TRAVEL
30 Around Korea
The Purple Islands Selfie Paradise
Gwangju News, May 2022
gwangjunewsgic.com
By William Urbanski
A
hhh, good old Shinan. Characterized by farmland, tidal flats, and all-around nice people, the 1,004 islands of the region are spread out, isolated, and beautiful. Compared to the big city livin’ of Gwangju, life in Shinan plays out at a slower pace, and while at first glance life out there may seem boring, “peaceful” is how it actually feels. When I first came to Korea all those years ago, it was on an island in Shinan where I made my home for four years: a time I look back on fondly. Shinan’s most well-known exports are salt and President Kim Dae-jung, but the region is also very well known for its beautiful beaches and numerous festivals. Imja-do’s annual Tulip Festival, for example, attracts a stunning number of visitors each year. In recent years, Shinan has been undergoing infrastructure upgrades, including a number of impressive bridges that have even become points of
2022�05��.indd 30
attraction in and of themselves. Since these bridges have greatly increased access to the area (in times past, much of the area could only be accessed by ferry), the next logical step was to find a way to attract even more visitors, and with the Purple Islands, Shinan hit it out of the park. The Purple Islands of Banwol and Bakji (반월도와 박지도) are connected by three massive (and purple) walking bridges. Many of the residents jumped wholeheartedly onboard with this marketing initiative and even agreed to have their homes painted. In addition to the purple buildings, there are fields of purple lavender as well as….look, what I am trying to say is there is all sorts of purple things over there and it sounds weird but it is actually really cool and a lot of fun to check out! The Artist Formerly Known as Prince is looking down on Shinan from heaven and smiling.
2022-04-26 �� 2:06:13
