Haeshindang - A sculpture park with a difference
Easter weekend arrived and although a large number of the population is Christian, they do not have Good Friday or Easter Monday off, unlucky for us. However we did have a rather interesting and busy weekend.
It started as most of them do with a stupidly early start (5am) to be able to get into Seoul to catch our Adventure Korea tour bus. Once we were safely on board we set off.
After a long drive and several rest stops later we stopped at our first destination Haeshindang in Samcheok City. This is where they hold the "World's Penis Crafting Competition" in July. So if you’re interested in participating that is the best time to visit, there is even a professional and amateur category so everyone is welcome.The penis crafting dates back 400 years ago as a traditional folk event. Every 15th day of the first month of the New Year according to the lunar calendar, the local government has hosted the folk event in which the penis crafting works are dedicated to the goddesses of virginity.
The background shows each year of the chinese calander carefully crafted into
a stone penis
I'm the year of the rat!
The funniest thing was walking around watching the usually, conservative and downright moody haji ma's laughing and joking. There were loads of them just standing and laughing at each new statue they came to. It was definitely a surprise to find something like this after living in Korea for this long.
- Posted by k_millington on 09/04/2007.
- k_millington's site
Please sign in or join etribes to add comments.
