Let’s take a healing tour to melt away the cold winter!
(Published December 06, 2012)

The Gyeonggi Tourism Organization announced twelve recommended tourist spots that will melt away the cold winter blues. Let’s go out and find our own way of warming up mind and body. How about ice skating on an ice rink? Or taking a sauna in a steaming-hot red clay charcoal kiln?
 

◇ Taking a sauna in a red clay charcoal kiln will melt away the cold and soothe your mind and body. ⓒ G-News Plus
 
Hot hot! Red clay charcoal kiln will make Jack Frost helpless.

If you spend all this freezing winter curled up on a couch, you whole body will soon become stiff. Why don’t you go to a red clay charcoal kiln to melt away your stress and the cold this winter? A red clay charcoal kiln built in a traditional style emits far-infrared radiation, while oak wood charcoal emits negative ions that heal various diseases by helping eliminate toxins from the body and promoting the metabolism.
 
At Hwangto Cham Sutgama located in Yangju City, Gyeonggi Province, eleven kilns are kept heated up in alternation without interruption. As each kiln is heated up at a different time, people can take a sauna at an appropriate temperature all year round.  
 
After a kiln has been heated up to over 1,200℃ for 5 or 6 days, it is impossible to take a sauna straight after removing the charcoal. Once the kiln has cooled down for about a day, people can enter it, but the temperature inside will still be over 200℃, so your skin will turn red, resembling red flowers blooming all over your body, hence the kiln’s nickname of “Flower Bathtub”. However, there are other high-temperature, medium-temperature, and low-temperature kilns you can choose to suit your preference.
 
After sweating away in a charcoal kiln, you should leave the kiln and let your body cool off for at least 4 hours. As your body sweats and cools off in a forest filled with clean air, all your stress and fatigue will melt away in an instant, and a sense of wellbeing will envelop your body.
 
◆ Hours: 24/7 all year round
◆ Admission: Adults KRW 10,000 / Children KRW 7,000
◆Tel: 031-878-1020 / http://www.tosoot.com
◆Location: Red Clay Charcoal Kiln, 2-9, Iryeong-ri, Jangheung-myeon, Yangju City, Gyeonggi Province  ◇ One night at a royal house of the Joseon Dynasty will leave you wishing you could stay there forever. ⓒ G-News Plus
 

Hanok hotel ‘Royal Residence’ where you can experience the lifestyle of the royal family

The Royal Residence located at the foot of Jaeunsan Mountain in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province used to be in Myeongnyun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, but was moved to its current location in 2008. In the process of moving the house, a sangnyangmun, i.e., a document concerning the construction of the house, was found wrapped in red silk in a beam of the house, along with three lumps of gold, five lumps of silver, and seven lumps of bronze.
 
With the discovery of the sangnyangmun, the owner of the house was identified as a member of the Joseon royal family. This house belonged to Lee Geun, a grandson of Emperor Gojong and high official responsible for performing ancestral rites for the kings of the Joseon Dynasty. The house, including its old wooden structures, stone work, and tiled roof, has been well preserved for the past several hundred years.
 
While staying at the house – which is situated next to a 500-year-old pine tree, and has red clay brick walls and floors built in the typical architectural style of the Joseon Dynasty, as well as traditional mulberry-papered floors and windows – you will feel your body and mind being healed by phytoncides.
 
An auxiliary facility called hunyuksil offers various therapy programs which utilize secret skincare regimens enjoyed by the Joseon royal family, as well as an herbal steam bath that will remove the toxins from your body and revitalize you by promoting the circulation of life energy and blood. At the royal restaurant, visitors can enjoy the royal family’s favorite special dishes with organic ingredients harvested from “LOHAS Yeoncheon’, which is highly regarded as a pristine agricultural area.

You will feel like the owner of this royal family house while lying on the red clay floored room, listening to the soft sound of the gentle breeze blowing down from Jaeunsan Mountain. Why not spend a night at the royal family house and create some beautiful memories while enjoying the cultural heritage of the Joseon royal family and the wonders of nature?
 
