It's Snowing Cherry Blossoms in Jinhae....Not...Yet?

Is Nature playing an April Fool's trick on people hoping to see the cherry blossoms out in full force at the naval base of Jinhae? According to a report from the Chosun Ilbo, the KMO's predictions about the appearance of the cherry blossom is off by a week or so, no thanks to a cold snap. Pity, considering the town is celebrating its 50th anniversary of the cherry blossom festival this year. Anyone who's in Jinhae,or been there recently, please correct me if I'm wrong and tell me if  the place is chockful of cherry blossoms right now.

Regions 2012 Blooming Dates ( from the KTO webpage) but read ahead for the latest amendments for the cherry blossoms' ETA.
Seogwipo 3.24 /  Busan 3.30  / Yeosu 4.4  / Tongyeong 4.1  / Gwangju 4.3 / Jeonju 4.7  / Daegu 3.31 / Pohang 4.2 / Daejeon 4.4 / Cheongju 4.7 / Seoul 4.10 / Incheon 4.13 / Gangneung 4.8 / Chuncheon 4.11
Jinhae Yeojwacheon Stream 3.29 / Hadong Ssanggyesa Temple Simni Cherry Blossom Path 4.1 / Jeonju-Gunsan Beonyeong-ro 4.8 / Cheongju musimcheonbyeon 4.2 / Seoul Yeoui-do Yunjung-ro 4.9

from the Chousn Ilbo:
Cold Snap Delays Cherry Blossom

The last cold spell in April has delayed the arrival of Korea's famous seasonal cherry blossom. The Korea Meteorological Administration on Thursday revised its prediction that the cherries would blossom in early April in most of the southern region. Blossoming will be delayed by three to six days in the south and by one or two days in central Korea, it added. The KMA officially declares the arrival of the cherry blossom when at least three blossoms appear in a tree in weather observatories nationwide. A KMA official said, "Normally, cherry blossoms bloom fully about one week after the first blossom is observed. Cherry blossom season will peak before mid-April in the southern region, and after mid-April in the central region."

sources:
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/04/06/2012040601181.html
http://www.12fly.com.my/2012/03/korea-cherry-blossom-forecast-2012/
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?nCategoryID=1&SearchType=&keyword=&gotoPage=4&cid=1566923&cCode=&nCategoryID=1&searchType=&searchKeyword=

On Air In Jinhae Midst Cherry Blossoms

Aside from Romance, On Air was the other K drama that got me drooling over cherry blossoms in Jinhae. In episode 12, Lee Gyeong-Min ( played by Park Yong-ha) and his entire production team take a break from their hectic schedules to admire the springtime blossoms. There's another scene in which Seo Yeong-Eun ( Song Yoon-ah ) goes off for a solo walk to admire the cherry blossoms at night, but she is soon joined by Lee Gyeong-Min.

Wonder if Song Yoon-ah looks up at the cherry blossoms and feels a pang for her co-star who committed suicide last year.

Shooting location for On Air

sources:
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/CU/CU_EN_8_5_1_40.jsp
http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=261560
http://koreanfanscommunity.blogspot.com/2010/10/on-air-2008.html

Cherry Blossoms Schedule for 2011

As I'm typing this, the cherry blossoms are supposed to be blooming in Jeju already. Guess I have to be satisfied with recollections of my visits to Jinhae, Hadong and Namhae during the spring of 2007 and remind myself that spring isn't really my favourite season. Sour grapes, huh?

Anyway the cherry blossom schedule is already out on the KTO website for those of you who are planning to catch the sights in Korea this season.  Happy planning for your itinerary!

Click here for the full details for where and when the cherry blossoms are expected to make their appearance and click here for the predictions for forsythia and azaleas.


sources:
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?nCategoryID=1&SearchType=&keyword=&gotoPage=1&cid=1224040&cCode=&nCategoryID=&searchType=&searchKeyword=
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?cid=1223280

Cherry Blossoms In A Ring Of Fire

Older generations of Koreans may have an ambivalent attitude towards the appearance of cherry blossoms  on the Korean landscape as they evoke bitter memories of the Japanese occupation. According to Hannah Kim, "Already on the 50th anniversary of the Japanese surrender in World War II, some of the cherry blossoms that were planted by the Japanese were chopped down at Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul because they were identified as painful remnants of the colonial past. "
 

Cherry blossoms, for others, may simply spell the end of winter and start of spring. It's a popular motif on wedding cakes and some people even like it as a tattoo. However, long before the samurai and kamikaze pilots adopted the flower as their special symbol, the cherry blossom has symbolised for the Japanese the "transient nature of life" or fleeting beauty. When the sakura starts to appear in Japan around mid-April this year, there may not be so many cherry-blossom viewing parties under the trees with the attendant sake-drinking and feasting. Instead, the delicate blooms will probably be viewed silently with a wrenching of the heart and a sting in the eye.

So this posting is dedicated to all those who were killed in the recent 9.0-magnitude earthquake cum 10-meter tsunami disaster in Japan. They may have been ordinary citizens of Japan, or Koreans living and working there and there may have also been various nationalities visiting , working and living there but the forces of nature weren't discriminating. May their souls rest in peace.

