Festival venues, tourist attractions, and mountains in S. Korea teeming with visitors to enjoy last-minute winter

▲ This file photo shows people at the ski resorts. (Yonhap)

▲ This file photo shows Uljin's snow crabs. (Yonhap)

▲ This file photo shows the walkway along the Jeju sea. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Yonhap) -- The festival venues, tourist attractions, and mountains all across South Korea are crowded with visitors who are going on their last-minute winter trips on the fourth weekend of February.

In the snowy white Gangwon Province, where heavy snow fell and subfreezing temperatures continued, ski resorts in Yangpyeng and Jeongseon teemed with skiers from early in the morning. The snow and freezing cold temperatures were enough for visitors to feel as if they have gone back to the mid-winter, the perfect winter atmosphere to enjoy skiing on the snow-covered slope.

Visitors to the Cheongja Festival in the city of Gangjin in North Jeolla Province, which postponed the festival to late winter this year, browsed the exquisite celadons while enjoying making firewood, foot bathing, snow sledding, and visiting interesting exhibitions.

The city’s food town allured the visitors with its specialties, such as fermented skate and steamed pork slices served with kimchi (hongeo samhap), abalone rice, grilled Korean beef, and street food.

Meanwhile, about 20,000 tourists visited Wangdolcho Square in Uljin’s Hupo Port in North Gyeongsang Province, where the Uljin Snow Crab and Red Snow Crab Festival had its grand opening, as well as the Yeongdeok Samsa Marine Park where the Yeongdeok Snow Crab Festival was held.

The Rainbow Bridge and Handam Beach in Jeju were also crowded with locals and tourists who wished to breathe their last winter breath and take a look at the winter sea despite the fiercely blowing winds.

Cheongju’s Cheongnamdae in North Chungcheong Province, which was once a private villa used by former presidents of Korea, also had tourists enjoying their time at this popular tourist attraction covered with traces of modern history since 2003, including the Presidential Memorial Hall and the Daecheong Lake.

There was an endless line of visitors also at Everland in Yongin, one of the most well-known amusement parks in Korea, to ride on the highly recognized attractions or gaze at pandas at the Panda World.

The Yongin Korea Folk Village was also teeming with visitors who came to reminisce on their childhood memories while playing old games.

The bike path along the Bukhangang River in Gyeonggi Province was packed with bikers pedaling in a row to race across the splendid scenery.

Major beaches in Busan, including Haeundaae and Gwangnri beaches, as well as coastal trails such as Dongbaek Island and Igidae, were also full of locals and tourists from early in the morning. The plum trees that have begun to burst into bloom caught the eyes of the visitors who are waiting for spring to come.

Seoraksan Mountain, Taebaeksan Mountain, Chiaksan Mountain, and Odaesan Mountain, which are collectively known as the best 4 mountains in Korea, were also crowded with individual and group hikers who came to climb up the snowy trails.

Tourists who visited Seoraksan Mountain were also adding another piece of winter memory by walking on the snow-covered trails.

More than 3,000 people visited Gyeryongsan National Park in South Chungcheong Province to explore and visit temples and low-lying valleys or enjoy hiking.

Meanwhile, there were also hikers coming to enjoy their last winter hike all across Gyeonggi Province, including Gwanggyosan Mountain in Suwon, Surisan Mountain in Gupo, and Yongmunsan Mountain in Yangpyeong.

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)

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