Gyeongju-Busan-Seoul Day 2 (Part 2) - Shilla Millenium Park

4 May 2012

Shilla Millennium Park is a theme park in Gyeingju integrating both education and entertainment about the history and culture of the Silla Period. Focusing on the Silla Period (57 BC - AD 935), the park reproduces Silla architecture and a village of aristocrats and offers symbolic architecture such as Emile Tower and Seokbinggo.

If not for the Queen Seondeok Korean TV period drama that I watched recently, I would have no knowledge of the history of the Silla kingdom. Even then, the story in the drama did not depict history accurately. Nevertheless, as this theme park is supposed to reconstruct the culture and history of the 8th century Silla and is also the set for the shooting of the drama series, this was added to our itinerary.

After an enjoyable walk on the lakeside path from our hotel (Hyundai Hotel) in the Bomun Resort, followed by some strenuous hunting of the place using a not-so-detailed map of Gyeongju and the GPS/google map on our iphone 4, we arrived at the entrance of the park. We paid the entrance fee, collected the brochure and site map (below) and was advised by the girls at the entrance to go see the performance on horseback at the Hwarang Arena (number 16 in the map below) as it would be the next show in the park.

Upon entering the park, we were welcomed by stone statues of animals in the Chinese Zodiac dressed as warriors.

There were groups of school children on the same visit and we were all heading to the same place.

Arriving at the arena, we went in first while the kids were assembled outside for headcounts and other administrative purposes. It was fun watching the kids streaming in and taking their seats. Most were excited and enjoying their outing. It was also fun using my telephoto lens on my camera to take some interesting candid shots of one of the most interesting subjects for a photographer …kids.

Waiting for the Art of the Hwarang Show to start.

Uniformed and disciplined school kids. Probably nursery school. All lining up their bags in a neat row.

Young Koreans kids tackling the steep wooden stairs on their own.

Then the real show began with a rider on horseback making an entrance to cheers from the audience.

A bow to the audience before the start of the show.

Then an exhibition of the Hwarang’s military martial arts skills was featured. The Hwarang were an elite group of male youth in Silla. Hwarangs, using swords that is like a Japanese Katana, sliced through bamboos as if they were straws.

Then the cavalry entered the performance, riding with skill and dexterity as they stand on the horses, riding while facing backwards, hit their targets with spears, bows and arrows, and perform sword fights.  Nice performance.

Shooting arrow while on the move on horseback.

Not so accurate but close enough.

Acrobatic stunts while on the galloping horse.

Satisfaction and proud of an excellent job done.

If not for the school kids, I wonder if the arena would be that packed.  I think it was a good thing the kids were here. The performers seemed extra motivated by the cheers from the kids and adults and gave us a good show.

After the show, we went to explore the Nobles Village “Emile Polis”. This are replicas of the palace, royal houses and villages that was set up to showcase the buildings that citizens of Silla used to live in. In the Queen Seondeok drama, I heard of the terms Seong-gol, Jing-gol been used to describe the status of the individuals and I was wondering what that was. Now I know more about the “bone-rank” system used in ancient Silla. If both of your parents were of the royal family, they would be called ‘Seong-gol’ but if only one of your parents were of the royal family, they would be called ‘Jin-gol’, and so on was the ranking system from 6th level to 1st level. Ideally, only Seong-gol can be King.

The village’s size and house interiors were designed as accurately as possible to the descriptions of the history books ‘Samguksagi (history documented by Silla, Goguryeo, and Baekje)’. The designs of the houses differed depending on the owner’s social status dependent on a status system by the ‘Golpum policy (Silla’s unique ranking system)’. A Seong-gol’s house is relatively large and beautifully decorated, while a 4th level house is comparably plain and simple.

Exploring the traditional silla houses.

Simple interiors  by today’s standard but these were houses of high ranking people in ancient Silla.

Kimchi jars.

Silla people were Buddhist.

Solid tree trucks used in the construction of the houses.

Elaborate interlocking wooden roof beams.

Water mill in operation.

Then, we went to visit the palace used in the shooting. Some parts of the palace were under restoration but we still managed to see some the sets used in the filming.

Leaving the Emile Polis for the Palace.

This part of the Palace was closed for restoration. So just a photo from the outside.

Entrance to the palace that was closed off.

Photo of the Palace from the outside.

These parts (below) were opened so we could visit the scenes shown in the drama.

Inside the grounds of the palace that was opened.

Posing with a replica of Lady Mishil in Queen SeonDeok drama. The actress who played this character is very good.

Set used to film Queen Seondeok, the Korea drama series.

By now, we were feeling famished and tired. We headed towards the exit of the park as we had seen what we wanted to see in this park. We came upon the ‘Emile Tower Bell (Seongdeok Daewang Sinjong)’. The tower is approximately 17 meters (4 times larger than the original building), and was prominent in the park. Burgers and drinks were supposed to be sold at the tower but there was no one manning the counter!

Hello, anybody here?

So we bought some simple snacks and drinks from a nearby stall, about 20 metres away. Not so good food but we were too hungry and thirsty to hunt for alternatives. Then, we saw the girl who sold us the snacks walked to the Bell Tower as her supervisor came by. She got a good scolding from him for deserting her post. I wonder if she was supposed to be manning the burger stall at the bell tower or the other stall. Strange.

Feeling a little recharged, we make our way out of the park to catch a bus #11 into Gyeongju city centre. The plan for the afternoon was to do the walking tour of Gyeongju. But first, time for a good lunch to replenish our energy.