Day 2 in Seoul
Day 2 broke around 5:00 AM. According to the tour guide, anyone can use your credit card in South Korea without needing a PIN, so make sure not to lose it. The 1,000 KRW bill is the smallest note, with 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, and 50,000 KRW being the four most common denominations. Five hundred years ago, Korea was in the Joseon Dynasty, with Confucianism as its main state doctrine. The 1,000 KRW bill features a prominent figure of Confucian thought and a top-tier philosopher (the value of the Korean won dropped after WWII). The 5,000 KRW bill also features a philosopher, and 5,000 KRW is enough to buy a bottle of beer or soju. Speaking of alcohol, everyone in South Korea drinks the same thing regardless of their status—even the president drinks soju. Koreans love drinking coffee and rarely drink milk tea; out of tens of thousands of coffee shops, most milk tea shops actually come from Chinese brands. The 10,000 KRW bill features the Joseon king who created the Korean alphabet (Hangul). At that time, etiquette and culture were borrowed from China, with the Lunar New Year and Chuseok (Mid-Autumn Festival) being the biggest holidays. You can get a meal for 10,000 KRW. The 50,000 KRW bill features a highly regarded female artist from the Joseon period, celebrated as an exemplar of a good wife and wise mother—she was actually the mother of the Joseon king shown on the 10,000 KRW bill. However, 50,000 KRW is not quite enough for a Korean beef BBQ dinner. There are virtually no counterfeit bills or fake goods in Korea. Office workers usually start work between 9:00 and 10:00 AM. Traffic efficiency doubled after President Lee Myung-bak's transportation reform. Archaeological findings of hand axes show that people lived in Korea as far back as 700,000 years ago. October 3rd is National Foundation Day in Korea, and March 1st is Independence Movement Day. The earliest state established in ancient Korea eventually led to the Three Kingdoms period. Silla later unified the Three Kingdoms with the help of China's Tang Dynasty. Following internal corruption, it became the Goryeo Kingdom, which was subsequently overthrown to establish the Joseon Kingdom. These dynastic shifts were closely tied to changes in China. Busan is also known as a thousand-year ancient capital. During the mid-Joseon period in 1592, the Japanese invaded, but were driven away by the Chinese at the time. After many historical shifts, Japan invaded Korea again later on and also helped restore various war-damaged sites in Korea. The guide mentioned that Koreans are also somewhat superstitious, visiting fortune tellers, though the main religions are Buddhism, Protestantism, and Catholicism. Among Korean corporations, Samsung Group is a giant that breached the trillion-dollar mark. BYD electric vehicles entered the Korean market starting last year in 2025, and electric buses now make up 90% of BYD's presence there. Korean companies are mostly family-controlled conglomerates, some interconnected through marriage.
Our first stop today was the Blue House (Cheong Wa Dae). Behind it stands Bugak Mountain, and in front lies Gyeongbokgung Palace, which holds a status similar to China's Forbidden City, though smaller in scale. AI helped me learn that due to destruction during the Japanese invasion, it was restored and rebuilt in modern times to be preserved as a Korean cultural heritage site. The palace signboards retain traditional Chinese characters. After the Joseon king created Hangul, Chinese characters gradually faded out, though both scripts coexisted for a period. Today, young people almost exclusively use Korean and English and can barely read Chinese characters. We took a stroll around Gyeongbokgung, snapped a few photos, learned about its history, and walked out through Gwanghwamun (the main gate) toward our next stop.
The weather was scorching hot. On the way, we finally found a place selling drinks. Since I couldn't use WeChat Pay and my card didn't work, the tour guide lent me some Korean won to buy a cup of grape green fruit tea. Along the street, we saw statues of the Joseon king and Admiral Yi Sun-sin, the legendary commander who never lost a battle.
Our second stop was Cheonggyecheon Stream, an urban recreational area restored during Lee Jae-myung's presidency that has been well-received by citizens. We rested and took photos there; thankfully, it was shady and breezy, otherwise the heat would have been unbearable. I also learned more about Samsung Electronics—Samsung's reach is vast, covering convenience stores, microchips, real estate, insurance, and shipbuilding/automotive industries. LG has a broad business presence too, as does Hanwha, a top-six conglomerate that started in explosives. These are all chaebols. For lunch, we went to an underground restaurant for ginseng chicken soup (\bm{Samgyetang}). I shared this delicious meal with a family of three and enjoyed a small cup of soju. Korean kimchi is flavorful, delicious, and made with fresh ingredients.
Our third stop was the National Museum of Korea. Since it was the weekend, it was crowded, and we waited in line for a long time to get in. I started exploring from the first floor all the way to the Ten-Story Stone Pagoda. I wanted to ask someone to take a photo of me, but not knowing Korean made me hesitate. With limited time, I headed up to the second floor first to see the two iconic Buddha statues. I managed to take photos; seeing the Buddha statues and other artifacts presented so authentically made it well worth the visit. Afterward, I hurried back down to get my photo taken. I plucked up the courage to say "Hello" in English to a Korean father and asked, "Could you help me take a picture?" He replied, "I am sure!" I asked him in English because I couldn't speak Korean, but he understood English. After taking the photo, we went our separate ways. The museum's crown jewels are indeed the two Buddha statues and the Ten-Story Stone Pagoda. Seeing so many genuine relics at the museum made me appreciate the richness of Korean culture. Having learned from Chinese culture and been influenced by Confucianism, they even have similar calligraphy and painting works, which surprised me quite a bit. It felt deeply historic, and I realized how limited my own knowledge was.
Our next stop was the Leeum Museum of Art (Samsung Museum of Art), which houses a rich and sophisticated collection. The ceramic arts, calligraphy, and paintings were exquisite and shared a clear cultural connection with China. We toured this museum very thoroughly, starting from the fourth floor and working our way down floor by floor, using Doubao (an AI tool) whenever I had questions. At the start, I hadn't picked up a ticket, and the ticket inspector asked me in English whether I was visiting or just using the restroom. Realizing I didn't have a ticket from a friend nearby, I replied, "I have no ticket." I had to go get a ticket before returning. The ticket inspector guided me in English the whole time, which made me realize how necessary learning English really is.
Finally, we enjoyed hot pot and bibimbap together before heading back to the hotel to rest.
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Day 2 in Seoul
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