[Gyeonggi, Korea] The historial drama playground, MBC Dramia

Fans of MBC Korean historical drama must make a visit to this Hallyu hub - MBC Dramia located at Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, Seoul.  This is the exact location where drama hits such as Jewel in the Crown (Lee Young-Ae and Ji Jin-Hee), Jumong (Song Il-Guk and Han Hye-Jin), Dong-yi (Han Hyo-Joo and Ji Jin-Hee), The Great Queen Songdeok (Lee Yo-Won, Go Hyun-Jung and Uhm Tae-Woong), Yi San, Wind of the Palace (Lee Seo-Jin and Park Ji-Min), The Duo (Chun Jung-Myung, Lee Sang-Yoon, Han Ji-Hye and Seo Hyun-Jin) and recent top dramas - Moon Embracing Sun (Kim Soo-Hyun and Han Ga-In), Dr Jin (Song Seung-Heon and Park Min-Young) and Gu Family Book (Lee Seung-Gi and Bae Suzy)!

Unlike other drama sets which are built and destroyed subsequently, MBC Dramia allow visitors to enjoy the architects of different periods from The Three Kingdom Period to the Joseon Dynasty.

Built in the land of 2,800,000 sq metres, MBC Dramia is one of the biggest Korean wave birthplaces with the shooting complex of 165,000 sq metres wide, mini local market places of 8 different regions in Korea and hanok houses.

There is an booth to purchase the admission ticket to MBC Dramia.  Prices are relatively reasonable, all under 10,000 won.  A huge MBC signage welcomes you as you walk pass the main entrance. 

Along the way, there are lots of drama banners attached to the fences capturing the filming scenes of the various dramas made in this mega studio.

This is an area featuring the downtown street / marketplace.  Fans of Gu Family Book may recall this to be the place where the lantern festival took place.  In that scene (Episode 14), Yeo-wool (Bae Suzy) put on a dress for the first time on her date with Kang-chi (Lee Seung-Gi), who was dumb-founded when he saw her in a dress.

The following location is at the top of the hill.  In the Gu Family Book, this place was the "Muhyeongdogwan", the martial art academy where Yeo-Wool's father was the instructor.

In the pavilion opposite the house, that was where Kang-chi was asked to count beans!

Enjoy the view of the entire MBC Dramia from the pavilion which is the highest point in this filming site.  Can you imagine how the scenery will be at the peak of the autumn season?  It will be extremely awesome!



Other locations in the site includes military drill hall, police bureau, palaces, houses of high-ranking officials etc.

To fully enjoy the architecture in the entire place, set aside about 2 hours as there will lots of photo opportunities with the sets and the character standees.  There is also a small oriental teahouse and souvenir shop to rest and shop.  Here's the layout of the filming site for reference.

Tips: Do find out ahead of visit whether any MBC historical drama is being filmed at MBC Dramia.  You may be lucky enough to meet the actors/actresses!  Unfortunately for me, the filming for Goddess of Fire ended a few weeks earlier, otherwise, I might have a chance to meet Kim Bum!!

MBC Dramia

778-1 Yongcheon-ri, Baegam-myeon, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, Seoul

Opening Hours: 10am to 6pm (March to October); 10am to 5pm (November to February)

Admission Fee

Adult: 7,000 won

Students: 6,000 won

Children: 5,000 won

Getting there

From Seoul Nambu Bus Terminal, take an intercity bus to Baekam Terminal.

Take bus 35-1 or a taxi to MBC Dramia.

or

From Yongin Intercity Bus Terminal, take bus 10-4, 94 or 94-1.

Get off at Baekam Terminal and transfer to bus 35-1.  Get off at Yongcheon (용천) and walk 600m.

Estimated travelling time from Seoul is 2hr to 2.5hr



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[This trip is made possible by the Asian On Air programme, organised by the Korean Air and Korea Tourism Organisation].

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[Gyeonggi-do, Korea] Happy Halloween at Everland!

Halloween is just around the corner!  If you are in Korea right at this moment, you would notice that the festive mood is quite high!  Pumpkin-inspired donuts and muffins can be found in the bakery!  Which is the cutest??

Even at the popular themepark, Everland, the musical is inspired by the Halloween icon, pumpkin!  There is daily Halloween performance at the Four Seasons Garden, which is a European-inspired garden filled with western architecture buildings.  There are seasonal flower festivals in this garden.  Tulips in spring, lilies in summer and chrysanthemums in autumn.  Check this out!

Post by Joslovesfood.

About Everland (Info from KTO website)

Everland Resort was opened in 1976 as the first family park in Korea. Though originally called ‘Yongin Jayeon Nongwon,’ the company changed its name to ‘Everland’ to make the name more recognizable to international audiences. The park is home to over 40 heart-pounding rides and attractions. In addition to ‘Safari World’ featuring white tigers, tigers, lions and bears, ‘Herbivore Safari’ opened in April 2010, letting visitors get up close and personal with the safari’s giraffes, elephants, and ostriches. Everland is also known for its gorgeous flower arrangements and beautiful gardens, which have been year-round fixtures since the Rose Festival in 1985.

