Sights | Millennial Abroad

My wandering heart was not born from a family of explorers. My parents have always been content with a family road trip to Canada’s East Coast or a week-long stay at a resort in Punta Cana. While these family vacations are fond memories for me, the destinations always felt a little pedestrian. I love to travel and used to worry that I would never have the opportunity to really explore the world with my family.

Thankfully, this opportunity presented itself earlier this year when my older sister, Kayla travelled to China to visit her best friend. Given Korea’s relative proximity to China, I was lucky enough to spend 40 action-packed hours with her in Beijing.

The trip was a total whirlwind from the beginning. I boarded my flight with AirBusan on Friday evening at 7:30PM, landed in Seoul at 8:30PM, took the AREX train to switch airports in Seoul, caught my China Eastern flight at 11:30PM, and landed in Beijing at 1:30AM. This is all to say that I was completely knackered before I even reached Beijing-proper. I arrived at the Beijing Leo Hostel shortly after 2:30AM, where I was greeted with a warm hug from my slightly inebriated sister (she had discovered the bar with her newfound Australian friends). After about an hour of restless slumber, Kayla and I rose from bed, ready to greet our first Beijing morning.

1. Kayla at Deshengmen Gate bus terminal. Our original plan was to board the infamous 877 bus to the Badaling section of the Great Wall and spend our Saturday there. We were equal parts crestfallen and confused when we were greeted with wagging fingers and “No, no, no Badaling” repetitively. At this point, I had experienced the Korean language barrier for about six months so I didn’t find this situation completely overwhelming, just a little frustrating for my Type-A, plan EVERYTHING personality. We decided to spend our Saturday at Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven instead. Despite our disappointment, we marvelled at the beautiful sunrise and readjusted our thoughts from “ugh, Badaling” to “yay, Beijing!”

2. Me, at the Zhengyangmen Gate Tower in Tiananmen Square. Thanks to Kayla’s brilliant hostel booking abilities, we were but a ten minute walk from Tiananmen Square. The first thing Kayla and I explored was the Zhengyangmen Gate Tower, which was erected almost 600 years ago. The Square itself is massive in size; big enough to hold memories of the bloodshed from the anti-government protests a quarter century ago. The moments I spent in Tiananmen were a good reminder how insignificant my own problems are in comparison to the massacre that unfolded in that Square.

3. The Statue of the workers, in front of Mao Zedong’s Mausoleum. It’s so strange to think that Mao’s embalmed body was just hanging out in a crystal coffin in the Mausoleum behind this monument.

4. The Tiananmen Gate Tower into the Forbidden City. After walking across the Square, Kayla and I approached the Gate Tower entrance to The Forbidden City. We first yukked it up and took some photos in front of the classic portrait of Mao Zedong hanging above the entrance. It was no sooner that I finished my photos with Mao that my iPhone battery died. Yay for $50CAD cameras in the Forbidden City gift shop?

5. Pagodas on pagodas on pagodas. The palace complex itself was enormous. It was almost like sensory overload . There were so many halls and palaces – which one would we possibly visit first? Kayla and I worked methodically, perusing everything from the Hall of Literary Glory to the Hall of Spreading Righteousness. My favourite part of the complex was the Imperial Garden, with its 400 year old pine tree, incense burners, and beautiful Pavilion of Ten Thousand Spring.

6. Kayla and I in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Kayla and I enjoyed our time walking across the palace grounds. Despite an ambitious itinerary on Saturday, we were able to meander through the Forbidden City, derp about for photos to show our relatives, and sing “I’ll Make A Man Out Of You” from the Mulan OSD and “Bar, Bar, Bar” by Korean idol group, Crayon Pop. A very blissed out experience. Once we completed our walking tour, it was right onto our next bullet point: The Temple of Heaven.

7. The Hall of Prayers for Good Harvests in the Temple of Heaven. The Hall of Prayers at the Temple of Heaven is one of my favourite sights in the world, right up there with Berliner Dom and the Charles Bridge. It is so majestic, its designs so intricate – I was in absolute awe walking around the Hall’s perimeter. I was a little disappointed when we moved on to explore other areas, but I honestly could have sat and marvelled at its beauty until nightfall.

8. The park grounds at the Temple of Heaven. Another one of my favourite moments was walking through the serene park grounds at the Temple of Heaven. The trees reminded me of childhood in Eastern Ontario, where my friends and I constantly explored the wooded areas surrounding our elementary school. The Temple of Heaven was a perfect way to decompress and holds some of my dearest memories from Beijing.

