Here I am sitting at my computer reading my latest December newsletter from KTO and there staring right at me is this picture and caption followed by the pictures of 6 places to go to for the Sunrise Festival this coming New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day 2009/2010. It makes me want to cry because Homigot is where I want most to be on that day. If only dreams can come true then I will be wishing hard for a miracle to happen so that I can be there in Korea, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Pohang City, Homigot to have my first ever experience of watching the 1st sunrise of the year in my entire life. Will it be just another empty dream? What a coincidence, that this article should come out at this time when I was also planning on writing about it on my blog today.
Is that a sign I wonder? Hope so ……for as long as there’s a dream, there’s hope!
Festivals in December 2009
Maryangpo Sunrise Festival When: New Years Eve/Day |
Homigot Sunrise Festival When: New Years Eve/Day |
Jeongdongjin Sunrise Festival |
Gyeongpo Sunrise Festival |
Yangyang New Year Sunrise Festival |
So now you know where I’m taking you this morning. We have to go out very early in order to catch the sunrise. I know it isn’t New Year’s Day yet but it’s supposed to be the very first place that the sun rises in mainland Korea no matter what day of the year it is. At least we can say we’ve been there and done that (watching the sunrise).
Homigot (Homi Cape) Beach is located at the very easternmost tip of Gyeongsangbuk-do Pohang Yeongilman Bay, and as such serves every year, as a gathering place for thousands to greet Korea's first sunrise of the New Year. It is one of the best locations where the sunrise can be first seen all around Korea. The Homigot Sunrise Festival, has had as many as 170 thousand people attending. Even when there is no festival, Homigot Beach is still a popular place where many visitors go to see the sunrise the whole year round.
The annual Homigot National Sunrise Festival begins on New Year’s Eve and ends on New Year’s Day. Various programs are usually prepared to make this all-night festival entertaining until the early morning. Programs include a fire show, movie watching, ten thousand people making tteokguk (rice cake soup) experience, concerts by popular singers’, and a photography contest.
Right on the dot at 12 AM, a siren will go off to celebrate the arrival of the New Year; fireworks and a midnight music concert follows. As the New Year’s first sunrise begins, a large iron pot is filled with hot and tasty New Year’s tteokguk which will be passed around to the visitors of Homigot Beach. After the sunrise, visitors can watch entertaining programs such as a traditional wedding ceremony, a traditional Korean dance performance, and much more. Other events include a Foreigner’s Talent Show and the Mackerel & Catfish Festival.
The Homigot National Sunrise Festival is not only the place to be, to watch the first sunrise of the year in Korea, but it is also popular for its unique sculptures. The sculptures here signify the New Year’s Homigot sunrise and are entitled 'Hands of Harmony'. The left hand stands on land, and the right hand stands in the ocean’s water. These sculptures are made of bronze and granite. The hands were constructed in 1999 to symbolize the continuing efforts of all Korean citizens to pursue a better quality of life. The sculptures are the most impressive at sunrise when the sunlight shines on them. Therefore, naturally most pictures of Homigot Beach will include the ‘Hands of Harmony’. If you want to get a nice shot of the ‘Hands of Harmony’ during sunrise, you have to come early and get a good spot before the sun rises because everyone else also have the same idea.
The Daebo area (where the Homigot Lighthouse is located) is very beautiful. The name comes from ho (tiger), mi (tail), and got (small port). The Koreans believe that the shape of the map of the Korean peninsular resembles that of a tiger, and the location of the Homigot lighthouse is right on the tiger's tail. The Homigot Lighthouse standing 26.4meters high is Korea’s tallest lighthouse and has been designated a local cultural asset. It is of Western style octagonal architecture and was built after an incident in 1901 in which a Japanese ship hit a submerged rock and sank along the nearby shore. Designed by French architects and built by Chinese constructors, it was completed in December 1903. Even contemporary architects admired it because the brick structure was built without iron-reinforced rods and it is narrow from the foundation, different from other high-rise structures. Inside it is six stories high and each ceiling is decorated with a pear tree flower pattern, symbolizing the Chosun Dynasty's royal family.
