[Busan Attraction] 금정산 어디까지 가 봤니? GeumJung Mountain
The gentle breeze of autumn. Autumn is known as the season to read, the season of lonliness, the season of high skys and plump horses, the season of men... There are many descriptions of autumn. The autumn your teacher, Mr. Kang, recommends is the season of hiking. It's not too hot and it's not too cold so the mountain is the perfect place to spend autumn.
All summer we talk about the beach. By now you must be sick and tired of it and wonder Does Busan only have beaches? Well, today we're going to the mountain, Busan's most famous mountain. It's GeumJung Mountain, of course! Come on! Follow me!
Just hearing your teacher Sam say we're going to Mt. GeumJung there must be those of you who say Ah.. I'll pass.. I'm so burned out already. You're already afraid. But what kind of mountain is Mt. GeumJung. On the east side is GeumJung-Gu on the west side is Book-Gu on the south side is DongNae-Gu and to the north it reaches as far as the city of Yangsan. This mountain penetrates the city of Busan! It's a wider than wide mountainous area with various hiking courses. No matter what your taste in difficulty is, you can freely choose. GeumJung has it all.
Still someone may say, So what? I'd rather die than hike. There is a way to fly! You can ride the cable car! Take the cable car up and enjoy Mt. GeumJung's majestic features and rugged cliffs from the air. Before you know it you will arrive at the south gate of GeumJung's mountain fortress. If you are a Busan citizen you have ridden the cable car at least once but I bet your memory is a little fuzzy. It's more fun than you're thinking!
Across the top of GeumJung Mountain is the GeumJung Mountain Fortress from the times of the 1592 Japanese invasion is Korea's largest mountain fortress. It's like the Great wall of Korea! Underline this part!
OK, Now we'll try to go to the end of the GeumJung Mountain fortress. Try to keep up! Ah~ Did you see what we just passed? No way! an art galley in the mountains? That's right! An art gallery! Surprising but here he have an art gallery hiding here. In the yard you can see profound sculptures and as you go in you can see various works of art on display.
Just an art gallery? Just below the place where you go up Geumjung Mountain is Yosan Hall of Literature
You can see Korea's big literature star produced by Busan, Yosan Kim Jeong-Han's birthplace and a collection of his things.
Sit at the book cafe leisurely reading books and dive into the literature full atmosphere. You can't wait, right?
Actually, you may think you know all of the popular places on GeumJung Mountain, but here are some interesting facts I'm sure you don't know. You can have a picnic, there's a sketch contest, Many people visit GeumKang Botanical Garden. Do you have any idea how many kinds of plants they have? 500? 1000? As many as 2,300 kinds of plants!!
And the HwaMyoung arboretum which overlooks the NakDong River! You may think there are only trees but there is a fun Maze park, cool river, even a small zoo! A place for healing! Especially these days with the beautiful leaves changing... the magnificent colors! You can't help but leave with healing radiating from you.
That soul healing is great but what if your belly needs healing too? Your teacher Mr. Kang is a step ahead of you! That's my specialty! First, what GeumJung Mountain is known for... black goat bulgogi! Thinly sliced goat bulgogi marinated in sauce and grilled over a charcoal fire. It's one of Busan's local dishes. Also sweet and sour DoeToeLiMook which is a kind of Acorn jelly salad, and PaJeon which is a kind of Korean style pizza... Oh, I can't get enough... And don't pass up the chance to have some of the local MakKeoLi, a kind of rice wine. The mountain fortress MakKeoLi is made from the pure mountain springs. It's a work of art! You may have had MakKeoLi before but this is on another level with its deep rich taste. You drink it one bowl at a time. You can't say you've been to GeumJung Mountain unless you've tried it.
If you wanna enjoy GeumJung Mountain, this autumn may be short. So don't dilly dabble around. Just go the GeumJung Mountain. Go up and fill your lungs with crisp, clean air. Let out your stress as sweat leaves your body. Look at the works of art. Enjoy some delicious food and smile on your way down! A day enjoying GeumJung Mountain. Now that's worth 100 points!
Class Dismissed!