Handlung

Beginning of the journey in Seoul: Gyeongbokgung, one of the four imperial palaces of Seoul where we can see the the change of the guard: the soldiers have Korean traditional dresses.Then we go to Bukchon village where some old house have been restored.But Seoul has also modern buildings, especially the Dongdaemun plaza, a center of design and cultural rooms (the architect was Zaha Hadid).Then nightlife: street food (squids or dried fishes) and the visit of music shops (K-pop music).Then we see the Lantern festival, the birthday of Buddha celebration, people are praying, then they make a huge procession (parade) and finally a moment of meditation.This day the Korean women wear their nicest hanbok. On the week-end Korean people of Seoul go to the great markets to eat a lot of local dishes.Then a visit to the National Taekwondo Center, an explanation about the philosophy of this martial art.Later we travel to Jeonju and visit the hanok village, these traditional houses, some restored, are used now as private houses, restaurants o guest houses.Then we see how Korean people prepare the hanji, paper made from the paper mulberry.A female cook shows us how to prepare bibimbap, a traditional Korean dish with rice, vegetables, meat with sauces , spices and kimchi (fermented China cabbage).We visit later the ginseng production area with a research institute about ginseng.In the southern coast we see tea plantations and how people prepare the green tea, also some monks in a monastery grow tea plants and make their own tea.Then we travel to Jeju island: a volcanic island with nice landscapes (Unesco world heritage site), at the seaside 60 years old women are diving for fishing seafood and seaweeds.At Daegu we see a market for medicinal herbs.At the Guryongsa Temple we see how Buddhist monks are praying in the morning.Not far we meet a craftsman who produces traditional wooden masks.—zutterjp48