Gwangju International Center

On August 25th the GIC Tour with Warren visited Yeonggwang. Both Koreans and foreigners, from elementary school students to adults, participated on the tour. Rainy weather had preceded this trip to the west coast of Korea and the skies were overcast at times, but the precipitation held off for the trip.

 

 

The first stop in Yeonggwang was in Beopseongpo, the port that served as the arrival point for the introduction of Buddhism to the Baekjae Kingdom. In the 4th century a monk named Marananta, originally from what is modern day northern Pakistan, landed here from China bringing a new religion. Here, the participants were able to see a museum and shrine honoring the achievements of this monk in using this place as a starting point to spread Buddhism all over the Bakjae Kingdom and later on to Japan. The museum included a statue of Marananta and many artifacts from the Gandharan region and culture from which he originated, and even offered visitors an opportunity to dress in traditional ceremonial garb and pose for a picture with the monk’s statue.  The shrine is set into a hillside and, although the construction is yet unfinished, it is impressively topped with a four-faced statue of the Buddha. The shrine includes a series of 23 panels depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha.

 

 

 

After having time to explore the museum and shrine on their own freely, the participants gathered for the group photo that is a hallmark of every GIC Tour with Warren before heading off into the town of Beopseong for lunch. The menu was centered around a local specialty, gulbi, a type of dried, fish. The gulbi jeongshik consisted of side dishes served with gulbi that was fresh, partially dried, or fully dried, including a soup and crab. The participants had some time after lunch to wander the town and see the many shops with racks of gulbi in preparation, similar to what they had just eaten.

 

 

 

The tour continued on to the scenic Baeksu coastal road. The bus stopped at an area that provided a scenic overlook of the ocean from the west coast at road level, or participants could go down a flight of steps closer to sea level, or go the opposite direction up a flight of stairs to an observation tower that offered an even more impressive view of the shoreline.

 

 

The recent rainfall necessitated a change in the schedule so that the tour next went to visit a local salt farm, where the nearby sea water is dried in fields to produce sea salt. The original plan involved participants having the opportunity to try their hand at moving the sea water in the drying beds themselves, but, as the participants learned, when there is precipitation the sea water is pumped back into cisterns so the rain water does not further dilute the salt content. The participants were still able to walk around in the dry, ceramic tile-covered drying fields, learn about the process, and were even able to gather and take home a bag of sea salt for themselves from the warehouse.

 

 

 

The final stop on the tour was Duu-ri beach on the Yellow Sea. Unfortunately, it was low tide, so the ocean waters were a few kilometers out from the shore. However, despite the somewhat overcast skies and low tide, participants were still able to wade out through the wet sands and shallow remaining pools of water to splash about a bit, collect sea shells, and have a general relaxing end to the trip.

 

 

 

Everyone boarded the bus for the trip back to Gwangju having experienced a little of what this western coastal area of Korea has to offer in terms of culture, cuisine, products, and natural beauty.