Ganghwado Along the western coast of Korea, about 60 km northwest of Seoul, is an island called “Ganghwado.” Compared to the capital Seoul, which is a major metropolitan area and the political and economic center of Korea, Ganghwado is a small and quaint island only an hour away. Up on the northern part of the island is the Gwanghwa Dolmen Site, of hundreds of stone dolmens which were used as grave markers, and for ritual purposes during the first millennium BCE when the Megalithic Culture was prominent on the Korean Peninsula. The sites were designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000. Among them, the dolmen in the Bugeun-ri area of Ganghwado is considered the “best looking”. Ganghwado is a beautiful island with great mountains, blue oceans, vast fields and much more. From 1232 to 1270, the capital of Goryeo was moved to Ganghwado in order to resist Mongolian invasion. Traces of the Goryeo Palace still remain to this day. Hahoe Village. The Hahoe Folk Village is a traditional village from the Joseon Dynasty, located in Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea. The ‘Ha’ is short for river and ‘hoe’ means to ‘turn around, return, come back. Hahoe is the village where the members of Ryu family which originated from Hahoe Village have lived together for 600 years. It is a representative village for one family where tile-roofed houses and thatched roofed ones have been quite well conserved for a long time. The village is especially well known as the birth place of RyuUnryong and RyuSeongryong. They were brothers: the one was a great Confucian scholar of the Joseon Dynasty: the other was Prime Minister during the period of the Japanese Invasion(from1592 to 1598) called Imjinwaeran. Hahoe Village looks like two connected spirals called Taeguek, a lotus flower floating on the water, and a boat gliding on the river. This configuration topologically makes the village a very good residence, so it has been known as a good place to live in since the time of the Joseon Dynasty. Mountain Hwa which originates from the Taebaek Mountains and is 271 meters high is located in the eastern part of the village.
