The Longsheng rice terraces in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are built on the slope winding from the riverside up to the mountain top, 380 to 880 meters above sea level. The mountain is divided so that it looks like layers of water in the spring, layers of green rice shoots in the summer, and layers of golden rice shoots in the fall.
2009-12-01 17:02 BJT
Editor: Jin Lin | Source: China.org.cn
Personal touch: Takenoya's soba is hand-chopped by the master and served to guests by his wife.
Friday, Jan. 8, 2010
Kamakura has no shortage of good soba restaurants. Like Matsubara-an, many occupy freestanding traditional buildings. Here are three more worth tracking down on a visit to the ancient capital.
Issa-an
It's not hard to find Issa-an. Located close to the entrance to Kamakura's main shrine, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, this is a favorite lunch spot for visitors. And with good reason too: It's an attractive, old-style restaurant, recently refurbished but still boasting low tables, tatami floors and large windows giving views onto a narrow garden.
Besides the excellent noodles themselves, all freshly chopped, there is a small selection of side dishes, donburi rice bowls and desserts. In the peak tourist seasons (especially New Year's), it may be hard to get a look-in at meal times. But for a light afternoon snack, it's recommended.
If you don't want to leave Tokyo, Issa-an has a branch in the Marunouchi Building, in front of Tokyo JR Station.
Sobadokoro Goto
Because the noodles at Sobadokoro Goto aren't rolled and chopped by hand, hard-core soba aficionados tend to ignore it. All the better for the rest of us, as it boasts a classic traditional setting.
An ancient wooden gate and a narrow path lined with bamboo lead the way to a beautifully preserved old house set in a wooded compound well away from the street. You leave your shoes at the door and sit on tatami floors in the spacious dining room.
This architectural gem is hidden away a block north of the Kinokuniya store on the west side of Kamakura Station, off one of the backstreets leading up to Zeni-Arai Benten, the atmospheric "money- washing" shrine in the western hills.
Takenoya
Takenoya is a small family-run restaurant tucked away on the eastern fringe of the city. It's an area little visited by tourists, though there are some beautiful temples up in the hills. But this diminutive place is well on the map for committed soba enthusiasts.
There's just one table with chairs, plus a raised tatami area that gives a glimpse of a tidy little garden. If those places are taken, you sit on squat wooden stools around the large irori grill by the door.
RELATED STORY
Making soba a fresh tradition
The soba is righteous, hand-chopped by the master and served by his wife. There are usually three kinds to choose from: regular noodles; dark, coarse, country-style inaka-soba; and finer, lighter noodles with a seasonal flavoring, such as yuzu (citron) or powdered green tea. To sample each of these, ask for the sanshoku (three-colored) soba, which is served in three-level lacquered-wood trays.
CHINA NATIONAL TOURISM ADMINISTRATION:
The Tiger Beach Amusement Park is located in southeastern Dalian. It is a large, multi-functional recreation center consisting of Tiger Beach Park, the Marine World, and the Birds Forest. In the middle of the park is a newly-established Amusement Center, where people can watch performances of sea lions, visit the Science Fiction Palace, and enjoy delicious food in the Food City.
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LONELY PLANET:
Tiger Beach Park has a massive carved-marble tiger sculpture, a small beach and a honky-tonk amusement park. On either side of the park the coastal road provides excellent views of the ragged cliffs and crashing waves. Buses 30 and 712 from Zhongshan Sq travel to Tiger Beach Park (Y1, 20 to 30 minutes).
FROMMER’S:
Tacky cartoonish signboards, dancing clowns, and cheesy shows with dolphins abound, but the locals love it. It's worth a look for its aquarium, its display of polar animals, and a wild bird park, called the niaoyulin. Avoid the "4-dimension pleasure theater" at all costs.
Just west of Bangchui Dao is Laohu Tan (Tiger Beach), a popular beach that also features Dalian's best aquatic theme park, Laohu Tan Haiyang Gongyuan.
Submarine “K-19”
On February 24, 1972, a fire onboard the Soviet nuclear submarine “K-19” took the lives of 29 sailors. 12 crew members survived and were saved after spending 23 days in an isolated section of the submarine. The tragedy was classified until 1980s.
The sailors nicknamed K-19 “Hiroshima” because it had a very high breakdown rate. The fire in 1972 was not the first of the tragic accidents with the submarine.
