After saying goodbye to Seoul on Sunday morning it was soon time hop over the Yellow Sea and say hello to Beijing early afternoon. With some excitement my plane descended through the thick smog and the city emerged to once again reveal its mystical intrigue…
I was lucky enough to be met by some old friends at the airport who helped me find my hotel (not far from Xizhimen subway station) and familiarise me with the local busses which are near impossible to use as the route signs are only written in Chinese. After this it was high time for dinner so we headed for a rather stylish Sichuan restaurant in a local department store.
My last encounter with Sichuan food was mind blowing to say the least and this time was no different. With dishes straight from the fiery depths of hell this is one culinary experience you (or your taste buds) are not likely to forget. The Chinese even have a phrase for it: Ma La Teng, meaning your tongue will loose all sense and it’s hot! Not for those with a delicate palate.
We had three main dishes ~ beancurd (the yellow stuff in the bowl), extremly spicy BBQ beef sticks and Shui Zhu Yu fish (above) cooked in boiling oil with chillies. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire but as with most Chinese cuisine I loved it! More here.
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The plan on my second day in Chuncheon was to visit a waterfall and then get a ferry to an inland island. This was all going to plan until we got off at the wrong train station and ended up stranded in the middle of nowhere which also happened to be devoid of any type of public transport. Walking back was definitely out of the question and so against my better instincts it was time to ask for help. In the end a pair of exotic peaches saved the day when we used them as a bribe to hitch a lift to the nearest town. Luckily the driver wasn’t a crazed psychopath!
A bus trip and a hike up a snow laden trail later we eventually made it to Gugok Waterfall (구곡폭포) which at this time of year was completely frozen and is apparently a popular place for intrepid climbers although there weren’t any there that day.
Away from the ice and snow Nami Island (남이섬) was a very different proposition. The island, which sits in the middle of Cheongpyung Lake, is about 6 kilometers end-to-end so is easily walked around and is accessible by ferry. Famous for its beautiful tree lined roads, the island and the surrounding area is well known for the tv drama Winter Sonata which was filmed there in 2002 attracting many fans on pilgrimage.
After a pleasant couple of hours here it was time for some late lunch and in true Korean style Bulgogi (technically Sam-gyeop sal or 삼겹살 to be precise) was the order of the day, cooked on the back of a metal turtle no less! If you don’t like spicy food then going to Korea is probably a bad idea as about every single dish I’ve ever had there has been hot to some degree (which I love).
So ended my excursion to Chuncheon and it was time to head back to Seoul for my last night in South Korea before my trip to Beijing the following day.
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After arriving on the northern shore of Lake Soyang we walked through a ramshackle village in semi-hibernation (presumably closed for the winter season) and followed the winding track up the mountain side beside a small stream through a forest of pines and maples. The mountain had a somewhat eery and desolate feeling to it, probably due to the depressing weather, but after about 30 minutes of walking we reached our destination - Cheongpyeongsa Temple.
Built in the Goryeo Dynasty (10th century) the temple is one of the most popular in the country having survived the ravages of the Korean War and we were lucky to have the place almost to ourselves - all the monks must have been off meditating somewhere! Wandering amongst the snow covered pavilions you could almost picture what this place must have been like before it became a tourist attraction.
I particularly liked the brightly coloured lanterns hanging from the ceiling near the entrance which gently swayed in the silent breeze in an almost ghostly fashion. As with most temples I am always amazed by the intense attention to detail that every aspect of the craftsmanship exudes, something which is sadly lost in most modern architecture. There isn’t a huge amount more to say about the temple (unless you have an interest in Buddhism) so I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking…
You might have thought that I’d be bored of temples after the number I’ve seen over the past few years but they still hold a strong mystical quality which always fascinates me and you can be sure there are a few left in this episode 
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On my fifth day in South Korea I headed east by train to Chuncheon, the capital of Gangwon province, a much quieter affair than Seoul with more of a country feel to it - they obviously don’t see a huge number of westerners here as the stares I got were far more pronounced. I’ve often been mistaken for an American whilst in Korea due to the massive US Army presence there but in general I’ve found people to be a little more gracious if they know you’re not one of them!
Arriving around lunchtime it was time to find some food and as Chuncheon is famous for its “dak-galbi” (닭갈비), a spicy stir-fried chicken dish with vegetables (as seen before), it only seemed a fitting place to start. In fact Chuncheon has a whole street with restaurants which serve nothing but dakgalbi so there was plenty of choice!
“Dakgalbi is prepared by marinating chopped chicken in spicy red pepper paste with peppery seasoning for about one day. Cabbage, green onions, sweet potatoes, and cylinder shaped rice cakes are then added and the ingredients are all placed in a large cast iron pan. The mixture is then typically stir-fried at the table… Dakgalbi can be enjoyed on its own or wrapped in lettuce leaves for a fresh, crunchy sensation. After most of the Dakgalbi has been eaten, rice is then stir-fried with the remaining sauce in the pan.”
If this has wet your appetite you can learn how to cook it on mykoreankitchen.com 
Once my stomach was full it was time to find a bus to the next place of interest, namely Soyang Dam. Whilst I was waiting a van laden with bananas pulled up and started flogging them to the oldies also waiting - I couldn’t quite imagine spending my whole life selling nothing but bananas but it is nice to see a place where there is still room for this sort of individual enterprise.
After a rather hair-raising bus trip up the side of the valley (more on this later) we arrived at the top of the largest sand gravel dam in East Asia which commanded an expansive view over Lake Soyang. Build in 1973 the dam rises 123m with a depth of 530m and a gross storage capacity of 29 billion cubic meters of water - it was built for the purpose of flood control, water storage and hydroelectric power production. It’s an impressive feat of geoengineering but pales in comparison to what’s been done to the Yangtze River in China.
Walking down to the lake’s edge you can take boat for the other side and the untold mysteries that the misty Majeoksan mountains had yet to reveal… To be continued.
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So it turns out the Jackie Chan, the venerable Hong Kong action film star, has his own chain of restaurants serving his “favorite noodles & dim sum”. One branch can be found in the massive COEX mall located in the Gangnam district of Seoul, South Korea. With over 800 restaurants to choose from (yes, eight-hundred!!) the mall is a little hard to digest and unless you are heavily into shopping (I’m not) then there isn’t much more to do than marvel at the scale of consumerism on display here (with the possible exception of the Kimchi Museum).
Photo by riNux
Getting back to the food… we ordered a selection of (rather expensive) dim sum and noodles but I have to say I was disappointed. Whilst the food was palatable it did not live up to my expectations, especially in the dim sum department, which didn’t seem particularly fresh - as this review also notes they probably cook it from frozen.
Whilst there is a certain novel value to the restaurant I’d probably give it a miss next time.
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