A pot of much-loved — and ubiquitous — kimchi. There are, naturally, many varieties. Koreans usually call this type baechu-kimchi, and it consists of spicy napa cabbage leaves.
Photo story: the dance of old and new in the city of Seoul, South Korea
Amid the dizzying array of steel and glass, there are peaceful corners of South Korea’s capital where the country’s rich cultural heritage is conspicuous and proud, be it in the museums or the leafy districts full of traditional architecture.
Story and photographs byMark Parren Taylor
August 7, 2022
•7 min read
This article was adapted from National Geographic Traveller (UK).
An antechamber at Gyeongbokgung Palace, a sprawling complex that was the seat of Korea’s Joseon dynasty and home to a wealth of cultural treasures. The splendid painted screen behind the desk and seat is finished with lavish imperial blue silk.
Photograph by Mark Parren Taylor
The National Folk Museum of Korea occupies the northeast corner of the Gyeongbokgung Palace compound. It contains around 120,000 artifacts in permanent and special exhibitions exploring the experiences of Koreans through the ages.
Photograph by Mark Parren Taylor
Geunjeongjeon, the main throne hall and centre of Gyeongbokgung Palace, contains the ceremonial seat of the Joseon king: a grand, red-lacquered stage under an elaborate awning with a mysterious day-and-night landscape painted on its rear screen.
Photograph by Mark Parren Taylor
Tucked among the trees, Baek In-je House was built as a private home in 1913, during the Japanese occupation, and is now a museum. In Seoul’s Jongno district, it sits on a hill, affording far-reaching views of the modern city beyond.
Photograph by Mark Parren Taylor
Sightseers walk past a traditional hanok house in Bukchon Hanok Village, in Seoul’s Jongno district. They’re wearing traditional hanbok costume, available to hire for a couple of hours or for the entire day. Although there are distinct male and female garments, it’s not unusual to see visitors (in a refreshing display of 21st-century gender neutrality) mixing and matching.
Photograph by Mark Parren Taylor
A walk along Cheonggyecheon stream — a seven-mile-long ribbon-like park running through the heart of the commercial districts of downtown Seoul — offers the chance to escape the hubbub of the modern city.
Photograph by Mark Parren Taylor
A day’s outing wouldn’t be complete without a beaker of makgeolli (creamy, slightly fizzy rice wine), here poured out of a traditional rice wine kettle.
Photograph by Mark Parren Taylor
Jjolmyeon spicy cold noodles are especially refreshing on a steamy summer night.
Photograph by Mark Parren Taylor
A woman wearing hanbok costume with a braided headdress that resembles a traditional hairstyle — and perhaps alludes to the complicated knot of modern-day Seoul and traditional Korea.
Photograph by Mark
This man wears hanbok costume topped with a gat hat made from horsehair and bamboo. Historically, this style of hat was worn exclusively by male civil servants, but these days everyone enjoys wearing it.
Photograph by Mark Parren Taylor
Travellers come to the Bukchon district for its well-preserved hanok dwellings, some of which are homestays and restaurants. There are so many that the area is considered to be a hanok village, or maeul.
Photograph by Mark Parren Taylor
The hourly enactment of the ‘changing of the royal guard’ involves several dozen actors at various locations in the public spaces of Gyeongbokgung Palace.