The first wreck of K-19 occurred on July 4, 1961, during manoeuvres. The submarine had been on the way to the North Atlantic when an alarm went off signaling that the coolant system of the nuclear reactor had broken down. The heat increased to a dangerous rate and the captain, Nikolay Zateev, ordered a build of the emergency coolant system. Eliminating the damage, 42 crewmembers were affected by a high dose of radiation, and in four hours they showed symptoms of radiation sickness.
The antenna of the main radio transmitter appeared to be damaged, too, so the captain could not report the accident to the navy base. Using the emergency transmitter, he managed to contact two vessels, C-270 and C-159, sailing near the place of the wreckage, and they headed towards the sub in distress immediately. One of the ships contacted the Naval Staff, and four destroyers were dispatched to save the crew of K-19. On July 4, the evacuation started. C-159 was ready to torpedo the submarine down, but the destroyers tugged K-19 and returned it to the base.
87 hours after the accident, the sailors were hospitalized. Some of them died in a week. The government decorated all the crewmembers of K-19 with orders. It was the first wreckage in the history of the Soviet nuclear fleet – and the first time a major nuclear disaster was averted.
On February 24, 1972, K-19, under the command of Captain Victor Kulibaba, was returning from patrol in the Atlantic. A fire started half an hour before breaking the surface. The crewmembers not participating in firefighting were evacuated, and when the fire was put down, 12 sailors found themselves isolated in the 10th section of the submarine, between two sections filled with carbonyl. The other crewmembers managed to convey air to the section through the ventilation system. The air was saturated with smoke and steam, so the isolated sailors made an improvised filter out of a blanket. They had neither food nor fresh water, and the section was meant for four, not twelve, people.
On March 8, a rescue squad arrived to the scene of the accident. In ten days, all the crewmembers were saved. All the sailors were decorated with orders, but the ceremony was classified – and so was the accident itself.
February 11, 3:15 AM
By Will Hunt
The Great Wall of China may be visible from outer space, but that doesn't mean it's easy to keep track of. The China Daily newspaper reported yesterday that archaeologists have discovered over 700 km of previously undetected sections of the wall in the Gansu and Shanxi regions of northwest of China. So we can tack on those 700 km to the previous length of 8,852 km, giving us a mind-boggling figure roughly equal to the distance between London and Tokyo.
Of course, the 'Great Wall,' in singular form, is something of a misnomer. What we refer to as the Great Wall is, in fact, not a single wall stretching in a continuous chain, but a series of walls, built piecemeal across history between the 5th century BC and 16th century. As the map below shows, these walls are built near each other but are mostly disconnected.
Map of the Great Wall of China (image: wikimedia commons) (For a blow-up version of the map, click here).
Liu Yulin, an archaeologist from the Jinta Museum, and his colleagues discovered this section of the wall while working on a nation-wide survey of cultural relics, which began in 2007 and will end in December of 2011. His colleagues found chunks of the wall in remote, uninhabited sections of the Gobi Desert.
"As the ancient buildings were built in the remote mountainous and desert areas, the remains of the wall were well protected without being destroyed by human activities. They were only partly destroyed by flood and sandstorm," Liu told China Daily.
According to reports, 26 kilometers of the wall were found in the Jinta (Gansu) province. Dating back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 24 AD), this section has been called by surveyors one of the best preserved in the country. Another roughly 700 km of walls were found in the Shanxi province, with these sections being built in the Qin (221-206 BC), Western Han and Sui (581-618 BC) dynasties.
While stumbling upon 700 km of a monumental wall sounds like a rather uncanny discovery, the find is less unique than you might think. Just last September, surveyors found another previously uncharted section of the wall, this one reaching 11 km eastward in the northeastern province of Jilin. It appears the Great Wall, which was originally built to protect against invading barbarians from the north, has more secrets to reveal.
View Article in The Examiner
The Diamond Princess in Hong Kong. Asian itineraries that include Bangkok, Tokyo and Shanghai are increasingly popular. Princess Cruises
February 14, 2010
By ELAINE GLUSAC
DESPITE rough economic seas, the cruise industry is staying the course this year with new destinations far and near, activities for young and old and amenities that seem to appeal to every niche.
Want to jam with Kid Rock or scream with fellow “Twilight” fans? There’s a cruise for that. Traveling alone on a budget? There’s a cruise for that, too. Or how about acupuncture for weight loss while sailing to Phuket. There are at least a dozen cruises for that.
