Gwangyang Delights

OVERVIEW

Explore some of the most emblematic attractions in Gwangyang and come away with an understanding of the city’s allure. Each spring, Gwangyang Maehwa Village holds a festival that celebrates the blossoming of its thousands of red and white maehwa plum trees. The site of this extraordinary event is beautiful any time of the year, but especially along the paths that you will walk through the maehwa-blanketed rolling hills. If you work up an appetite, the next destination – Yi Sun Shin Bridge Food Town – will be particularly welcome. During free time there, you might enjoy lunch on your own and admire the lengthy suspension bridge named in honor of a 16th-century Korean admiral that never suffered a defeat. Many people during that time period carried jangdos, small ornamental knives for uses as diverse as cutting paper to self-defense. You will view an outstanding collection of these knives and other weapons at the Gwangyang Jangdo Museum.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Walk through groves of maehwa plum trees that cover the rolling hills of Gwangyang.
• Learn about the annual maehwa plum festival held on this beautifully landscaped site.
• Dine on your own while admiring a suspension bridge named for a legendary admiral.
• Browse an unusual museum devoted to small ornamental knives called jangdos.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.