[Around Us] Finding the Hidden Green in Busan

As the hot summer goes on, it is already refreshing September. Autumn is the season of meditation. Busan is well-known as the city of the ocean, but there are various natural attractions for people who want to enjoy a calm and peaceful time away from the bustling and crowded beach. Here are places where you can meditate alone or walk through the forest talking with your family, friends, or lover. Let me introduce Hwamyeong Arboretum and Hoedong Reservoir, which this reporter visited in September.

■Serene Hwamyeong Arboretum

Hwamyeong Arboretum in Busan Buk-gu Sanseong-ro is a large city forest with a gross area of about 96,000m², 13 times bigger than a soccer stadium. It possesses 1,429 species and 230,000 plants so that you can savor nature even in the urbanized city. It manages subject centers such as a greenhouse, aquatic ecological center, needle leaf tree center, broadleaf tree center, and flowering plant center; hence you can have an ecological education experience with preserved trees.

The admission and parking are free. The opening hours are from 9 AM to 6 PM (from March to October) and from 9 AM to 5 PM in winter (from November to February). It is closed on January 1st and Lunar New Year’s day, Chuseok, every Monday, or on the following Tuesday if Monday is a national holiday. 

It takes about 30 minutes from Pusan National University (PNU) Busan Campus to Hwamyeong Arboretums with public transportation. After you take the city bus (No. 203) at PNU South Gate, ride for 15 minutes, transfer to the village bus (Geumjeong-gu No.1) and arrive at the entrance. As you see the large stone at the entry and walk, the forest gallery and parking lot will appear. Since cars are not allowed to enter, it is good to park them across Daecheongyo above the Daecheon-Cheon Stream.

Some people talk with their family or friends, or some walk around and take photos, appreciating alone. The citizens’ faces cannot help looking bright because they enjoy the reserve through green trees. The cool wind rises in the bamboo forest, and many kinds of flowers infuse color on the green.

Arboretum has not only grasses, trees, and flowers. People had fun in the water, and children watched animals like ducks and goats at the forest animal learning center. You can look down at the beautiful landscape at the forest observatory and read books in the forest library, which has space for a person. Observing several plants and lizards in the greenhouse could be a special experience. You may find the answer to your worries, finding the exit of the labyrinth composed of vegetation. 

We can also take a chance on unusual experience programs. Groups are able to use the “forest explanation program” on weekdays and the individuals on weekends. The “natural object-making program,” available on weekend daytime, is for families with school children, but individuals can participate. Every program is for approximately 20 people, and you can make a reservation on the website a month ahead of time. The detailed contents are on the monthly program announcement. 

As we walk hard, it is time to eat bittersweet dessert. “Hayden Sincere” is the second branch of the “Hayden” ocean view cafe in Gijang. It is “hot” on social media thanks to its sensible interior, unique building mixed with mountain views, and various menus. It takes two minutes by car and 30 minutes to walk from Hwamyeong Arboretums. It also has a parking lot. It is at Geumjeongsanseong food town, thus you can spend a perfect healing day if you enjoy the cafe after a meal. “Buckhead,” cold brew coffee with cream, is a signature beverage.

■ The harmony of light blue and green, Hoedong Reservoir

Hoedong Reservoir is a lake in the mountain which borders five dongs of Busan Geumjeong-gu and is both a drinking water resource and a vacation spot for Busan citizens. The whole area is about 2km², and the perimeter is about 20km, so it takes five hours to go around the circumference trekking path. Oryundae, the term referring to the beautiful scenery neighboring Hoedong-ho and its observatory, is also famous.

The most convenient public transit from PNU to Hoedong Reservoir is walking to Guseo Station (Busan Metro line 1) and alighting at the last stop, Seon-Dong Sanghyun Village using the town shuttle bus “Geumjeong 3-1.”

You can see the scene where everyone takes a walk with their families, laughing and chatting on the path through a forest near the lake, wavering with the breeze. Some citizens enjoyed the clear weather and picnicked at the table below. You can also make a round harder with mountain clothes as it is a part of the Galmaet-gil. Photo spots let the stroll not be boring, and eating snacks with a break in the rest pagodas encourage us to walk again.

There are Tangmoe Red Clay Forest Path, cypress woods, and the waterside deck in the Hoedong Reservoir. You can feel the harmony of light blue and green by taking some photos for proof shots with cute sculptures and walking the deck road along the reservoir. Particularly in autumn, the color of fallen leaves under your feet delivers you a sense of the lively season. How about feeling nature with your body, walking through cypress woods with phytoncide and Tangmoe Red Clay Forest Path barefoot? It will be good to believe in the power of natural spaces when many thoughts are floating in your head.

“Seonyudowon,” a new cafe that opened in May, is famous on social media since it is located at the point 100m away from the entrance with views of the Suwonji. This building was built by Ko Sung-Ho who built the “Chilamsagye," a celebrated cafe in Gijang and introduced in the “Around Us” article in the last edition. Seonyudowon means “the paradise where Taoist hermit with miraculous powers plays and strolls.” Besides, the space considered the environment with plastic usage minimization, and the architecture was constructed by utilizing eco-friendly materials. The main menu is Seonyudowon Blend, a signature Drip brew with distinctive scent and flavor, and there are several kinds of bread, too.

Reporter Lee Yoon-Seo

Translated by Lee Yoon-Seo