2014 YÉOL WAY-KOREA YÉOL WAY SCHEDULE: Seoul -> Suncheon Bay -> Songgwang-sa->Ulsan-> Gyeoungju-> Andong -> Seoul Accommodation: Grand Hyatt Hotel - Songgwang-sa -Hotel Hyundai Gyeoungju, Grand Hyatt Hotel Transportation within Korea: chartered bus English guide with a specialization in Korean history and art
Arrive one day before the tour program Monday 14:05 18:45 HongKong - Incheon 18:45 20:00 Check in at the hotel Hyatt Day 1 Tuesday 7:30 8:30 1h Breakfast at the hotel 9:00 12:00 3h Jongmyo Royal Shrine-> Changdeokgung(palace) Tour of Bukchon Hanok Village 12:00 13:00 1h Lunch (Casual Korean Food)- Yeol/ teatime 13:00 14:30 1h 30min Samsung Museum of Art, LEEUM /SPC- Passion5 14:30 16:30 2h Rest at the hotel 17:00 18:00 1h Korean Furniture Museum 18:30 19:30 1h Welcome Dinner at Sungbukdong Bear House 20:30 21:30 1h (Optional) Day 2 Wednesday 7:30 8:30 1h Breakfast at the hotel 8:30 12:30 4h Bus to Suncheon 12:30 13:30 1h Lunch at a local restaurant (Daewon-Korean Table d hote) 13:30 15:30 2h Tour of Suncheon Bay Eco-Park aboard ship (or tour of Yongsan Observatory) 15:30 16:30 1h Bus to Songgwang-sa 16:30 17:00 30min Check in at Songgwang-sa Temple Stay 17:00 18:00 1h Temple etiquette orientation 18:00 18:40 40min Dinner 18:40 19:30 50min Evening Buddhist Worship 19:30 20:15 45min Tea with Buddhist monk Day 3 Thursday 3:15 5:30 2h 15min (Optional) 5:30 6:00 30min Rest 6:00 7:00 1h Breakfast at the temple 7:00 8:00 1h Rest 8:00 9:00 1h Learn about Songgwang-sa Dawn Buddhist Worship Strongly Recommended meditation with 108 times deep bow 9:00 11:00 2h Walk Bulil-am guksaro path 불일암국사로 11:00 11:30 30min Pack 11:30 12:30 1h Lunch (Outside the Temple)
12:30 4:00 3h 30min Bus to Ulsan(industrial capital of Korea) 4:30 5:30 1h Tour of Hyundai Heavy Industries(shipyard) 5:30 6:30 1h Dinner at the Guesthouse of Hyundai Heavy Industries 6:30 7:50 1h 20min Bus to Gyeongju 7:50 Check in at Hotel Hyundai Gyeongju 8:00 9:00: 1h (Optional Cheomseongdae(observatory), Wolseong(city wall) Anapji (pond) Night Tour) Day 4 Friday 7:30 8:30 1h Breakfast at the hotel 8:30 9:00 30min Arrive at Mt. Namsan 9:00 11:00 2h Choose between 1) or 2) 1)Hiking tour of Mt.Namsan s Buddhist Art (Samneung Valley 삼릉계곡 ) 2)Bulguk-sa(temple) Gyeongju National Museum 11:10 12:00 1h Lunch(YsokKoong) 12:00 2:00 2h Bus 2:00 5:00 3h Andong Hahoe folk village, Byeongsan- Seowon, Hahoe Mask Dance (WED, FRI, SAT, SUN, PM 2) 5:00 6:00 Dinner(Korean native cattle, Korean beef) 6:00 9:00 3h Andong Seoul 9:00 Check in at the Hotel Day 5 Saturday Departure 7:30 8:30 1h Breakfast at the hotel 9:00 10:00 2h The Classic 500 (Senior Housing) 10:30 12:30 1h Choose 1) or 2) or3) 1.Yongsan National Museum of Korea 2.The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art 3.The National Folk Museum of Art 12:30 14:30 2h Closing Lunch (RakKoJae) performance/geomungo or kayagum 14:30 16:00 2h 30min Free Time-Dongdaemun Market 16:00 17:30 1h 30min Move to Incheon Airport 17:30 19:45 2h 45min Boarding procedures 19:45 22:30 Incheon - HongKong
Suncheon Bay Eco-Museum www.suncheonbay.go.kr Suncheon Bay is rapidly gaining international recognition as a natural ecosystem and protected wetland on the Korean peninsula. In December 2000 Suncheon Bay was declared a wetland preservation area, and in 2004 it was added to the International Network for Preserving the Hooded Crane. On January 20, 2006 it was Korea's first domestic coastal wetland to be registered with the RAMSAR Convention. Suncheon Bay is renowned for its dense reeds, as a habitat to a variety of bird species (local as well as migratory) and its tidal setting. The natural "S" shape of the Bay is one of Korea's best settings for