The Lighthouse Museum contains over 700 items related to the lighthouse, including an indicator for light waves, an indicator for electric waves, an indicator for the sea lane, and an indicator for sonic waves. It also includes many tools and parts used in the lighthouse and its construction, as well as several related foreign books and photos
The Daebo Sea Water Public-Bath is also located at Daebo. Clean sea water from the East Sea is heated by using a solar heating system, giving it special therapeutic qualities. The water is supposed to work wonders against arthritis (arms, legs, knees, spines), rheumatism, obesity, tension, the after effects of accidents, and skin disorders.
From here we can visit the other beaches in Pohang as they are all along this coastal stretch. Below is a map of the beaches for your guidance.
At the Guryongpo Beach a little to the south, one can also have a good view of the sunrise.
Know how Guryongpo got its name? According to legend, a long time ago, in the reign of King Jin-heung of the Silla dynasty, an occurrence took place where a sudden massive thunderstorm mysteriously brought nine dragons up to heaven. And that was how Guryongpo (meaning Nine Dragons) Beach got its name.
What makes this destination so special is its climate and geographical location. Featuring a hilly terrain, a warm winter and a cool summer weather, and a long shoreline extending to about 15.8 km, Guryongpo Beach makes an ideal getaway. The Guryeong-po seaport is well developed because of its inshore fishery, as it is in the heart of the major fishing industry within the district. Here one can find cuttlefish, mackerel pikes, crabs, and other types of seafood being caught and shipped to the markets.
See how Do-gu beach looks like with and without the crowd. It’s so much different and almost unrecognizable. But due to its proximity and the convenient transportation route, Do-gu beach is frequently being used as the summer training camp for schools and companies. Dogu Beach with a 800m long beach can accommodate as many as 25,000 visitors a day. Open season is from July to August and there are facilities for camping, including shower rooms, bathing booths, public toilets and a parking lot.
Sliver-colored sand affluent pine trees have made Songdo Beach famous in the past. However, it lost its hey days because of POSCO and the other industrial estates constructed nearby. The Songdo Beach and Bukbu Beach are neighbors you might say. You’ll find more or less the same things as in Bukbu except for the statue of a nude lady in Songdo. There are lots of rowfish restaurants around the beach.
The Northern Beach (Bukbu Beach), stretching 1750 meters, located at Duho-dong,( in the northern part of the city's built-up area) is the most popular beach in Pohang. From here, visitors can have a view of POSCO, one of South Korea’s top steel manufacturers, and Yeongil bay. As it is located within the city zone along with Songdo Beach, shops and accommodation are easily available in the vicinity. The beach front has been the focus of commercial developments such as bars, restaurants, and budget accommodation/ Yeogwan.
The Gosa Fountain was built in the sea 250 meters away in front of the Marine City Hall here on Bukbu Beach. This fountain is the first fountain to be built in the sea in Korea. Whenever the fountain spouts out water, it rises to 120m for about 30 minutes. Near the fountain, LED lights are installed all over the place. At night, the fantastic sprays of water create a splendid view with the changing colors of the lights, in six fantastic colors. The height of the watercourse can be controlled depending on the strength or direction of the wind. Gosa Fountain is being established as one of the things Pohang is famous for. And while you are looking at the fountain why not have a bottle of makgeolli, the traditional Korean rice wine, produced in Pohang to cool you down?
Just to remind you, in case you get hungry that the Bukbu Raw Sliced Fish (Sasimi) Town is around here. Then perhaps after all the eating and the drinking you might feel a bit tired and sleepy. Not to worry, do as the Koreans do, go to a jjimjilbang where you can put your belongings in a locker, take a shower, make use of the sauna facilities and then find a little corner to sleep on the wooden floor. There is one jjimjilbang nearby called the Jungang Oncheon. There you are, you’ve saved on your accommodation for the night, how’s that?
There are two more beaches before we come to the Hwajin Beach, and they are the Chilpo and the Wolpo.
