A Journey Along the Joseon-Era Outline That Guarded the West Coast

Walk the walls of Haemi Eupseong with an open heart, and you'll see the marks of time etched clearly into them. Take in the sweeping sea views as you explore Sinduri Coastal Dune and Chollipo Arboretum. A pleasant coastal walking trail has also been built along Taean's shoreline, so it's worth a stroll.Source: Chungcheong, More Charming the Longer You Stay

Along the way

1. 1

   Haemi Eupseong, Seosan

   서산 해미읍성

   A representative eupseong (walled town fortress) of the Joseon dynasty. An eupseong is a flatland fortress built to encircle a town; besides Haemi Eupseong, Gochang Eupseong and Nagan Eupseong are also well known. Haemi Eupseong is a stone fortress completed in 1491, the 22nd year of King Seongjong's reign. It is an enormous fortress about 1.8km in circumference, 5m in height, and covering a total area of 198,348m² (roughly 60,000 pyeong), with three gate towers on its east, south, and west sides. It has recently undergone restoration and cleanup projects to recover its old appearance and has been developed into a historic park; it is also well known as a martyrdom site for Catholics in the late Joseon period. \nMoreLess

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2. 2

   Lunch (Hyangsu Garden)

   점심식사(향수가든)

   Hyangsu Garden is a barley-rice set-meal restaurant near Haemi IC, the gateway to the Taean Peninsula. It is only about 1km from Haemi IC and about a 5-minute walk from Haemi Eupseong. It has been run by the Ahn Jong-seok family, local villagers, since it opened in 1995. It is notable for its neat table settings, personally prepared by the owner couple, in a comfortable atmosphere reminiscent of a hometown house created by partially remodeling their family home. \nMoreLess

   

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3. 3

   Rock-Carved Standing Buddha Triad at Dongmun-ri, Taean

   태안 동문리 마애삼존불입상

   An early example of Korea's rock-carved Buddhist statues, it features a rectangular niche carved into a fan-shaped rock face, with a bodhisattva statue placed at the center and Buddha statues on either side. Unlike a typical Buddhist triad, which consists of one Buddha statue and two bodhisattva statues, this is an unusual triad formation made up of two standing Buddha statues and one standing bodhisattva statue.\n\nMoreLess

   

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4. 4

   Chollipo Arboretum

   천리포수목원

   Located in Sowon-myeon, Taean-gun, Chungnam, at the very tip of the Taean Peninsula, Chollipo Arboretum (director Jo Yeon-hwan) is one of Korea's first-generation arboretums, built up over more than 40 years by its founder, the late Min Byeong-gal (American name: Carl Ferris Miller), who was known as 'the blue-eyed Korean.' The arboretum purchased its land in 1962 and began planting trees in earnest from 1970. For the purpose of education and securing and conserving species diversity, it had only allowed limited entry to experts in related fields and supporting members, until part of the area was opened to the general public in 2009.\nMoreLess

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5. 5

   Sinduri Coastal Dunes, Taean

   태안 신두리 해안사구

   Sinduri Dunes on the Taean coast began forming slowly some 15,000 years ago, after the ice age. Located in an area directly exposed to the northwest monsoon, they are a typical example of a sedimentary landform in which sand was carried to the shore by strong winds and piled into dunes over a long span of time. As a typical dune area showing every natural condition that can appear in dunes—foredunes, dune grassland, dune wetlands, dune woodland, and more—it is the largest of Korea's coastal dunes and forms a unique natural landscape. It also serves as a buffer connecting the inland and the coast and provides protection from storm surges.\nMoreLess

   

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