sunset photography. The park opened its doors to the public in November 2004. Songgwang sa www.songgwangsa.org The temple of approximately one hundred kan(bay)size, called Gilsang-sa on Mt. Songgwang at the time of establishment, was of relatively small size, housing 30 or 40 monks. Afterwards, Master Seokjo 석조대사 prepared to expand the temple extensively in the King Injong s era of the Goryeo Dynasty but did not complete the project because of his death. Gilsang-sa was deserted for more than 50 years, but it was reconstructed after Jeonghye Buddhist Association 정혜결사 was moved to this place by Jinul 지눌, the national master Bulil Bojo 불일보조국사. Since then, Songgwang-sa has functioned as one of the major centers of Korean Buddhism. Even though it underwent many disasters such as Japanese Invasion in the Jeongyu year (1597-1598) 정유재란 and the Korean War 1950, numerous reconstruction has enabled it to preserve its present magnificence. Bulil-am Coming up about 300 meters on the left path going around Gamro-am(Nectar Hermitage) 감로암, -you can find a forked road on the hill. Going straight up 500 meters ahead on the hillside, you can reach a hermitage named Bulil-am, which was originally referred to as Jajeong-am 자정암 -when it was founded by the national master Jajeong the Seventh (abbot of Sooseonsa 수선사, 1293-1301) 자정국사. Jajeong-am was renamed by Monk Beopjeong as Bulil-am in 1975 when he started living there practicing his well-known philosophy of no possession. Monk Beopjeong passed away in 2010- and many people visit Bulil-am to pay homage to him.
ULSAN Hyundai Heavy Industries: Cheong Hae Gwan Hyundai Heavy Industries began building its shipyard on an empty stretch of beach along the coasts of Mipo Bay in Ulsan in March 1972. The original guesthouse was built in 1974 in time for the delivery of its first ships. As the company grew, a new guesthouse was needed to accommodate the increasing number of visitors to the shipyard. Designed in 2008, the new guesthouse was completed in 2010. The main building, designed by Jo Sung-ryong, takes its motif from a ship while combining simple straight lines with metallic material. The annex, designed by Kim Bong-ryol, is built in the traditional hanok style. Cheong Hae Gwan, literally the Ocean House, has been built meticulously following the principles of traditional Korea architecture in terms of both design and material. Cheong Hae Gwan symbolizes both the pioneering spirit of Hyundai Heavy Industries and its commitment to preserving Korea s historical legacy. The Korean Garden at the back of Chwiseonjae and walking trail on the sea side was designed by landscape designer, Jung Young-sun.
Gyeongju Mt.Nam-san Course (1->7, 7->1) Through this course you can see the stone Buddha images from the different phases of the Silla period. The Buddha Triad in Baeri 배리삼존불 - is a masterpiece that represents the Buddhist sculpture of the Three Kingdoms Period. The stone seated statue of Buddha in Naenggol Valley 석조여래좌상 manifesting a masculine spirit demonstrates the outstanding culture of the Unified Silla peroid. The relief carving of the Standing Avalokiteshvara (Bodhisattva of Compassion) 마애관음입상 -is represented as if descending from the sky, and the engraved images of Six Buddhist Figures 선각육존불 -looks like a drawing on a canvas rendered in powerful brushstrokes. The stone seated statue of Buddha in Naenggol Valley 석조여래좌상 in the Unified Silla period appears surrounded by a beautifully rendered flames. The Large Seated Buddha 마애여래대좌불 -is carved on the second largest rock on Mt. Namsan. We can see the formal and stylistic changes of the Buddhist images from the Three Kingdoms Period through early Goryeo Period.