Chilpo Beach, located 13km north from downtown Pohang, is the biggest beach on the East Coast, which is able to accommodate 100,000 visitors per day. The beach contains coarse sand and you can even fish there. In case you want to spend the night here, accommodation is available.
The Wolpo Beach in Wolpo-ri, is 900m long, and can accommodate as many as 50,000 people a day. The water is clean and shallow, and private accommodation is available here too. Warm currents and cold currents meet here, bringing with them lots of plankton and fish, including mackerel. The fishing at the Wolpo Breakwater is quite famous already.
A popular beach, the Hwajin Beach is 20km north of Pohang city and can accommodate 50,000 people a day. The waters are clean and is surrounded by thick woods in the area, making the beach an ideal place for the family to spend time together to relax. Perhaps you might want to visit the twelve waterfalls and the Bogyeong Temple which are nearby once again. I’m sure you didn’t finish climbing up to all those waterfalls the last time. The National Road No.7 leads towards the north to Yeongdeok and Uljin.
Know what? We haven’t done any shopping for quite a while. We were only interested in going sightseeing all this while. So I’m going to introduce you to a few places to go shopping in Pohang. In front of the Jungang Shopping Arcade on a pedestrian-oriented street without vehicles, which is created in between Pohang Station and the six-way crossing, a brooklet exists. It is equipped with a foot bath where you can dip your feet in the flowing water, and there are benches for you to take a rest after your shopping or even to just sit and watch the world go by. This is one of the ways you can enjoy your free time downtown. In addition, the street is a venue for street performances, exhibitions, and events hosted by groups, hobby clubs, and social groups. Through the efforts of the people of Pohang, the street is becoming a street of culture and arts. The Jungang Shopping Arcade and Brooklet Street were covered with the light of the Milky Way from December 8, 2007 to the end of January 2008. The government of Pohang-si installed 24 lights creating the look of the Milky Way. The lights were designed by Professor Jo Won-cheol of Handong Global University. They created a dim and sophisticated atmosphere, unlike the Luminarie, and showed a higher level of beauty. These lights were 4m high, 10m wide, and created a 1m light net on all the sections of the Brooklet Street area. These lights were lit from 6:00PM to 1:00AM daily.
The Lotte Department Store, the biggest department store in Pohang is located in Haksandong, Bukgu, near downtown Pohang. I’m sure that by now you will know the kind of merchandise the Lotte chain carries. They are open from 10:30am ~ 8:00pm but during the weekends there may be an extension of the closing time by 30~60mintues. They are closed on the 2nd Monday of each month
There are 3 ‘one-stop-shop-all stores’ in Pohang, Lotte Mart, E-Mart and Home Plus.
Lotte Mart shelves groceries and basic household goods. There is also a small food court located by the entrance. Business hours are from 10:00 ~ 23:00, daily, ideal for late shopping.
The E-Mart deals in groceries, household products, clothing, home appliances. There are many other sections spread out on three floors. Like Lotte Mart, E-Mart also has a food court on the 2nd floor. It’s open till midnight.
Home Plus has everything from groceries to home appliances and other small household items. It’s located right across the street from the Intercity Bus Terminal, also open till midnight.
Whether you are looking for groceries or need to order some food, Hyoja Market has it all. Hyoja Market is conveniently located right next to POSTECH, and in this open market, you can find supermarkets, fruits and vegetable shops, pharmacies, bakery, etc., all within walking distance. Some restaurants provide free delivery to your door. Here most shops and stores close down around 9pm.
I shall end my post today on a cultural note.The Culture & Arts Center, launched in March, 1995, is equipped with a main theater, a smaller theater, various exhibition galleries, a conference Hall and other subsidiary facilities. The Pohang city arts organization (Philharmonic Orchestra, Chorus, Theatre Company) is doing its best to organize highly-quality and regular performance, as well as exhibitions for giving the people of Pohang more chances to enjoy cultural activities.
There are still so many more things to do and see in Pohang, all lined up for my next post. So remember to come back.
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