A good option for a summer vacation is to stay a night under a tent on an island beach. If you can set up a tent in a pine tree forest, safety is not a concern.

Jeungdo in Sinan County in South Jeolla Province is a good place to enjoy beach camping.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization, the island is Asia’s first town to join the international network of towns involved in “Cittaslow,” meaning “slow city” or “slow town” in Italian.

There are two places that allow camping in Jeungdo ― Ujeon Beach and Jjangttungeo Beach.

The Ujeon Beach sands are fine and soft like flour. With a wide 100-meter width beach and shallow waters, the beach is recommended for families with young children.

Behind Ujeon Beach, a thick pine tree forest is seated where 50-60 year-old 100,000 pine trees line up along it. The forest was established 50 years ago to protect the town from heavy sand winds. The camping spot is equipped with shower rooms and toilets.

If you are a bike-person, cycling through the forest is recommended. Jeungdo, was designated “an island of bicycles” in 2007 to protect its natural environment.
 
Another place to check on the island is the Taepyeong Salt Farm, the modern cultural asset No. 360. Walking along the 220-meter long trail, you will find more than 70 colonies of plants forming a unique and colorful harmony and various creatures living in the salt farm. You can learn more about the origin and value of sea salts at the Salt Museum located at the entrance of the salt farm which is designated as modern cultural asset No. 361.

If you want to take a wide view of the salt farm, climb up the Salt Farm Observatory on a hill its entrance.

In the salt farm, there are also the Salt Farm Experience Center and the Salt Plant Garden.

The island is also known for the 1976-1984 excavation of 14th-century cultural relics of the Chinese Won Dynasty. Excavated relics include 445 pieces of a sunken ship, 20,661 potteries, 729 metal products, 43 stone products, 1,017 purple birch pieces and 574 other pieces, according to Sinan County. A total of 23,024 relics were found.

For more information, call Sinan County’s tourism department at (061) 240-8356.

(Source: Korea Tourism Organization)

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)


Related websites:

- tour.sinan.go.kr

- saltmuseum.org