Flower Viewing at the Palaces

by Robert Koehler on March 12, 2010

In case you were wondering which flowers bloom when at which palace and where, the Cultural Heritage Administration is here to help.

Quite helpful, actually. Especially for those with cameras.

Tagged as: royal palaces

{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }

1 nospam March 12, 2010 at 4:50 pm: The Cultural Heritage Administration is part of the Ministry of Culture, Sports And Tourism. Hopefully someday they’re realize that it’s the small things like this that sells Korea and attracts tourists, instead of some bombastic Hub marketing campaign.
2 John from Daejeon March 12, 2010 at 9:52 pm: KoFish 2010 (Korea International Fishing Show) is this weekend for those interested.

http://www.kofish.co.kr/main_e.asp

I was going to mention it tomorrow, but I’ll be too busy there spending money by the time the “Open Thread” pops up.
3 leguwan March 13, 2010 at 7:21 am: Now what would be really nice would be for someone in the Hermit Kingdom to realize that foreigners just might be interested in this and translate it into English…..or is it only for Koreans to enjoy?
4 hardyandtiny March 13, 2010 at 7:48 am: Do you really need that site in English to figure it out?
5 Sonagi March 13, 2010 at 7:51 am: Even before hitting the Google Translate button, a non-Korean speaker could figure out the flower species and the blooming period just from the map. A foreigner able to read Hangeul (and most foreign residents can) could pick out the names of the palaces in large font. Jeebus, do foreign residents need to have their hands held in English all the time? The KTNO can take care of foreign visitors. That’s what it’s there for.
6 Sonagi March 13, 2010 at 7:53 am: correction: …do English-speaking foreign residents need…
7 setnaffa March 13, 2010 at 8:14 am: The whole beauty of Korea needs a Korean along to share the stuff Lost Planet and KNTO websites and brochures leave out.

In fact, sharing Korea with one or more Koreans make it a lot more fun–and I’m not speaking of “voluntary body functions.” It’s a great place to be a tourist.

Are there better? Well, that’s up to each of us to decide. But there are enough great places in Seoul alone to spend several months there as a tourist… And then there are the lakes, the mountains, and the islands (especially but not exclusively Cheju/Jeju). I recommend the Shilla hotels; but they aren’t the only places to get a nice room, a good meal, and a decent cup of coffee…
8 nospam March 13, 2010 at 9:28 am: If the Ministry of Culture, Sports And Tourism wants search engine spiders to index their web pages for foreigners, then they need English versions.
9 R. Elgin March 13, 2010 at 4:55 pm: If the Ministry of Culture, Sports And Tourism wants search engine spiders to index their web pages for foreigners, then they need English versions.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
Right answer. Many government sites already have multiple language portals established — some good, some not so good. Even a webcam at one of the palaces would be a good idea but the only Korean webcams I can find are windows-only things and just don’t work.

As a off-topic observation, I really wish that the government would split the cultural part of the ministry into its own domain and leave the sports, tourism, content development, and other nonsense in another ministry because they often end up doing strange and ineffective things that are almost anti-cultural.
10 sanshinseon March 13, 2010 at 5:49 pm: setnaffa has a good perspective. and there’s nothin wrong with wanting this info to be put out in English — it ought to be, if they do want more visitors. The Seoul Tourism offices should do it…
11 Sonagi March 13, 2010 at 8:49 pm: Of course, there’s nothing wrong with putting the information into English, Japanese, Chinese, or another foreign language, but the sarcasm in comment #3 was unnecessary.
12 Robert Koehler March 13, 2010 at 9:22 pm: Also, the linked site is the Cultural Heritage Administration’s official blog, not its official website.