Browsing the blog archives for August, 2010
By Don Baumhart Continued from Part 1… Harvesting Tea Unlike the powdered tea used in the Japanese tea ceremonies, the Korean ceremonies use loose leaf green tea. Traditionally, this tea is referred to as “Jakseol-cha” (작설차) which literally means as “sparrow’s tongue tea,” as the small curled leaves resemble the tongues of sparrows. This “sparrow’s [...]
Last month my University asked me to help guide a tour of Korean-American students around Gyeongju for a day. That afternoon we stopped by Golgulsa (골굴사) Temple for a short lesson in Seonmudo (선무도), or Korean Zen martial arts. In all the times I’d been to Golgulsa, I’d never actually seen what Seonmudo actually is. [...]
Continued from Part 1….. 6. King Munmu the Great (문무왕r. 661 – 681 C.E.): King Munmu wasn’t dubbed “the Great” for nothing. A nephew of the famed general Kim Yu-shin, Munmu was the Shilla Emperor responsible for finally defeating both the Beakjae and Gogoruyeo kingdoms (with some assistance from Tang China) and uniting the Korean [...]
Okay, so maybe I’m going a bit gaga with this whole “Top 10” thing here, but it seems like a quick way to sift through a lot of information and hit a few key points in just a post or two. In keeping with a method tried and true, here’s my personal top 10 list [...]
In the eastern shadow of Mt. Namsan (남산), just a few minutes up the road from Tongiljeon Shrine (통일전), is one of the more unique tourist attractions in the area: the Gyeongsangbuk-do Botanical Gardens (경상북도산림환경연구소). Even though it has nothing to do with ancient tombs, stone Buddhas or the Shilla Dynasty, the Botanical Gardens are [...]
Not to become a broken record or anything, but most tourists just bounce down to Gyeongju for a long weekend, hit up the big tourist sites, and head home Sunday night. It’s a shame really. You can barely even scratch the surface of what Gyeonju has to offer in 2 days. To finally prove what [...]