From a boom in European cruises to a rediscovery of America’s rivers, cruises are trying to appeal to an increasingly fragmented clientele. After all, as cruise experts like to point out, just shy of 20 percent of Americans have been on a cruise — which means the remaining 80 percent are potential first-time passengers.
Return to America’s Rivers
Not since Lewis and Clark, perhaps, have America’s rivers seen so much cruising action. Spurred partly by the recession, which put more-extravagant cruises out of reach for many, river cruises are staging a steady comeback.
American Cruise Lines, a river cruise company based in Connecticut, is adding two vessels and three itineraries. The 104-passenger Independence, with a glassed-in dining room and staterooms with private balconies, is scheduled to launch in June. It will spend the summer sailing along the Maine coast before heading to the Hudson River for the October foliage season, with six-night fares starting at $2,820 (all prices quoted are based on double occupancy).
The Queen of the West, a paddle-wheeler, will make its American Cruise Lines debut, with seven-night cruises along the Snake and Columbia Rivers in the Northwest, with stops in Portland, Ore.; Clarkston, Wash., and elsewhere starting at $3,395. American will also introduce a route along the Potomac and Delaware Rivers, with stops along the way in Philadelphia, Washington, Mount Vernon and Annapolis aboard the 100-passenger American Spirit. The eight-day cruises start at $3,295.
Elsewhere in the Americas, the Caribbean remains popular, but the newest routes belong to the Atlantic. In May, Carnival Cruise Lines is stationing the 2,056-passenger Carnival Fantasy in Charleston, S.C., with five-day departures to the Bahamas starting at $269.
Bermuda is seeing more action, too. Revisiting a route it hasn’t sailed for more than 15 years, Holland America returns to New York City, offering 24 trips to Bermuda beginning in April. The 1,350-passenger Veendam will depart from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, with weeklong cruises from $699.
Also newly bound for Bermuda is the Celebrity Summit, a 2,034-passenger ship that departs from Bayonne, N.J., to spend three nights in King’s Wharf. Fares start at $549, with optional excursions to swim with dolphins or snorkel to a shipwreck, plus cruise-by sightings of the Statue of Liberty.
Europe by Water
European cruises are growing, allowing cruisers to hopscotch the Continent with ease, while also helping Americans avoid high exchange rates by locking in fares in dollars.
“Europe is today where we were 15, 20 years ago,” said Bob Sharak, vice president of Cruise Lines International Association, which represents 25 major cruise lines that serve North America. “New ships used to debut here, but now we’re seeing them debuted and deployed in Europe.”
And it’s not just Americans who are onboard. In 2000, less than 10 percent of passengers on the cruise association’s member ships were not citizens of the United States. Today that figure is nearly 25 percent.
Though it has run Mediterranean cruises in the past, Disney Cruise Line, based in Florida, will expand its European offerings with four trips that sail from Dover, England. The 12-night Northern European Capitals Cruise takes place June and July onboard the 2,700-passenger Disney Magic, with fares from $3,649.
Similarly, Norwegian Cruise Lines, which is based in Miami and has run intermittent cruises in Europe, will post a ship in Venice for the first time this year. The 2,400-passenger Norwegian Gem will run seven-day cruises to Greece and Turkey with departures from April 24 to Oct. 23, priced from $719.
The growth in European cruises isn’t limited to big ships. Princess Cruises is introducing a series of seven-day Interlude itineraries in Europe aboard the 680-passenger Ocean Princess. The cruises, which start at $1,299, will sail from Rome to the Greek Isles, and from Dover to Scandinavia.
Variety Cruises, a five-year-old yacht line based in Athens, is offering its first Adriatic trips this summer, with seven-night cruises that include stops at the island of Hvar and the cities of Zadar and Venice aboard the 46-guest Pegasus. Fares start at $2,690.
The rivers of Europe are bustling, too. Avalon Waterways, a river cruise line based in Colorado, will launch two 138-passenger ships this year — the Avalon Felicity and the Avalon Luminary — that will sail the Rhine, including an eight-day cruise from Zurich to Amsterdam from $2,099.