Bulguk-sa www.bulguksa.or.kr The temple is considered as a masterpiece of the golden age of Buddhist art in the Silla Kingdom. It is the head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and encompasses seven National Treasures of South Korea, including two stone pagodas, each of which are called Dabotap (Pagoda of Many Jewels) 다보탑 - and Seokgatap (Pagoda of Shakyamuni Buddha) 석가탑, Cheongun-gyo (Blue Cloud Bridge) 청운교, and two gilt-bronze statues of Buddha. In 1995, Bulguksa was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List together with the Seokguram Grotto 석굴암, which lies four kilometers to the east. Gyeongju National Museum gyeongju.museum.go.kr Gyeongju National Museum was founded in 1945, immediately following the end of the Japanese Occupation, as the Gyeongju branch of the National Museum of Korea. The museum houses the gold crowns of Silla and other quintessential Buddhist artifacts of the Silla period.
ANDONG Hahoe folk village
SEOUL Korea Furniture Museum www.kofum.com Leeum: Samsung Museum of Art www.leeum.org The Classic 500 www.theclassic500.com National Museum of Art www.museum.go.kr
RAK KO JAE-Boutique Hanok Hotel http://www.rkj.co.kr/
Jongmyo Shrine jm.cha.go.kr Throughout much of traditional Asian culture, including China and Korea, rite has been highly important, and in modern society preserving rite carries with it the meaning of maintaining basic social order. There are a number of rituals which are considered important forms of rite, and the most significant of these in Korea are the Jongmyo and the Sajik rituals. Jongmyo is the term used for a place where memorial services are performed for deceased kings, and Sajik is the terms used for a place where services for the Gods of Earth and Crops are performed. These rituals are symbols for nations themselves in that they guarantee order and successful ruling of the nation. Consequently, due to the importance of these rituals, the Jongmyo and Sajik shrines where the rituals are performed are classic in their architectural grace, detail and beauty. Although such facilities existed in Korea as early as the Three Kingdoms Period, those that remain today in Seoul are from the Joseon Dynasty(1392-1910). The first Jongmyo of the dynasty was erected in Seoul in 1395, and the main hall, Jeongjeon 정전, contained 7 rooms. One room was used for the memorial tablets of one king and his queen. The 4th king of the dynasty, King Sejong, had an additional hall, Yeongnyeongjeon-Hall of Eternal Comfort-, built beside the main hall to house all of the tablets which could not be housed in the main hall. With successive reigns and an increasingly large number of memorial tablets, however, additions had to be made to the facilities. Rooms were added from west to east until there were a total of 19. The original Jongmyo, however, was destroyed in 1592, and today's Jongmyo was built in 1608. Jongmyo was located to the left of the main palace, Gyeongbokgung, and Sajik was built to the right (as viewed from the king's throne), a tradition of planning which goes back to ancient China. Jongmyo Shrine was designated as UNESCO s World Cultural Heritage in 1963.
Changdeokgung www.cdg.go.kr Changdeokgung was part of the history of Joseon Dynasty for about 500 years from its establishment in 1405 to the demise of Emperor Sunjong in 1926. And as King Sejong said to King Munjong, Changdeokgung shared with the King of Joseon Dynasty its glory and pain. Changdeokgung had its roots in the facing south from Maebong, the vein of Bukak Mountain. Each of its buildings changed its axis according to the natural surrounding landscape and was arranged to be hugged by a cozy valley. The palace is the most well-preserved among the existing palaces of Joseon Dynasty. Changdeokgung was designated as UNESCO s World Cultural Heritage in February 1997.