Visiting Gyeongbokgung: Guided Tour by Yecco

Visiting Gyeongbokgung has to be one of my favorite places I have visited so far in South Korea! I’ll be talking you through my day visiting Gyeongbokgung. After meeting with my Yecco leader at the subway station exit, we handed to the store where we rented our 한복 (hankbok). 한복 is Korea’s traditional clothing. Both men and women wear the 저고리 (Jeogori) the upper garment of a hanbok. The only difference is in the lower garment of a 한복; men wear the 바지(baji), which is a pant and the women wear 치마 (chima), which is a skirt. The 한복 that we wore was more on the nontraditional side. At the store, I was able to pick out the color and design of my 한복. There were so many options. The 한복’s in the store came in a variation of colors, designs, and patterns. There were pastel colors, dark colors, silver and gold lined designs. (if you look at picture #1, you can see the variations of colors to choose from!). I choose a pastel, baby pink 치마 (skirt, the lower garment of a hanbok) with a cream 저고리 (hanbok top). Once I was fully dressed, I moved on to the hair station. I was a bit nervous and apprehensive about having my hair styled, seeing that my hair was in braids. I assumed that the hair stylists would only have experience with non-afro textured hair let alone braids. Even though I was nervous, I sat down and the hairstylist immediately got to work. I was soo shocked, it was like she knew exactly how to emulate the style I choose with my hair in braids, which made the experience 10 times better. At the hair station, I was able to choose between 4 hairstyles. (Fun fact: if a woman has an up-do/her hair is tied up or in braids, it means that she is married woman) Each style was different; some were with the hair tied up, hair tied down, hair in a ponytail, etc. I chose a style where two pieces from the side of my hair were gathered in the back (it mimicked the structure of a crown). She even decorated my hair with these lovely, extravagant, and beautiful pins, clips, and pearls (hair jewelry). It was soo beautiful!! After getting my hair done, I choose a small bag that matched the print of my 저고리 and I was ready to go! 

Once the other members of my group were done, with our Yecco tour guide, we headed off to Gyeongbokgung. The palace is filled with so much history of Korea before the era of the Japanese occupation. The design of the buildings were so intricate and beautiful. The palace was also humongous!

Here’s a few fun facts I learned on the tour (refer to the pictures above):

1. The pavement/ground of the palace is bumpy and not flat because it was said to be rude for people to run and it was meant to reduce glare.
2. Picture #2: The bridge behind me is called the Yeongjegyo Bridge, which used to have a stream of water, and was said to wash away evil spirits from the palace. The statue behind me is an imaginary animal called Seosu, which was meant to fend off evil spirits.
3. Picture #3: The design on the roof of buildings in the palace has this design called Dancheong. Each color symbolizes a certain element and significance within Korean culture.
4. The palace was actually burned down during the Japanese invasion and faced some destruction during the Korean War but since then South Korea has continued to restore as many parts of the palace as they can.
5. Picture #4: In the building Hyangwonjeong, there was where Queen Myeongseong was assassinated by the Japanese on October 8, 1895.
6. Picture #5: In the building Gyeonghoeru, there was where an official of the lowest rank sneaked in and suddenly encountered the king. The king then put him through a test, evaluating his intelligence by asking him to recite a poem. The next day, the king appointed the man to rank 5 (he originally was in class 9).
7.  

Overall, I had so much fun and in the end, did not want to leave the palace. I felt like a prince walking around in the 한복. There were other groups of people there as well; families, kids, tourists, etc. Everyone was taking pictures around the palace. Also, there was this amazing older gentleman that offered to take pictures of the group and me, which ultimately turned into a full-on photoshoot. He got so many good pics of us and even suggested some poses for us to try to get a good photo. So don't be worried, you will get your pics for Instagram. But I will be visiting the palace again, during the cherry blossom season. To conclude, please find time to visit the Gyeongbokgung Palace during your stay in South Korea, you won't regret it!

Floriesha <3