◆Hanok Hotel: Royal Residence
◆Admission: Yeomgeundang KRW 220,000~250,000 / Sabanjeong KRW 160,000~180,000 / Jeongakmun 220,000~340,000 won / Jaeunjeong KRW 500,000~560,000
◆Tel: 031-834-8383 / http://www.royalresidence.kr
◆Location: Royal Residence, 420-1, Gomun-ri, Yeoncheon-eup, Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi Province
◇ The festive lights of the Christmas season will captivate your eyes and your heart. ⓒ G-News Plus

 
Lighting Museum will take you on a Christmas trip to a shining magic world!
 
The whole world sparkles like stars in December. Fancy ornaments on the streets shine like glittering lights. The festival of alluring lights offered by the Christmas season will captivate eyes and hearts alike. However, if you want to give your children a truly special experience, visit the Lighting Museum and experience the rapturous pleasure of brilliant lights.
 
The Lighting Museum is holding a special Christmas exhibition, the Glittering Christmas Light Experience, to offer you a happy Christmas time and a special experience of the imagination and the five senses. The composition of the Christmas exhibition staged by the Lighting Museum changes every year. This year’s exhibition will consist of the Sweet Toy World, Starlight Walking, Winter Forest Scenic View, and Christmas Eve spaces. Each space will make your children feel like the hero of a fairytale as they visit each Christmas Village.
 
◆ Opening Hours: Mon-Sun 10:00 ~ 17:00
◆Closing Days: National holidays
◆Admission: Adults KRW 5,000 / Children KRW 10,000
◆Tel: 070-7780-8911 / http://www.lighting-museum.com
◆Location: Lighting Museum, 235-48, Gwangjeok-ro, Gwangjeok-myeon, Gyeonggi Province◇ Lose yourself in the beautiful glow of the setting sun, open the lid of the steaming pot, and watch the plump clams open their mouths. ⓒ G-News Plus
 

The beautiful glow of the setting sun, clam paradise and Ansan Steamed Assorted Clam!
 
Make sure to sit near the window of a restaurant to avoid the cold wind. Lose yourself in the beautiful red glow of the setting sun projecting over a mudflat, and slowly open the rattling lid of the steaming pot. White steam spews out, and large fat clams open their mouths. The plump clams sitting in the pot look delicious!
 
Ansan is a paradise of clams. There are several clam restaurants along the Bangameori Beach in Daebudo Island. If you head for Seongam-dong in Danwon-gu via local road no. 301 (Daebuhwanggeum-ro), you will find about twenty clam restaurants dotted along the coast. The view of the sunset over the West Sea is very beautiful, though it may vary depending on time and tide.

A typical dish of steamed assorted clam is cooked with lots of scallops, clams, large fan-mussels, and small surf clams. Some restaurants add fish cake or oysters to the dish, and serve steamed eggs as a side dish.

Customers can order from large, medium, and small-sized dishes at most of the restaurants, although certain restaurants serve limitless refills. A set menu consisting of steamed clam, noodle soup, and barley rice suits most people’s needs.
 
◆Hours: 11:00 ~ 24:00
◆Price: Steamed Assorted Clam (medium size) KRW 30,000~50,000
◆Location: Seongam-dong, Danwon-gu, Gyeonggi Province
 ◇ It contains a lot of minerals known to be effective in preventing and treating diverse ailments, particularly skin and eye diseases. ⓒ G-News Plus
 

Baran Spa, an underground gift from ancient times
 
Spa resorts are favored tourist spots in winter time. As soon as you plunge into the hot spring water, all your stress and fatigue will melt away. Furthermore, the special substances contained in hot spring water will make your body healthier and stronger.
 
Baran Spa consists of underground water that is formed by the inflow of seawater and fresh water due to a land deformation that occurred a long time ago. Unlike other hot seawater springs, it does not leave any sticky residue after a bath, making the skin feel smooth instead. The seawater from this hot spring is also potable, so there is a drinking fountain in the lobby, as well as a faucet outside the building where visitors can fill receptacles with hot spring water.
 