9. A walk down one of Beijing’s historic hutongs. Kayla and I treated ourselves to a relaxing tuk-tuk ride around some of Beijing’s historic hutongs. These narrow alleys, replete with bungalow style homes and courtyards, have been disappearing steadily in the name of gentrification (boo!) which made the experience even more significant for me. Both our tuk-tuk driver and the hutong locals were so friendly, waving and bellowing “nǐ hǎo’s” at Kayla and I. The whole tuk-tuk ride felt so authentically Beijing and I’m thankful that Kayla suggested it!

10. Sharing a plate of Peking duck, because, Beijing. Kayla and I both agreed we couldn’t leave Beijing without sampling its most famous dish. We found a quiet little restaurant around the corner from our hostel, and settled into giant platters of Peking duck and spring rolls. Our conversation was minimal, reflecting how tired and hungry we were from a busy day in Beijing. We didn’t wait too long after our meal to rest up for a busy Sunday at Badaling.

11. Derpin’ strong at The Great Wall. Kayla and I woke up at an obscene hour to catch the train to Badaling. The train took about 80 minutes and offered spectacular views of the Yanshan Mountains. As soon as we stepped off the train, we were greeted by subzero temperatures and blustery winds. The weather felt even more severe with the 15lbs of luggage we were collectively carrying. As we trekked up the steep incline to Badaling, it soon became apparent that our baggage was not only causing tension on our shoulders but also amongst one another. Kayla was irritable and wanted to rest. I was eager to continue ascending, and wasn’t having any of her negativity. Kayla’s points were valid: it was absolutely freezing, our legs were chafed, we were not properly dressed, and we were not nearly rested enough. After about 20 minutes of bickering, Kayla rallied because she’s awesome. I kept reminding her every few steps that we were in one of the most historic places in the world and would be laughing about the situation in a few years. Her grimaces of pain indicated that she knew I was right.

12. A view of the Badaling section of The Great Wall. The Badaling section of The Great Wall has a reputation as “touristy”, given its relative proximity to Beijing. There were the requisite interruptions as I was trying to get my “Great Wall snapshot”, and vice versa, but on the whole our visit wasn’t too insane. I guess the snowfall wasn’t a huge draw for other prospective tourists. After a two hour journey, I finally acquiesced to Kayla’s requests to descend. One bizarre source of happiness for me during my visit was maintaining an integral tenet of my personal brand, “The Derp”. Not five minutes after I quipped, “I just want to make it down The Great Wall without falling” did I take a spill on an icy patch. This exercise of my true maladroit spirit was humbling both the first time and second I fell. I can still hear the muffled laughs of the young couple that were behind me to this day. Ah, memories.

13. Saying goodbye for another 6 months on the train to PEK. My last few hours with Kayla were extremely bittersweet. We enjoyed hot lattes and Oreos in the Great Wall gift shop, snarfled about work on Monday and fourteen hour flights back to Canada, and quietly reflected on our time in Beijing en route to the Beijing Airport. It was a peculiar moment saying goodbye to one another, simultaneously melancholy and nonchalant. A hug, kiss on both cheeks, and a hurried “see you in six months!”

Overall, my experience in Beijing was everything I had expected. It was utter chaos meets total reinvigoration. It was also everything I wanted: an opportunity to see a pocket of the world with my sister. While I wish I had more time to spend with Kayla and explore Beijing more thoroughly, this whirlwind trip has yielded stories my sister and I will be telling for decades to come. Zài jiàn!

This is a Busan Ex-Pat City Guide post. Check out the rest of my list here.

Busan: The city of dreams, with its towering skyscrapers, sandy beaches, and hiking apparel stores as far as the eye can see. However, one can’t help but feel a little uninspired every once in a while in this bustling, concrete, ultra-modern metropolitan. The sea of identical-looking apartments, usually some “off” shade of brown, white, or gray, can be visually exhausting and the homogenous nature of most neighbourhoods is often slightly depressing (read: any given city block is as follows – Baskins Robbins, an Olleh phone store, Starbucks, a KT phone store, Caffe Bene, a second Olleh phone store, Dunkin Donuts, a third OIleh phone store, and so on…).

