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Daegu (Taegu) - Culture |
Although
Daegu is Korea's 3rd largest city, much of it still retains a countryside feel.
When
you get out of the plaza of Daegu station, the downtown of Daegu is widely open
to the South, right in front of the plaza. Business buildings, department
stores, bakeries, coffee shops, restaurants, bookstores, movie theatres,
hospitals and various shops are here, in the centre of the city. The streets are
full of lively young people and the streets look young and fresh. The streets in
this area, however, have a long history. About 400 years ago, this area was the
centre of Taegu and Yeongnam region. Gyeongsanggamyeong Park, located in the
downtown, is the old site of the governor's office.
This park is a popular resting place to those working around this area. This
park opened in 1970 to preserve the old historical site. The garden, trees, and
fountains are well arranged, and benches all over the park are prepared for the
convenience of visitors. There is no wall around the park and citizens can enjoy
the park any time they want.
Bongsan
Culture Street is a representative place for Daegu cultural activities. There
are about 20 art galleries of various sizes and types standing next to each
other. All the year round, art exhibitions are held in this street. Especially
in October when the Bongsan Art Festival is held, the street gets engulfed into
a festive heat.
Dalseong Park is the oldest park in Daegu. This park was built on an ancient
site of an artificial earthen mound fortress which had been the capital of the
tribal state of ancient Daegu area. When you get into the park you will
notice the well trimmed grass gardens where various flowers are arranged
beautifully. The most popular place in this park is the zoo which opened in
1970. The zoo has a large animal family including elephants, lions, apes, fur
seals, ostriches, etc.
Woobang
Tower (or Daegu Tower) is the highest tower in Asia (202 meters high, 312 meters
in altitude). It has a sky lounge cocktail bar and a restaurant that revolves
around the tower's base, giving diners a panoramic view of the entire city.
Other restaurants include a cafeteria, Korean restaurant, and Western-style
barbecue. Woobang Tower Land has regularly scheduled events each season. During
the winter, people enjoy a snow sleigh. During the spring, visitors can observe
the flower festival in the gardens. During the summer and fall, the park offers
many performances, concerts, and exhibitions. The Tower Skyway (cable car)
travels across the entire park, allowing visitors to get a bird's eye view of
all the park's rides an shows.
The local specialty food for the Daegu region is makch'ang, cow
intestines cooked over an open fire. Despite the description, it is very tasty
and extremely popular locally.
Deurangil
is
a street of gourmets. Great restaurants stand in line on both sides of the
street. Because of abundant and various dishes and foods, this street is called
Eating Street. A long with delicious quality dishes, the restaurants in this
street have designed their interiors luxuriously and prepared spacious parking
area for the convenience of gourmets. The history of this eating street is not
so long. At present about 260 restaurants form a dining town in this area for
eat-outs. Dishes served in this area are as various as the number of the
restaurants. Along with familiar restaurants such as buffet, Korean, Japanese,
Chinese, and Western style restaurants, restaurants specializing
only one or two kinds of dishes such as noodles, after drink soups, wrapped
meet,
eels, swell fishes, or restaurants specializing other kinds of dishes also
attract gourmets with their own specialties.
Seomun
Market offers an open-air market atmosphere. The market has a long history as
Daegu's major market, and was one of Korea's 3 main markets during the Chosun
Dynasty. Almost anything can be bought here, from food to clothing to leather
goods, although its most famous products are textiles, clothes, accessories,
ceremonial products, and traditional Korean products.