Operating Hours

Weekdays 10:00-22:00 / Saturdays 10:00-20:00 / Sundays, public holidays 9:30-22:00

Admission Fees

* One-day Pass - Daytime: Adults 40,000 won / Teenagers 34,000 won / Children 31,000 won - Nighttime: Adults 33,000 won / Teenagers 28,000 won / Children 25,000 won * Two-day Pass Adults: 64,000 won / Teenagers: 55,000 won / Children: 50,000 won * Admission Ticket - Daytime: Adults 33,000 won / Teenagers 28,000 won / Children 25,000 won - Nighttime: Adults 26,000 won / Teenagers 24,000 won / Children 22,000 won * Children: ages 36 months-12 / Teenager: ages 13-18 * Nighttime tickets are available starting from 17:00. Getting there Subway + Bus 1) Gangnam Station (Seoul Subway Line 2 or Sinbundang Line), Exit 5 or 10. Take bus 5002 to Everland. (Travel time: 50 min) 2) Gangbyeon Station (Seoul Subway Line 2), Exit 1. Take bus 5800 to Everland. (Travel time: 50 min) 3) Sadang Station (Seoul Subway Lines 2, 4), Exit 2 or 3. Take bus 1500-2 to Everland. (Travel time: 80 min). City Bus From Yongin or Suwon, take bus 66 or 66-4 to Everland. From Yongin Bus terminal. Take bus 5002 or 5800 at the bus stop in front of Hotel Cinema.

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[Korea] Catching the Autumn Foliage in Korea

So, you have been planning a trip to Korea for the longest time to see the autumn foliage.  The travel guidebooks say that autumn season is from September to November but does it mean that you can expect to see the red autumn leaves anytime from September to November?  If your answer is no, you are absolutely right.  Just like spring blooms, the most beautiful period of the autumn season is only for about 2 weeks. 

Another important consideration is the location where you will be.  The northern part of the country gets the autumn foliage first and it gradually moves south-wards.  The difference is about 2 weeks.

I went to Korea in mid October last year, hoping to see the autumn leaves.  Instead of taking a typical itinerary of going to Soraksan, I explored a mountain that was in the southern part of Korea.  This was my experience.

On 17 October, as per our itinerary, the guide brought the group to Naejangsan National Park (내장산 국립공원), which is said to be the most famous mountain to view the autumn foliage. It is located in the Jeollanam-do. Naejangsa (Naejang Temple), one of the oldest temple in South Korea built during the 7th century, was found deep in the mountain. Because it is located in the southern part, it was way too early to see the crimson leaves. In fact, the peak of the autumn foliage only happened at the 2nd week of November!

(Entrance to the Naejang Temple)

(Mainly green leaves on the trees)

(Only a handful of trees have started to turn orangy)

(The beautiful temple at the serene mountain top) 

On 18 October, we visited the Metasequoia-lined Road, located at Jeollanam-do, Damyang-gun.  It is a 4-km boulevard, lined with Metasequoia trees on both sides of the path.  Here's my experience with autumn leaves in this area - trees were all very green still, with no signs of autumn.  How sad!  But anyway, the following 3 photos will give you some ideas when would be a good time to catch the beautiful autumn leaves at the Jeollanam-do area.

 (Photo taken on 18 Oct 2012)

(Photo taken in mid November 2012 during the peak of the autumn foliage)

(Photo taken in early December 2007 during an earlier trip.  The leaves had started to turn brownish.)

As mentioned earlier, the northern areas experience autumn foliage earlier then the southern areas.  Travelling north-wards, Everland, located in Gyeonggi-do, might be a possible place that you can catch autumn leaves here and there.  These photos were taken on 19 October and it shows that the leaves were only starting to change colour.  They were somewhat yellowish still and mostly still greenish.

In fact, Seoul, located in the northern part of South Korea and has more scenic autumn leaves compared to the southern places that I travelled to earlier before reaching Seoul.  You may be surprised but university campuses in Korea looks somewhat like a park with its beautiful trees and shrubs planted within their campus.  The photos were taken at Ewha Womans University last October.  Although the crimson leaves were not in full bloom yet, there were more colourful trees in the campus.

The Korea Tourism Organisation website publishes the nation-wide estimated autumn foliage dates in late September.  That information would be useful for you to plan your autumn travel dates.  You can use the 2012 dates as a reference since the 2013 dates are not released yet.  A quick summary for 2012's autumn foliage calendar shows that the first foliage took place between 3 Oct to 27 Oct while the peak foliage was between 18 Oct to 5 Nov.  So, choose your dates and the places you want to visit carefully to avoid any disappointment. =)


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