Noryangjin Fish Market

Noryanjin Fish Market

What is Noryangjin Fish Market?

Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market or shortly Noryangjin Fish Market is an extensive farmers fish market in the neighborhood of Noryangjin-dong in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It is located east of 63 Building, and just south of the Han River. Metro line One passes through at Noryangin station near-by. Exit the station at exit 1 and walk under the bridge.

Noryangjin Fish Market was established in 1927 as Gyeongseong Susan (경성수산) onUijuro(의주로) in Jung-gu near Seoul Station and moved to its current location in central Seoul in 1971.

I think one of the most exciting places in any city is the market. It's where you can experience the real essence of the city and its people.

I went to the Noryangjin Fish Market here in Seoul this June

to have my Czech friend experience Korean Fish Market.

Here are some pictures--we went in the late afternoon, so there wasn't much act

ion going on. The wholesale auction takes place between 1 and 6 AM, so if you want some real action, you have to either get up early or stay up the night before.

After a short tour of the market, we had to decide in which shop we EAT. Because there are so many shops along the narrow street of the market, and all of merchants talks to you to pay attention of their shop. You will know it's not easy to decide.. Every shop has similar fish and every merchant says theirs are the cheapest.

And finally we chose a good looking warm lady's shop, and we made up our mind which fish to eat. We chose the most common raw fish called "광어", it looks ugly but it tastes better than many other fish. So we ate 광어 and shrimp BBQ for our lunch. We ate a fresh raw fish and 매운탕.It was a little bit expensive for the students, though.

this is Radim from Czech Republic.

So this is the end of my fish market trip.

Lotte World

Lotte World - "A world of magic and fantasy"

 Lotte world is an entertainment park with quite many attractions to offer. From small and slow carousels for little kids to fast roller coasters and different gyro-like attractions.


 When we arrived to Lotter World, it was raining. A good and nice feature of this entertainment park is that it is partially indoor and partially outdoor. So, we could enjoy our time inside while it was raining. Of course, we were not alone. Tons of small kids enjoyed the time withe us inside as well. Fortunately, it stopped raining later, so we checked what was happening outside as well.

The weather outside got much better, it wasn't cold so we could well enjoy our time there. Outside or inside, the waiting lines were always long and slowly-moving. However, we were patient and tried almost everything that we could or/and wanted.



Later at night, the area outside got closed, because the noise could disturb the neighbors living around. When we got back inside, the place didn't seem to be that crowded anymore. On the other hand, most of the attractions got closed.

Lotte World Castle

Anyway, when we got inside, we tried the balloon ride, so we can see how it looks like from the top. It was quite nice.

In the conclusion, I have to say it was a great experience although I expected something a little different. It could be a great place for parents with their kids or people with younger siblings. Also, I heard that dates happen in this place. Well, maybe I'm just a poor student, but I don't see any advantage of having a date here especially when you have to pay the entrance fee. But again, that is just my opinion and I enjoyd the time there ;)

Gyeongbokgung

On May 29th, we went to visit Gyeongbokgung

Gwanghwamun

Gwanghwamun is the main gate of the palace. The king used the central arch, while the crown prince and officials entered through the openings on either side. The gate pavillion housed a bell, which announced the time of day. The original gate had been moved to the north of Geonchunmun, the east gate of the palace, when the headquarters of the Japanese Government-General in Korea was built right behind Gwanghwamun in the 1920s. Bombed during the Korean War(1950-1953), the pavilion of the original gate was destroyed and the stone foundation was severely scarred. Gwanghwamun was rebuilt in 1968 as a concrete structure and restored in 2010.

We enter Gyeongbokgung and there is a event. The event named Hoeryeyeon is the re-enactment of a royal banquet which held in January of 1433 for Joseon's ruler Sejong and his subjects including 400 musicians and dancers. Because of Hoereyeyeon, we do not see inside Geunjeongjeon, but it is good chance to see traditional festival.

