Ready to Enjoy the Balmy Spring Breeze?
(Published April 4, 2012)

Spring Blossom Tours in April Recommended by GTO
 

◇ On April 4, the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization (GTO) recommended the best short-trip destinations in Gyeonggi Province where you can enjoy spring blossoms.

It’s April and spring is in the air now. After the last long cold spell, you must surely be ready to take a trip to fully enjoy this warm, sunny season.

To help you choose a destination, the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization (GTO) recommends the following locations in Gyeonggi Province for your spring blossom tour. Hit the road and take the time to refresh your body and mind amid a white blanket of cherry blossoms, the heralds of springotherwise known as sansuyu (Japanese cornelian cherry), yellow yuchae (Brassica campestris), and azalea blossoms.

[Guri] Yuchae Flower Festival
In spring, the Guri Hangang Park, which boasts the largest flower beds in the country, bursts spectacularly into color with its yellow yuchae blossoms and many other spring flowers, making it a leading destination for nature lovers living in and around Seoul.

Each May at the annual four-day-long Yuchae Flower Festival held in the park, visitors have the time of their lives enjoying diverse performances, hands-on experiences, and exhibitions. This year’s festival is scheduled for May 5-8 (Sat – Tues).

The festival’s main programs will include Children’s Day events, a live radio program, celebratory performances and special performances, as well as a fantastic nighttime fireworks display.

Nearby tourist attractions include the Goguryeo Blacksmith Town, Donggureung (Tombs of Nine Royal Couples), Guri Tower, and the Guri Agricultural & Marine Products Wholesale Market Management Corporation.◇ In spring, the Guri Hangang Park bursts spectacularly into color with yellow yuchae blossoms and many spring flowers.

[Pocheon] Herb Island
Opened in 1998 under the theme of ‘Mediterranean herbs’, Pocheon Herb Island consists of fifteen buildings on a 423,000㎡ site. It is open every day of the year.

The 6,611㎡ indoor herb garden is available throughout the year, while the outdoor herb garden is only open to the public between April and October. Instead, during November to March, visitors can enjoy a fantastic exhibition of lighting in the outdoor herb garden.

Above all, Herb Island has diverse recreational facilities such as Un Petite Village, an herb store, Venice Village, Herb Museum, an herbal perfume store, an herbal bread store, and the Herb Healing Center. Herb Island offers visitors everything they will need for a relaxing break!

[Uiwang] Uiwang City Hall and Central Library
Uiwang City has installed special illumination on the sections of its streets lined with cherry trees to enable the public to enjoy the sight of cherry blossoms even at nighttime.

Uiwang City plans to hold a special concert for families at Uiwang City Hall on April 21 and 22, when the cherry blossoms will be in full bloom. The City Hall will also open all of its other facilities and provide other amenities for the convenience of citizens who attend the concert. The nearby Railroad Museum and Wangsong Lake are also pleasant local attractions that are worth a visit.

[Yangpyeong] Gaegun Sansuyu Festival
In Nae-ri and Jueup-ri of Gaegun-myeon, Yangpyeong County, is Korea’s most ancient colony of sansuyu (Japanese cornelian cherry) trees. The Gaegun Sansuyu Festival is held in early spring, when the fully blooming sansuyu flowers create a spectacular sight.

Visitors can enjoy foods and teas made of sansuyu flowers and fruits, and will have an opportunity to taste the Korean beef of Yangpyeong. Also, the festival offers diverse events such as a sansuyu experience program, Pumba performance, rock concert, trout-catching contest and treasure hunt.

This year’s festival is scheduled for April 6 to 8, and its special program will include making sansuyu injeolmi (rice cake) and sansuyu chocolate.◇ Sansuyu Festivals are held in Yangpyeong and Icheon every spring when yellow sansuyu flowers are in full bloom.

[Yongin] Everland Tulip Festival
If you want to enjoy a wide range of tulips, why not visit the Everland Tulip Festival, which tales place from March 23 to April 29. As well as tulips, there are beds featuring a broad variety of flowers and a large colony of azaleas that extends throughout much of Everland. The combination of cherry blossoms surrounding the Ho Am Art Museum and a nearby lake is like a beautiful painting, and visitors can enjoy their lunch while sitting under the cherry blossom trees. Also, there are many other facilities for visitors including the Ho Am Art Museum, Cabin Hostel and the Samsung Transportation Museum.

[Icheon] Icheon Sansuyu Festival
Winding paths lined with stone-and-earth walls transport one back into the past, and the sight of sansuyu tree boughs hanging over the wall evokes deep feelings of warmth.

You can enjoy idyllic scenes such as this during the Icheon Baeksa Sansuyu Festival, which is held for three days from April 6 in Baeksa-myeon, Icheon City. If you want to soak up the rural atmosphere quietly on your own, it is advisable to visit the area immediately before or after the festival period.

Sansuyu trees are an omnipresent feature of rural villages all throughout the year. In spring the rural village scene is dominated by the yellow hue of sansuyu blossoms, while in summer the leaves exude a subtle fragrance; in fall their reddish fruits are collected for use as medicine, and in the depths of winter, snow-covered sansuyu trees create a gloriously picturesque sight.

[Goyang] International Horticulture Goyang Korea 2012
International Horticulture Goyang Korea 2012 will be held from April 26 to May 13 in Lake Park, Ilsan, under the theme of the “International Flower Olympiad”. Flowers will be displayed in the exhibition halls and outdoor gardens, so it is advisable to organize your time properly if you wish to see all the flowers on display.

To get the most out of your visit, be sure to plan your schedule for programs, events, and performances. At the Eco Olympiad Pavilion, which is the main exhibition hall of the festival, visitors will be able to appreciate the beauty of modernistic and refined techniques of floral decoration.

Exhibition halls, including the Korea Special Pavilion, will display horticultural works by Korea’s finest florists, and visitors will be able to see not only the current trends of the world’s horticulture markets, but also many newly developed species of flowers. Furthermore, the paths between the exhibition halls will be adorned with flowers.

Other destinations where one can enjoy the sight of spring blossoms include the Cherry Blossom Road at Namhansanseong Fortress, Cherry Blossom Hill at the foot of Paldal Mountain in Suwon, Azalea Hill in Wonmi-dong of Bucheon, and the Cherry Blossom Road leading to the Gwacheon Art Museum, as well as in Janghowon, which is renowned for its peach blossoms.◇ Children having fun at the International Horticulture Goyang Korea 2011. This year’s event will take place from April 26 to May 13 in Lake Park, Ilsan.

ⓒG-News Plus / Son Rak-hun / kuni1202@kg21.net

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