Today, Korea abides by the solar calendar but some traditionalists rely on the lunar calendar to determine birthdays, etc. Many Korean businesses give 설날 calendars to their employees and customers most of these calendars include both the solar and lunar cycles. Will you celebrate 설날 ? If so, what are your plans? (Note: Next week, I will write about how I celebrated 설날 !) This is the busiest travel time of the year in Korea. Most Korean business are closed on 설날 eve and day, as most of Koreans travel to visit family members and elders. The 2012 three-day holiday will be from January 22 nd to January 24 th. The holiday begins on 설날 eve this year, 설날 lands on January 23 rd. 설날 is a three-day public holiday in Korea public holidays are called 공휴일 (transliteration: gonghyu- il). In our previous blog article, we discussed that Lunar New Year is called 설날 (transliteration: “Sohl-nahl”), with the literal meaning roughly translating to, “new day”. Traditional holidays are called 명절 (transliteration: “myeong jeol”). Although Koreans celebrate both Solar and Lunar New Years, Lunar New Year is one of Korea’s most important traditional holidays. Those into winter sports should definitely hit the slopes as you'll be seeing some of the least number of crowds there is! But again, verify they are open.As the holiday season is quieting down in the Western world, the Eastern world is gearing up for Lunar New Year. And, let's face it, that awesome shot or selfie for your Facebook or Instagram at the beautiful Gyeongbokgung Palace or amid the neon signs of Myeongdong is only enhanced when there's less people around, right? This is also usually a great time to take advantage of those places that require wait times such as ride lines at amusement parks or the popular Namsan cable car. Because so many residents of Seoul are out of town this time of the year and because so many tourists from Asia also tend to be in their respective hometowns and not traveling, this means that for the places that are open you'll see some of the smallest number of visitors year-round!Īnd thankfully most of the capital's major attractions such as the royal palaces, museums, amusement parks, natural scenery remain open during this period (do double check the respective homepages to be sure). While the population of the city of Seoul is 10 million+, a good number of its residents hail from all over Korea so people are gone, smaller businesses close shop, and the city generally empties out to one of its lowest numbers of citizens of any point during the year.Īctually, Seoul at its "quietest" is a glass half-full way of describing the city, usually by the introverted traveler types who prefer less crowds and a relaxed pace. In particular, expect the day of Lunar New Year (in 2018's case, the 16th) to have the most number of places closed. That's, in fact, the reason why the government institutes a 3-day holiday period on every lunar new year so as to give people ample time to travel to their hometowns and enjoy their family time. The reason behind Seoul's near stand-still is that the lunar new year period is traditionally a family-oriented holiday where those who live in the big cities, like Seoul, will travel home to be with their loved ones. If you're in Seoul during the Lunar New Year period you'll be in the capital at its quietest (the other contender for quietest period being the other big holiday season, the mid-Autumn Festival, or "chuseok").
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