According to Wikipedia, the viewing of cherry blossoms was introduced to Korea during Japanese rule. Cherry blossoms symbolizes purity and beauty in Korea. Koreans celebrate lots of flower festivals, but cherry blossom festival is the most popular one. Few weeks ago we went to the famous Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival, and today I’ll share my experience here. ^_^

A cherry blossom is a flower of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is called sakura after the Japanese.

You will see blooming cherries everywhere in Jinahe, but the main tourist spots include: Gyeonghwa Station, Yeojwacheon Stream, Jinhae NFRDI Environment Eco-park and Jangboksan Sculpture Park.We don’t have a private car, so we mostly used public transports, and it was pretty convenient. We went a week earlier than the actual festival, still there were lots of people. Gyeonghwa Station is a bit far away from the city, while Yeojwacheon Stream, Jinhae NFRDI Environment Eco-park and Jangboksan Sculpture Park are pretty close to each other. After reaching in Jinhae bus station, we went to Yeojwacheon Stream first. Takes only 10-15 minutes from the station by bus. And for Jinhae NFRDI Environment Eco-park and Jangboksan Sculpture Park, we went by foot.  At the end of the day, my mobile phone showed that I’ve walked for 10Km. But if you are not comfortable walking you can take bus or a taxi.

Yeojwacheon Stream (여좌천) is the  bridge where the two leading characters (Gwanu and Chaewon) of ‘Romance’, MBC’s TV series, first met as tourists who came to Jinhae to watch the Naval Port Festival. After the episode was aired, the bridge instantly became popular and widely known as the ‘Romance Bridge’.

At the end of Yeojwacheon Stream, NFRDI Environment Eco-Park is located. The park contains 65 different species of trees (sheepberry, willow, boxwood, cherry blossom trees, etc.) and abundant flowers (golden reed, hosta, water canna, irises, etc.). There is a beautiful lake inside the park, with cherry trees on the edges, it provides a splendid view. The park is covers a wide area,  83,897㎡ in total. From this park if you walk for 15 minutes, you will reach to the Jangboksan park. In Jangboksan Sculpture Park there are more than ten thousand cherry trees interspersed throughout the pines come to full bloom during spring. Inside the park, there are some beautiful sculptures. It says that the park is unofficial gateway to Jinhae at the end of Jangbok-ro Road between Masan and Jinhae. We went to Gyeonghwa Station at the very last.

Gyeonghwa Station is one of the top three spots in Jinhae for taking photos of the cherry blossoms. The area is often featured in Korean movies and dramas such as the film “Boy Goes to Heaven (2005)” and the drama “Spring Waltz (2006)”.

The main attraction of this spot is the rail tracks that are surrounded by the cherry trees and also two trains in two ends. People were going crazy for taking pictures with the train, there were even a long lines on both ends lol 

Here are my youtube vlog, where I added some moments from our tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecU9tNMlbu8&t=14s

Hope you enjoyed the post!

-Munira Chowdhury, 17/04/2019

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Reference: Wikipedia, Trip Advisor, Visit Korea

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