AMAWaterways, a river cruise operator based in California, is offering five new European cruises including a 22-day excursion along the Douro River in Portugal and the Rhone in France, from $7,677. Viking River Cruises in California has a new eight-day sail down the Danube from Germany to Hungary from $1,456. And Seattle’s Cruise West launches two river cruises aboard the 148-guest MS Amadeus Diamond that goes down the Danube and the Rhine, from $4,999 for 11 nights.
Even landlocked Europe is seeing a spillover effect. Among the excursions highlighted by Cruise West, Princess and Viking this summer is the once-a-decade Passion Play. It takes place in the German village of Oberammergau.
Getting Shipshape
Gaining weight is one of the perils on the high seas, with the average cruiser said to put on several pounds on a weeklong cruise. To help passengers get shipshape and resist the buffet, cruise ships are offering everything from beefed-up gyms to macrobiotic menus.
Crystal Cruises’ 922-passenger Crystal Symphony, one of two ships run by the Los Angeles-based luxury line, recently opened a feng-shui-inspired fitness center with a walking program, indoor cycling and acupuncture treatments. In June, the three sailing yachts of Windstar Cruises, which is based in Seattle, will introduce Technogym-brand treadmills, stationary bikes, stair climbers and weight machines onboard.
Wellness packages that bundle fitness classes and healthy menus are expanding. Holland America’s well-being package includes fitness classes, a 50-minute spa treatment, access to the whirlpool and steam room and daily fruit deliveries for a premium of $299 a person on seven-day cruises. Specialized tour companies like A Taste of Health offer cruises with vegan chefs and macrobiotic menus. Its Holistic Caribbean Cruise, for example, sets sail from Fort Lauderdale for a seven-night cruise to St. Thomas, Puerto Rico and elsewhere, with passengers learning to make dishes like seitan paella. Rates from $1,199.
Spas have had makeovers themselves. Regent Seven Seas Cruises recently added Canyon Ranch spas on its three high-end ships. And Paul Gauguin Cruises, which plies the South Pacific, just opened a thalasso spa onboard its namesake vessel.
A few spas are even beginning to resemble health clinics. In December, the 540-passenger Silver Spirit from Silversea Cruises introduced a spa that offers acupuncture for weight loss and stress management, as well as Botox injections and Restylane facial filler. Emerald Princess and Ruby Princess also offer Botox and tooth bleaching, so you’ll look good even if you put on a few extra pounds.
Floating Red Carpet
Celebrity cruises are not new, but the Q rating of headlining guests seems to be rising. “Theme cruises have always been a way to get new-to-cruise people aboard,” said Carolyn Spencer Brown, the editor in chief of Cruisecritic.com, an online cruise magazine. “Now they’re becoming more sort of glitzy.”
John Mayer sold out a four-night Carnival cruise from Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas last year. And James Taylor was the star attraction on Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 bound from New York to Southampton, treating guests to concerts, interviews and autograph signings.
This year will see more stars. Kid Rock already sold out the five-day Carnival Inspiration cruise from Tampa to Grand Cayman starting in late April. Before that, in mid-April, the same ship and route will feature the pop bands 3 Doors Down, Lifehouse and Shinedown as part of a VH1 cruise (from $799). The Zac Brown Band headlines over Labor Day weekend (from $699).
The teenage heartthrobs Alex Meraz and Michael Welch, who star in the vampire movie “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” will join the four-day Twilight Cruise from Seattle to Alaska onboard Holland America’s Oosterdam. Prices start at $1,049, not including an optional off-shore excursion to Forks, Wash., where the vampire drama is set.
And if your idea of celebrity runs to radio stars, you can join Garrison Keillor and the cast of “A Prairie Home Companion” March 14 on Holland America’s Ryndam for a seven-night Tampa-to-Belize immersion in all things Minnesotan (fares from $1,700).
Far-Flung Ports of Call
Cruises are venturing into uncharted waters and docking at more far-flung ports of call in Asia, the Middle East and even the North Pole.
Asia, in particular, is seeing a wave of new ships. Yachts of Seabourn, a small-ships specialist based in Miami, is posting its first ship in Asia. The 208-passenger Seabourn Pride sails a variety of Asian itineraries out of Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Kobe, Japan, with fares starting at $4,050 for 12 days.
The Ocean Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, will spend this spring hopping between Singapore and Shanghai, Shanghai and Bangkok, and Shanghai and Tokyo, before heading for Europe. Fares start at $2,299 for a 14-day cruise.
