. So far, 482 of the 576 rooms have been recreated. By 2010, the rebuilding will be finished, and the haenggung will have risen phoenix-like from the Japanese ashes.
The effect is quite stunning, and the authorities here have taken great steps to avoid the Hwaseong Haenggung becoming an empty shell, with many traditional activities arranged in the courtyards – pottery, traditional games, flower arranging, musical performances and during summer weekends, musical and martial arts performances outside the gate. All these activities are free of charge and add a lot to the visitor experience.
The palace has a considerable amount of interpretative material and every building has display panels explaining its original use. Many rooms also have recreated scenes.
The big golden budda
by JDwernychuk
The big golden budda. I never went right up to it i only saw it from a distance when i was on the wall. It looked like it was about 2 storys tall. I really wanted to go find it but i never had time. i will go back and see it. later
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Leaping folk dancers, Korean Folk Village, Suwon
There are a lot of interesting or funny things
Buddha at Korean Folk Village
Korean Folk Village