The workers at this place drink the water as well. The taste of the hot spring water is a little salty, but it’s quite unlike the taste of seawater and is tasty to drink. It has a weak alkali content of PH7. As this water contains an abundance of minerals, it is known to be effective in treating and preventing various ailments including skin and eye diseases, particularly atopic dermatitis.
 
Made famous by word of mouth among local residents and visitors to nearby golf courses, some 1,000 people come to this spa resort on weekends. As it is located in the southwestern part of Gyeonggi Province, it can be reached easily and quickly from the metropolitan area.
 
◆Opening Hours: 06:00 ~ 21:00
◆Admission: Adults KRW 7,000 / Children KRW 5,000 / Senior Citizens (65 years old or older) KRW 6,000
◆Tel: 031. 351. 9700 / http://www.baranspavis.com/
◆Location: 24, Suchon-ri, Jangan-myeon, Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province◇ Beautiful scenes of healthy children practicing circular skating movements and lovely young couples. ⓒ G- News Plus
 

Answer us, Kim Yuna! Suwon Tapdong Ice Rink
 
A child wearing ice skates for the very first time walks awkwardly like a crab, clutching the safety barrier of the rink, and then falls on the ice. His friends laugh out loud and lend him a hand. At the center of the rink, several girls who may one day become Kim Yuna of the future can be seen practicing figure skating movements. Parents smile contentedly as they watch their children from the wide windows of a restaurant while drinking tea.
 
The Suwon Tapdong Ice Rink is the only ice rink in Suwon to meet the international standard. It promotes skating as a popular family leisure activity and four-season sport that will enhance people’s health. The scenes of healthy children practicing circular skating movements and lovely young couples look beautiful.
 
This ice rink is operated all year round including holidays. The strong points of the ice rink are its low admission fee and low rental fee.
 
The teaching group is composed of excellent athletes and instructors who offer various classes for individuals and groups, as well as kindergarten children and adults. In winter, children put on weight easily due to an absence of outdoor activities. How about coming to the ice rink with your children at the weekend and enjoying a spot of skating? Your children’s happy faces will brighten up the ice rink.  
 
◆Opening Hours: 10:00 ~ 18:00
◆Admission: Adults KRW 8,000 / Children KRW 7,000 (Admission and rental fees included)
◆Tel: 031-296-3443 / http://아이스링크.kr
◆Location: 512, Tap-dong, Gwonseon-gu, Suwon City, Gyeonggi Province◇ When water bursts out of the ground due to air pressure from below, it forms a hot spring that is great for the skin. ⓒ G-News Plus
 

Abundant mineral and herbal hot spring water bath – Bukhansan Spa Wiesen
 
Wiesen Spa is the first and only hot spring resort near Bukhansan Mountain in Goyang City. It is famous for its good quality water. As hot water bursts upwards from 972m underground, it contains a lot of germanium, selenium, and other minerals that are good for the skin.
 
Within the bathhouse is a bathtub known as the “Kim Gwang-ho Bathtub”, which was made by an oriental medicine doctor named Kim Gwang-ho, who is known as the 21^st-century Heo Jun, a medical scholar of the Joseon Dynasty. This bathtub is known to be effective in treating liver and skin diseases. The jjimjilbang (Korean dry sauna) on the 1^st floor is made with germanium mica, salt stone from the Himalayan Mountains, and jade, so when it is heated, it emits strong far-infrared radiation and negative ions that revitalize the body.
 
The shop at the jjimjilbang sells various organic vegetable juices (beet, yacon, carrot, sweet potato).
 
◆Opening Hours: 06:00 ~ 21:00
◆Admission: Adults KRW 7,000 / Children KRW 4,000 (sauna attire included)
◆Tel: 02-381-5656
◆Location: 208-7, Jichuk-dong, Deogyang-gu, Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province

ⓒ G-News Plus News| Chun Gyeong-nam chun0403@kg21.net
 
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