Andong

Andong ( Kor. 안동 ) is a city in the South Korean province of Gyeongsangbuk -do. It is just under 185,000 inhabitants, the largest city in the northern part of the province. The Nakdonggang flows through the city. Andong is a market center for the surrounding area, which is agricultural in particular.

In the time when Korea was a part of the Japanese Empire ( 1910-1945 ), Japanese was the national language. The city, therefore, was the Japanese name Ando, ​​which is the Japanese pronunciation of the city name written安 东.

Since the 1970s Andong has developed rapidly located, although the population has fallen by nearly 70,000 inhabitants, as many have moved to Seoul and other major cities. End of the 1990s it became a center for tourism and culture. In the surrounding area has many old traditions are maintained, so in mid- October, the annual Andong Folk Festival. One of the most famous aspects are the Andong masks.

The Andong National University, specializing in education and Korean folklore has grown rapidly since the 1970s. Other tertiary institutions include, among others, the Andong Institute of Information Technology, Andong Science College and the Catholic Sangji College.

Attractions

The center of Andong becomes quite manageable. So is the " Food Street " ( 음식 의 거리 ) on a decorative gate from the main road accessible, and contains only restaurants that are partly specialized in different courts, among others, which are considered local specialty chicken variants. Not far away is the Andong market ( 안 동구 시장 ), which has a similar structure with its covered passageways as the traditional markets in other Korean cities.

Nearer the city, a trip in the area around the Andong Dam, which impounds the Nakdonggang, Korea's longest river. This is here from the " Moon Light Bridge" ( 월영교 ) spans, the longest 387 meters pedestrian bridge in Korea. The apartment is also close to the small but interesting folklore museum with the adjacent Folk Village, but which is only a few houses that had been displaced during the construction of the dam.

If it about a kilometer further up the hill ( to the restaurants over), you reach the shooting location for a well known drama series on KBC, which plays in the Joseon Dynasty. Behind a wide wall with recessed gate, there are the scenes of many traditional straw - roofed houses and brick as well as the reconstruction of a small palace including prison. The vast grounds and all the buildings have free and unlimited access as long as there be no shooting.

As an excursion into the surrounding area of the Andong Folk Village, Hahoe is recommended that about 24 kilometers to the west is the city. Unlike other such villages people still live in the approximately 130 traditional houses. Most are therefore not accessible to visitors and surrounded by high walls - a few, however, are free to visit.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Tachihara Masaaki (1926-1980), Japanese writer