River cruises in Asia are growing, too. Viking River Cruises will offer a two-day stop in Shanghai for Expo 2010 on many of its China cruises. In Vietnam and Cambodia, AMAWaterways is offering cruises along the Mekong between Ho Chi Minh City and Siem Reap, Cambodia, on the 92-passenger La Marguerite. Fares start at $1,499 a person for seven nights.
The Middle East continues to welcome more ships. Costa Cruises is docking its newest ship, the Deliziosa, in Dubai. The 2,260-passenger ship includes a roller skating track, a 4-D cinema — think 3-D with physical effects like wind — and a golf simulator with 37 courses. Seven-night cruises to Abu Dhabi and Bahrain start at $899.
The 2,501-capacity Brilliance of the Seas from Royal Caribbean International will return to Dubai for a second season, with seven-night sailings from $699. And the 1,070-passenger Crystal Serenity will sail two Middle Eastern routes in March including the line’s first stops in Kuwait City; Bandar Abbas, Iran; and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (13-day fares start at $8,855).
Cruises are shifting from the South to the North Pole. With Antarctica possibly closing to big cruise ships because of new environmental regulations, cruises to Arctic waters are on the rise. New this year is a 24-day Northwest Passage cruise from Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. The 184-guest Hanseatic sails from Greenland to Nome, Alaska, with polar bear sightseeing in between. Norway-based Hurtigruten will offer an 11-day Climate Pilgrimage along the Arctic Circle north of Norway onboard the 318-passenger Fram. The cruise, which starts at $4,100, passes by glaciers and features talks with climate scientists.
Tauck, a small-ship operator based in Connecticut, has sold out its eight-day Iceland cruises aboard the new 264-passenger Le Boreal. Literary cruisers can still join the author Margaret Atwood aboard a 16-day Northwest Passage cruise with Adventure Canada, one of five new itineraries aboard the 118-passenger Clipper Adventurer. The Aug. 28 departure, from $5,995, includes readings and lectures by Ms. Atwood as well as tundra golf and iceberg ogling.
Virgin Voyages
In the wake of last year’s Oasis of the Seas, billed as the world’s largest ship, the class of 2010 might look small, but it isn’t. For starters, in December Royal Caribbean is planning to launch a sister ship, Allure of the Seas, that shares many of the same superlatives as the Oasis. Both share the title of world’s largest — 1,181 feet long with room for 5,400 passengers.
The next largest is the Norwegian Epic, a 4,200-passenger vessel that has a Vegas-style lineup of shows including Blue Man Group, Cirque Dreams, Second City and Legends in Concert. The ship also features a lavish water park, a rappelling wall (a first for the industry) and an ice bar. After its inaugural trans-Atlantic cruise scheduled in July, the ship will be based in Miami and offer seven-night cruises to the Caribbean with summer fares from $889.
A smaller but perhaps more stately christening is set for October, when the new Queen Elizabeth from Cunard makes its maiden voyage from Southampton to the Mediterranean. The 2,092-passenger ship features lush Art Deco-style interiors that pay homage to the original 1938 ship. The new QE also features a glass-vaulted lounge inspired by Kew Gardens and filled with potted palms, and a game deck with paddle tennis, croquet and British bowls. The inaugural cruise sold out in 29 minutes last April, but fares for subsequent cruises to the Mediterranean and the Caribbean start at $1,195 for five days.
Kiddie Cruises
Cruise lines have long appealed to parents. Now, they are catering more aggressively to children. In April, Norwegian Cruise Line will introduce a children’s program in partnership with Nickelodeon that includes live versions of the “SlimeTime” game show and breakfasts with SpongeBob SquarePants and other characters. The Nickelodeon tie-in will be offered on the Norwegian Jewel, on its weeklong cruises from New York City to the Bahamas, starting at $499. It will also be offered on the new Epic.
With all those kids onboard, keeping track of them can be a full-time job. To help, Royal Caribbean gives children ages 3 to 11 an electronic wristband onboard the Oasis of the Seas, so that the crew can find them. Parents can also keep an electronic eye on their children’s whereabouts by renting an optional locator for $17.50.
But maybe what parents need are full-blown GPS devices. Child-friendly cruises are crossing the Atlantic to Europe. Disney’s new cruises to the Baltics include stops at historic sites like Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg, where characters like Snow White and Cinderella will greet passengers. The Crystal Symphony will make two seven-day trips in Europe — from London to Ireland and back, and Copenhagen to Stockholm — with those 17 and under staying free. And Tauck is offering family-only cruises along the Danube between Budapest and Regensburg, Germany.
