Friday, March 29, 2024
FOOD&DRINKTRAVEL

Cheongsong Apple Country

There are always apples on our ancestral table at Lunar New Year. They go at the front next to pears and raw chestnuts dried persimmon and jujube berries. The tops sliced off to present to the ancestors. 

But fruit placed on the ancestral table has to be perfect – you can’t have any bruises or marks or inappropriate shapes… And so fruit can be shockingly pricey and even classed as a luxury gift! I’ve written about Lunar New Year gifts before. 

One place to find apple orchards is in Cheongsong, North Gyeongsang province.

CHEONGSONG APPLES

Cheongsong is in the mountainous east side of the country. And according to Wiki, it’s famous for apples and a prison! 

I didn’t see the prison, but I saw A LOT of apples:

In the town, there were red shiny plastic apples adorning real trees and red bus stop shelters in the shape of hearts like apples.

In a mart I perused apple air freshener (smelt quite nice, but I didn’t buy any) and apple rice cakes which were soft and chewy and sweetened with apple juice.

At the entrance to the public baths there was a vending machine selling apples. (I’ve never seen that before) Each apple individually wrapped in plastic (1,000 won each).

We popped into an apple shop (still talking about the fruit) with boxes like treasure chests open to reveal their large and perfect, precious jewels. Not a blemish or scratch to be seen. 

For breakfast we were served an apple side dish mixed with chili.

For lunch we ordered apple makgeoli.

apple makgeolli

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LOCAL ATTRACTIONS

The area is good for mountain hiking. But it was winter and a bit chilly, so we just walked briskly to the Jusanji reservoir which according to the tourist sign is an artificial reservoir constructed in 1721 during the reign of King Gyeongjeong.

It’s a 1km walk to the lake and on the way there are stalls selling – yes, buckets of apples. This was the location of the film about a Buddhist monastery Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring (2003).

You can only walk around a very small part of the lake – hiking trails are elsewhere in the outer side of Juwangsan Mountain. But it’s popular with photographers in all seasons. Red leaf willow trees grow around the lake.

COUNTRYSIDE BRANDING

These days the infrastructure is improving all around the country. More motorways and mountain tunnels are being constructed opening up rural areas, like Cheongsong, that were pretty isolated before.

And there’s been a big increase in festivals, events and rural experience holidays organised to boost the local tourist industry and economy. Cheongsong apple festival is held in October and November. 

This area is clearly focused on using the apple as its symbol. But sometimes I think the branding can go a bit too far though:

On the way to Cheongsong, we stopped off at a service station. And in the ladies public toilets, there were green apple-shaped lights outside each cubicle – which lit up red when the toilet was occupied! I don’t know. That just felt wrong. Beautifully clean loos though.

FUN FACTS ABOUT APPLES IN KOREA

Apple is pronounced (사과) sagwa which also means apologise. So this allows for a play on words, like this scene in the drama Boys Before Flowers (blimey, was it really made in 2009) with a fun apology by Jandi to Junpyo… 

SUPERSTITIONS 

There’s a saying that if you eat apples at night, you’ll get indigestion. I don’t think I ever heard about this in Britain, but here I’m only allowed to eat apples in the morning!  

APPLES MADE FOR ROYALTY 

Representatives from Andong (also known for apples as well as the hanok village) presented Queen Elizabeth with a specially grown apple brand in 2019 for her birthday. Twenty years after she visited Andong in 1999.

Related posts:

Staying in a traditional hanok house in Andong

Mungyeong Tea Cup Festival  

Boseong Green Tea Festival

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