BTW, check out this ominous article by Simon Winchester on the devastation in Japan which uncovers a conspiracy of triple whammies - geography, topography and geological history. His commentary begins with this sombre reminder:

"All of those broken bones in northern Japan, all of those broken lives and those broken homes prompt us to remember what in calmer times we are invariably minded to forget: the most stern and chilling of mantras, which holds, quite simply, that mankind inhabits this earth subject to geological consent—which can be withdrawn at any time."

sources:
http://www.newsweek.com/2011/03/13/the-scariest-earthquake-is-yet-to-come.html
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2011/02/168_63676.html
http://epoch-archive.com/a1/en/us/nyc/2009/04-Apr/08/B2.pdf
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/wallpaper/photography/photos/cherry-blossoms-gallery/imperial-palace-cherry-blossom/
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/seasonal/sakura2011/index.php
http://www.stolaf.edu/people/kucera/YoshidaWebsite/evolution/essay_pages/stephanie_cargile.htm

Spring's Here, For Some At Least

Snow on Haeundae Beach, Busan - 14 February 2011

While those in the east coast may still be shovelling snow from their rooftops of their houses and cars or pathways outside homes or shops, those on the west coast of the Korean peninsular seem to be enjoying balmy temperatures already.

Snow-covered roofs in Gangwon-do, 17 Feb 2011

Let's hope this spring will be a mild one and more predictable than last year. The cherry blossoms didn't oblige photographers and enthusiasts by appearing on schedule.  There were also unpleasant surprises for Korean farmers last spring.  

Red plum blossoms have appeared at the UN Memorial Park, Busan

KBS reports: "Spring flowers are beginning to bloom on Jeju Island. Rape blossoms, which are regarded as harbingers of spring on the island, are blooming in some coastal areas. The blooming will be at its peak in March and April. Japanese apricot flowers are also in full blossom, signaling that winter is giving in to spring. The temperature even reached as high as 15 degrees Celsius on Jeju last week. Tourists to Jeju are busy bidding farewell to the severe winter and ushering in spring on the southern island." 

White plum blossoms in Hallim Park, Jeju

sources:
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2932471
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Dm_detail.htm?No=79584
http://www.korea.net/news.do?mode=detail&guid=53309
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_photo_detail.htm?No=16025&current_page=
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_photo_detail.htm?No=16077&current_page=

Nature Plays Cat and Mouse With Korea's Weather Forecasters?

I used to trust the annual schedules that indicated the best times to visit different parts of Korea to see the cherry blossoms - didn't have problems in 2007 using the schedule posted on the KNTO website to plan my itinerary.  But these days, it looks as if nature is making difficult the job of predicting when the cherry blossoms will appear. The discrepancy of more than a week is quite glaring and most inconvenient for those outside Korea who want to fly in specially to see these springtime flowers and to take part in the spring festivals. Now I wonder how much credence the autumn foliage schedule will have.

"What took you so long?" Cherry blossoms finally bloom at Yeouido around the 16th and 17th of  March.

According to this 2010 schedule taken from the KNTO website, the cherry trees were expected to bloom around the 6th of April in Seoul.

sources:

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/04/19/2010041900396.html

http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/FU/FU_EN_15.jsp?nCategoryID=&searchType=&keyword=&gotoPage=5&cid=970238&cCode=&nCategoryID=&searchType=&searchKeyword=

A Stroll Along Anmin Road

Thanks to a kind ajumma who gave me a ride to the start of Anmin Road in Jinhae, I was able to realise another modest dream of mine. Eversince I saw the road lined with cherry blossoms in the drama series, Romance, I was set on seeing the place for myself.

Anmin Road , perched on the shoulder of the small mountain range, gives one a pretty good view of the city below. There were plenty of Koreans and a few foreign tourists on the promenade and I remember an elderly gentleman enjoying the spring air with his dog. Turns out that's his daily walk. Lucky man, lucky pooch.

Looking for "Romance" in Jinhae

It was love at first sight. No, I wasn't smitten by Kim Jae-won, the male lead in the 2002 MBC TV drama, "Romance" which also stars Kim Ha-neul. Instead, I fell in love with the array of cherry blossoms featured in the early part of the series. The moment I saw them, I just knew I HAD to visit the spot.

Took me a while to figure out the location but eventually I got round to planning a spring trip to Korea specially  to catch the blossoms on the cherry trees in the naval port of Jinhae in the spring of 2007.

There were two scenes I wanted to check out in particular: first, Anmin Road where the star-crossed lovers take a stroll along a beautiful promenade.

The second is  Yeojwacheon Stream (여좌천)  where the main characters, Gwanu and Chaewon meet on a bridge flanked by rows of cherry trees in full bloom on both sides. It's become known since the drama series appeared as the ‘Romance Bridge’.




Both scenes can be found in this music video, Unfortunately though, the person decided to go in for a sepia like effect so the original colours can't be appreciated here. Thanks to chioyochan for posting this MV.

sources:
http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=827152
http://koreanfilm.org/tvdramas/index.htm#romance
http://www.arirang.co.kr/Blog/Arirang_Town.asp?code=Bl5&id=&page=11
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iX6z6lmoaBu7CGbD9OHizw