Not everyone, of course, wants to be surrounded by screaming kids, especially parents seeking a vacation. Child-free zones, which were introduced over a decade ago, are expanding. The Carnival Dream reserves an 11,250-square-foot “serenity” area for grown-ups with sun beds, a bar and whirlpools. On the Oasis of the Seas, a two-deck adult section near the bow includes two whirlpools cantilevered over the side of the ship. And the coming Norwegian Epic has an adults-only beach club that offers bottle service in poolside cabanas, just like South Beach.
Boutique Hotels at Sea
The captain’s quarters don’t cut it anymore. Cruise liners are continuing to carve out luxury staterooms that feel like mini-boutique hotels with special perks for those willing to pay.
Royal Caribbean is taking the lead with the Oasis of the Seas and its forthcoming sister ship, Allure of the Seas. Instead of windowless staterooms, the interior cabins have been reworked to offer views of soaring atriums inside the ship. The Central Park balcony staterooms, for example, overlook a common area, a 12,000-plant garden and the 150 Central Park restaurant.
When it sails in July, the Norwegian Epic will banish the boxy room. Its New Wave cabins have curved walls and domed ceilings. The ship also features 100-square-foot podlike studios designed for solo passengers. A communal lounge encourages socializing. Prices are from $799 (single occupancy) for seven-day sailings.
Private villas and suites that function like gated V.I.P. communities continue to proliferate. Norwegian’s four Jewel-class ships have courtyard and garden villas that offer quiet pools, sundecks, fitness rooms and concierges that are available only to villa guests. Victoria Cruises, which specializes in Yangtze River cruises in China, has new suites that offer a private lounge and restaurant. And in May Windstar Cruises will introduce spa suites on the 312-passenger Wind Surf.
IF YOU SAIL
Adventure Canada, (800) 363-7566; adventurecanada.com.
AMAWaterways, (800) 626-0126; amawaterways.com.
American Cruise Lines, (800) 814-6880; americancruiselines.com.
Avalon Waterways, (877) 797-8791; avalonwaterways.com.
Carnival Cruise Lines, (888) 227-6482; carnival.com.
Celebrity Cruises, (800) 647-2251; celebritycruises.com.
Cruise West, (888) 851-8133; cruisewest.com.
Costa Cruises, (877) 882-6782; www.costacruise.com.
Cunard Line, (800) 728-6273; cunard.com.
Crystal Cruises, (888) 722-0021; crystalcruises.com.
Disney Cruise Line, (800) 951-3532; disneycruise.com.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, (49-40) 3001-4580; hl-cruises.com.
Holland America Line, (877) 932-4259; hollandamerica.com.
Hurtigruten, (866) 552-0371; hurtigruten.us.
Norwegian Cruise Line, (866) 234-7350; ncl.com.
Paul Gauguin Cruises, (800) 848-6172; pgcruises.com.
Princess Cruises, (800) 774-6237; princess.com.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises, (877) 505-5370; rssc.com.
Royal Caribbean International, (866) 562-7625; royalcaribbean.com.
Silversea Cruises, (800) 722-9955; silversea.com.
A Taste of Health, (828) 749-9537; atasteofhealth.org.
Tauck, (800) 788-7885; tauck.com.
Twilight Cruises, (800) 745-7545; www.twilightfanscruise.com.
Variety Cruises, (800) 319-7776; varietycruises.com.
VH1 Best Cruise Ever, (877) 749-8462; vh1bestcruiseever.com.
Victoria Cruises, (800) 348-8084; victoriacruises.com.
Viking River Cruises, (800) 304-9616; vikingrivercruises.com.
Windstar Cruises, (800) 258-7245; windstarcruises.com.
Yachts of Seabourn, (800) 929-9391; seabourn.com.
