In Pursuit of Autumn Colours In Korea 2011

 Capture the silvery, delicate beauty of  eulalia or pampas grass ( Haneul Park in Seoul. /Newsis)  

Stunning maple reds are expected to be in full display between 18th and  20th October in Seoraksan. Brace yourselves for crowded trails and be prepared to share the beautiful scenery with hordes of visitors and wait in line to snap photos of your loved ones posing beside a particularly pretty tree.

The trees in Yeouido in Seoul are already changing colour also.

Fall foliage is expected to peak around 22nd of October.

Check out the photos of Korea's autumn colours on this blog for some inspiration.

Some hints from an amateur for great shots:

1. Go early to avoid heads intruding into your photos.

2. Head for the temples in the national and provincial parks.

3. Balance close-ups and wide-angle shots.

sources:

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/10/11/2011101100390.html

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/10/03/2011100300354.html
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/10/115_96329.html
http://www.pbase.com/dbh/autumn

Autumn Leaves Schedule for Korea, 2011

Here's the 2011 Fall Foliage Schedule, lifted from the KTO website.

"The Korea Meteorological Administration recently announced that the autumnal tint will be making its appearance 1-6 days later than it has in previous years. Leaves on Jirisan Mountain and the central regions of Korea are expected to start changing between October 3rd and 19th, while the southern regions will start experiencing the seasonal bursts of color between October 13th and 30th.

The first foliage* of Seoraksan Mountain is predicted to start around October 3rd, and will reach its peak** around October 18th. The peak time of fall foliage on Naejangsan Mountain will be around the 7th of November. Last but not least, the autumnal tint will peak in the central regions and Jirisan Mountain around middle to late October, and in the southern regions around late October to early November.

2011 Autumn Foliage Schedule ( I've just selected some national parks. For the full schedule, click here.)

How to Read the Info Below:
National Park - Date for First Foliage - Date for the Peak Foliage

NOTE:

*First foliage = 20% of a given area’s foliage has changed color
**Peak foliage = 80% or more of a given area’s foliage has changed colors


Seoraksan  in Gangwon-do (설악산) 10.3 - 10.20
Bukhansan  in Gyeonggi-do, nearest to Seoul  (북한산) 10.19 -  10.28
Naejangsan, a popular place for viewing maple reds (내장산) 10.26 -  11.7
Jirisan - one of the biggest national parks (지리산) 10.13 10.23
Hallasan on Jeju-do (한라산) 10.17- 10.28

See earlier posting on shorter autumns in Korea

sources:
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?cid=1391042
Courtesy of: Korea Meteorological Administration

End of Autumn and Start of Early Winter?

Here are two heart-warming pics of people enjoying the outdoors on Sunday the 7th of October.

At the Ulsan Park

Visually-impaired walkers with their volunteer guides at Dobongsan, north Seoul.

(Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han)

Then, Mother Nature flips the switch and this is what Koreans got on Monday morning. I just hope tourists in Korea at present packed some thicker woollies.

Read on the KBS World website:

"First Snow Falls in Seoul, Cold Weather to Continue until Wednesday.

The first snow of the season fell in Seoul and the Gyeonggi, Gangwon and Chungcheong provinces late Monday and early Tuesday. Seoul’s first snow came around two weeks faster than in previous years. Temperatures have plunged below zero in most inland areas and coastal regions are seeing strong winds.

The mercury is expected to drop further on Wednesday. Morning lows are projected to stand at minus seven degrees Celsius at Daegwallyeong in Gangwon and minus one in Seoul. The Korea Meteorological Administration is forecasting that temperatures will rise starting Wednesday afternoon."

source:
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Dm_detail.htm?No=77012
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/11/08/2010110800326.html

Information Booths For Fall Foliage

Don't where to find the autumn leaves in Korea? Never fear - some temporary info booths have been set up to guide visitors to the most beautiful instances of fall foliage in at least one national park. ( see below). It's not clear, though, if any or how much information will be available to English-speaking tourists.

I really don't know if there's such a need for these booths. Why can't the info ( if there's anything new in the first place) be made available in the current Tourist Information offices or the National Parks offices and even better still, the websites? The staff in such places didn't seem terribly overwhelmed with visitors even when I visited them during the peak periods. It would save Korean taxpayers a lot of money if the KNTO and NPA pooled resources to answer these basic questions which most tourists want to know:via already established channels:

1. How reliable is the fall foliage schedule issued by the KMA?
2. How will the daily changes in the weather affect the colours of the autumn leaves?
3. Which spots in the various national parks are particularly well-known for maple colours, for gingko colours or for a mixture of reds, golds, browns and greens?

Taken from the KNTO Website:
"A temporary ‘Foliage Information Center’ has opened near the entrance of Naejangsan National Park (and a few other locations around Jeongeup City) to assist seasonal visitors who’ve come to see the fall leaves. The autumn changing of the leaves is a much celebrated seasonal event in Korea and with the leaves of Naejangsan expected to reach their peak around the first weekend of November, preparations are in full swing.


In an effort to provide visitors with information on when and where to enjoy the brilliant colors, Jeongeup Municipal Office will be operating three fall information centers until November 15th. Visitors to the information centers can receive information about major tourist attractions and local delicacies (etc.) in addition to information on the leaves themselves.

‘Foliage Information Centers’ are located in the Sculpture Park near the Naejangsan entrance, near the Naejang IC, and near the Jeongeup IC of Honam Expressway. Each center operates daily from 9:00 to 18:00.

*Depending on the number of visitors and fall foliage conditions, centers may close as early as Nov 10th.


source: http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?cid=1123148

Surreal Season

Nature has its own sense of humour - "How about a two-in-one? ", it seems to be saying. You can BOTH enjoy fall foliage while you practise your snowboarding moves on the slopes in Phoenix Park this October, thanks to plunging sub-zero temperatures earlier this week.

The ski resort in Gangwon-do  has opened for business half a month earlier than last year. It's not clear, though,  how much of the snow in the picture is artificially produced by snow machines or what percentage is Mother Nature's handiwork.

So what will the on-line papers show next? Kim Yu-na skating on a frozen lake under the maple leaves?

Expect the unexpected.

sources:

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2927685

An Early Winter or Extra Chilly Autumn in Jeju?

Caption from the KBS website: Hoarfrost forms on trees at Mt. Halla in Jeju Island as morning lows dip to minus 5 degrees Celsius Tuesday

The autumn foliage in Hallasan on Jeju-do was supposed to peak around the 9th of November but guess what? Winter seems to have out-paced autumn, from the looks of this photo featured in the KBS World Radio website.  

Pardon my ignorance as one who lives on the equator but can anyone out there reassure me that hoarfrost doesn't automatically spell the onset of winter? Even so, I'd like my seasons to be clearly demarcated and it's disconcerting to see autumn behave like a different season.

Click here for 2010 autumn foliage forecast.

source:

http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_photo_detail.htm?No=15541