Thankfully, the hills of Saha-gu offer a perfectly vibrant outlet for those pining for an escape from the urban solitude of Busan: the Gamcheon Culture Village. Gamcheon, affectionally dubbed “Lego Village”, takes the mantra of Pocahontas (“paint with all the colours of the wind”) to new heights, as the majority of its 10,000 residents live in pink and blue and yellow and green pastel-hued homes.

Allow me to rattle off, at an auctioneers pace, the history, and establishment of Gamcheon: during the 1950s, refugees flocked to Busan in the wake of the Korean War, and established a shanty town of sorts, that over the next two decades was transformed into the village of block-style houses that remain today. The rest of Busan industrialized and modernized at a rapid fire pace while Gamcheon remained “old school” and relatively poor in comparison. Just over five years ago, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism hired artists to work with Gamcheon’s residents to create and install murals reflective of the “Taeguk” (yin and yang symbol) throughout the village, and thus, the Gamcheon Culture Village known today was born. [Note: For deeper insights about the history of Gamcheon, follow the jump to this fantastic article on Busan Haps, written by Jessica Steele.]

After seeing pictures of the village from early December when Maddie, Jess, and our friend Marta visited, I knew a visit to Gamcheon was imminent. Six weeks later, on a gloomy Saturday afternoon, I, along with fellow wanderluster and close friend, Mary, journeyed by subway and taxi to the culture village in the hopes that the bright village would serve as a distraction from the gray January skies.

Immediately upon arrival, Mary and I began derping around the village, leaving written messages wholly indicative of our respective personal brands on the walls of the village photo gallery, performing headstands and wheels on the observation deck’s soaking wet AstroTurf, and purposefully avoiding the numerous paved footpaths in favour of bounding down the treacherous and hilly grasslands of Gamcheon. Our egos swelled at the applause we received for our yoga poses from other tourists and our sides ached from giggling as we gracelessly descended Gamcheon’s hills.

Like most of South Korea, Gamcheon is brimming with bizarre idiosyncrasies. In one instance, I happened to peer into the open door of a bungalow whilst walking down a deserted alley, and I kid you not, there was a young Korean woman immobile on the floor, encased in Saran Wrap. Like, the kind that your mom would wrap your elementary school baloney sandwiches in. Given that Mary and I are both tall individuals with long legs, I thought that maybe my eyes had played a simple trick on me as a result of my brisk stride. Mary turned back to verify my claim and the look of shock and slight horror on her face confirmed that there was indeed a poor young woman likely waiting to be devoured like a bulgogi* sandwich. In another instance, we climbed a flight of stairs that had been painted to resemble an ascending library, each step representing a literary classic. One step was particularly larf-worthy, emblazoned with the classic Konglish phrase “YOU NEED DIET”. Korea, you’re strange but I really do (mostly) love it.

The beauty of Gamcheon is that you’re basically a lab rat, running through a never-ending maze THAT YOU CAN’T LOSE AT. Detoured off the main road to venture down a twisty alley that caught your eye? That’s cool, if you go down those three staircases there, take 6 lefts, and walk backwards with your eyes closed, you will literally end up back where you started. Mary and I wandered aimlessly for about 20 minutes, somehow stumbled upon the village’s main entrance, and then pretended like the nonsensical path we chose had been our planned route all along. Foolproof.

My advice to prospective visitors varies based on personality. For the flexible, “go with the flow” types, let the colours of Gamcheon speak to inner spirit, as you float through the narrow alleys. The element of surprise upon accidentally stumbling across the various art installations is a treat in itself. For the more structured, “type A” tourist, I would recommend some pre-departure research and an investment in a village map detailing the locations of each respective village landmarks. [Note: These maps are sold at the tourist information centre and retail for 2,000 won.]

Quietly quirky, the Gamcheon Culture Village is a nice reminder that it’s always best to march to the beat of your own janggu**.

Directions
To get to the Gamcheon Culture Village, take the Red Line on the Busan Subway (Line 1) to Toseong Station (stop 109). Take exit 8, walking straight until you reach the bus stop at the PNU Cancer Center. Take mini-bus 2 or 2-2 for approximately 10 minutes until you reach the stop at Gamcheon Elementary School. [Note: A cab from Nampo Station (Red Line, stop 111) costs about 4,000 won.]

* I’ve got to keep my examples Korea specific, okay?

** A janggu is a traditional Korean drum. Korea specific, right?