Geunjeongjeon

Geunjeongjeon is the Throne Hall, where the king granted audiences to his officials, presided over large official functions and met foreign envoys. Geunjeongjeon is the largest and most formal hall in Gyeongbokgung.

Behind Geunjeongjeon, there is Gyotaejeon. Gyotaejeon is for the queen. The queen live in Gyotaejeon for most of her life as the queen. The wall of Gyotaejeon is special pattern. This wall has flower pattern, so it is called not the wall but the flower wall.

After we saw Gyotaejeon, we went to see Geoncheonggung.
In 1873, when King Gojong built Geoncheonggung, he had a pond dug to the south, with an islet created in the middle. A two-tier hexagonal pavilion, built on the islet, was named Hyangwonjeong and the wooden bridge leading to it was called Chwihyanggyo.
Hyangwonjeong is the only building which have the second floor in Gyeongbokgung.
Because Hyangwonjeong have ondol in the first floor, people can take a walk at Hyangwonjeong
in the cold winter.


Gyeongbokgung is the great place to learn Korean traditional culture and to experience palace. It is very meaningful experience to go to Gyeongbokgung.

Suwon Hwaseong

Hwaseong Fortress was constructed by Jeongjo, the 22nd king of the Joseon Dynasty (1392~1910). King Jeongjo built the Hwaseong palace, and Hwaseong Fortress in memory of his father, Sadoseja, who had died at the hands of Yeongjo, the 21st king of the Joseon Dynasty and King Jeongjo's grandfather.

Red line: Path we went
Green line: Path of King Jeongjo's procession to his father's tomb

We walk around the Hwaseong Fortress starting from Dongbuk Gangnu and Hwahongmun where we can see beautiful pond called Yongyeon(Banghwasuryujeong). But when we went the pond was under construction.

Banghwasuryujeong and Dongbuk Gangnu

(Hwaseong Haenggung homepage : Http://ehs.suwon.ne.kr)

In front of Hwahongmun

Then we walk to Janganmun-Hwaseomun-Seojangdea-Paldalmun. Janganmun is the north gate and the largest of the exisiting main gates. Hwaseomun is the west gate. Seojangdea is loacted on top of Mt. paldal therefore is used as a command post. Paldalmun is the south gate and the name means 'open roads in every direction'.

After having lunch we went to see Hwaseong Haenggung. Hwaseong Haenggung is the temporary palace for King Jeongjo when he was away from his palace in Seoul.

There are also many events at Hwaseong Haenggung at saterdays and sundays. at sundays you can see King jeongjo's procession to the tomb of his fater, Muye24ki and jangyougyoung guarding ceremony. Also if you reserve a week befor the king's parade, you can participate in the parade too.

Muye24ki performance

with the king in Hwaseong Haenggung

After watching the king's parade, we went into Hwaseong Haenggung and luckily met the king and took a picture with him. Then we wnet outside to see muye24ki's performances.

Becuase we walked around the fortress, it took us 1-2hours to see only the fortress. But I think it is better to walk than riding the train therefore we can see the facillities of the fortress better and see beatiful views. Also watchig the king's parade and other performances was interesting too. Infront of the Haenggung, there were many things to experieneces so you can experienece many things wating for the parade to arrive.

If you need any more informantions visit the homepage of hwaseong.(korean http://hs.suwon.ne.kr/ english http://ehs.suwon.ne.kr/)

Challenge Project

In the Global Switching Program, every group needs to choose one project they want to accomplish. Our team chose topic 4 from a list called A Star in Seoul (or Suwon):

1. Purpose: To share cultural and outdoor activities that can be experiences in Seoul (or Suwon).
2. Details: Pick 5 spots in Seoul (or Suwon) to draw 5-pointed star on the map. These 5 spots are the places for cultural activities, experiences and performences. Take a picture in each spot, and write posts on a group blog.
3. Outcome: A map with the star, an online group blog