KTO's Suggested Itineraries
for Independent Travelers
▩ Course Itinerary
- Insa-dong (Ssamziegil) - traditional temple food restaurant Sanchon - Tteok and Kitchen Utensil Museum - Changdeokgung Palace
This traditional cultural experience course in Seoul invites participants to see, hear, and experience the traditional culture of Korea. The course starts out with a visit to Insa-dong, Seoul’s well-known street of traditional culture, and the newly emerging tourist attraction, Ssamziegil. After working up an appetite, enjoy a traditional lunch, featuring Buddhist temple food at the restaurant, Sanchon. Then try tteok (Korean rice cakes) and tea for dessert at the Tteok and Kitchen Utensil Museum, which provides a wealth of information on the traditional cuisine of Korea. The experience is topped off with a guided visit to Changdeokgung Palace, one of Korea's top five royal palaces and a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.
▩ Brief Overview of Course Itinerary with Photos
Insa-dong, known as a street of traditional Korean culture
10:00 AM
Insa-dong is home to dozens of galleries, antique shops, traditional restaurants, teashops, and souvenir shops. In late 2004, the culture complex Ssamziegil opened. The new building has four above ground floors and two basement-level floors, where numerous shops exhibit and sell art. Both the building's architecture and the unique products and art are a pleasure to see, attracting throngs of digital-camera youngsters and tourists. A walk around Insa-dong and Ssamziegil takes about an hour.
Click here for detailed information on Insa-dong.
Click here for more on Ssamziegil.
Three-minute Walk
Traditional Buddhist Temple Food at Sanchon
11:30 AM
Sanchon is the most popular restaurant in Korea for Buddhist temple vegetarian cuisine. Prices for lunch (Noon ~ 4:20 pm / 18,700 won including tax) and dinner (5:00~10:00pm/ 31,900 won including tax) are quite different due to the staged performances in the evening. Of course, Buddhist temple food is always vegetarian. The lunch takes about an hour.
Click here to visit Sanchon's website.
Ten-minute Walk
Tteok and Kitchen Utensil Museum
12:30 PM
The museum features café Jilsiru on the first floor, which sells traditional Korean rice cakes, or tteok, and tea. A restful stop to drink aromatic tea and savor tteok is sure to invigorate you. Make sure to bring your café receipt, and you’ll get free admission to the museum on the second floor. The time required for a visit of the museum, including the rice cake and tea break, varies but on average, it takes about 40 minutes.
Five-minute Walk
Changdeokgung Palace
1:30 PM
In order to safeguard the palace, listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage, visitor access to the palace is limited to guided group tours. Guided tours in English are scheduled for 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, and 3:30 pm, so make sure to check the time in advance before visiting the palace. The guided tours take approximately 1 hour 20 minutes.
Click here for detailed information on Changdeokgung Palace.
▩ Course Map
▩ Total Expenses Incurred for the Course - As of March 2005
View this itinerary on Korea Tourism Organization’s website.
Bibimbap is a popular Korean dish. The word literally means "mixed cooked rice" or "mixed meal.” It is also sometimes spelled "Bibimbab" or "bibimbop.” It is served with properly cooked rice in a hot or cold bowl, topping various vegetables, meats and egg in colorful fashion. As Bibimbap contains a variety of ingredients, it is very healthy and nutritious Korean food. There are many origins for Bibimbap. First, it was originated from the customs for partaking of sacrificial foods after sacrificial rites. Second, it was originated from way of serving interim meal for workers in the field as it was difficult to prepare meal with many dishes for many people. Therefore they used one big vessel and mixed various foods in it. Third, at lunch time in the palace, a brief meal using only one vessel was served to a member of royal family when they visited palace.
Donghak troop mixed various foods in one vessel in the field for convenience sake. And lastly on the last day of a year, people tried to finish all the left over foods by mixing the foods together and shared the food amongst family members. As such there are many interesting stories and origins related to the Bibimbap. Jeonju Bibimbap is the most famous one and it is said that it is because of bean sprouts which is used as one of the ingredients for Bibimbap as Jeonju area is famous for the taste of bean sprouts. Bibimbap can have a variety by changing the ingredients and vegetables depending on season. One point of consideration is to try to keep good combination and harmony of nutrition and color.
Bibimbap is a unique representative Korean food which is hard to find anywhere in the world. Whenever our ancestors felt no appetite, they put various dishes into rice together with one spoon of red pepper paste and mixed it, from which we can see the wisdom of our ancestors. Nowadays various types of new bibimbaps such as stone pot Bibimbap, cereals Bibimbap and nutrition Bibimbap are introduced with new taste and unique type in addition to the traditional Bibimbaps of Jeonju Bibimbap or Jinju Bibimbap.
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