Monday, March 05, 2012

Back to the Past

Hahoe village 하회마을 near Andong 안동 city is one of the most visited touristic places in the middle eastern part of the peninsula, which is famous for its traditional and historical value. Hahoe means spinning river. In fact, the Nakodong river turns around the village in a horseshoe shape. The photo above was taken from atop the height named Buyongdae 부용대 at the other side of the river, located to the north of the village.
With the rapid industrialization and westernization in South Korea, the old and traditional cultural heritage has not been valuable so much as the economic development, so that it has been sometimes ignored and forgotten. But some villages as Hahoe have been fortunately remained untouched by development and modernization, Hahoe is one of the unique and interesting places in which history, culture and tradition have been conserved well in South Korea. It is worth a visit. This village has been designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Site in 2010.