Sariwon - the gate to Pyongyang

HOW TO GET THERE | SARIWON | MAP | FOLK CUSTOMS STREET | SONGBUL TEMPLE | SIMWON TEMPLE | MIGOK FARM | SINCHON | CUISINE  | HOTELS | AROUND SARIWON

Sariwon is the capital of North Hwanghae Province and is the southern gateway to Pyongyang. With population well above 300,000 Sariwon is one the most densely populated cities of the DPR Korea. Sariwon is located near famour Mt. Jangbang and it is a city with developed industry, agriculture and education - there are more than 10 universities in the city.

A planned city, Sariwon was developed when the railway from Seoul (now in South Korea) to Sinŭiju was built in 1906, it is a junction for rail, road, and river transport. Its industry is mainly light, including agricultural machine workshops, food processing, and spinning mills. Sariwon is known to produce the country's tastiest Maccoli, a well known Korean alcoholic beverage

How to get to Sariwon

Sariwon is a city situated at the mid-way of Pyongyang-Kaesong Motorway about 70 km south-east from Pyongyang, it is an ideal place for a short tour on the way to or back from Kaesong. It is within 1.5 hour drive from Pyongyang. Some of our group tours make a stop in Sariwon on the way back to Pyongyang from a half day tour to DMZ (at border with South Korea)

Sariwon

Before the liberation in 1953 Sariwon was a commercial city but since the liberation it has developed into a city with modern industry and advanced agriculture. Sariwon has over 10 universities. There are several attractions in the city:

Folk Customs Street. The street gives an insight to the visitors of Korea's old folk customs. Nestled at the foot of Mt.Kyongam it offers cultural heritges of ancient Koreans. The village consists of amusement hall, folk restaurant, Kyongamsan Hotel, Sariwon History Museum, folk game ground, Kyongsam Noodle Restaurant. 

Mt. Kyongam. It is arranged as a garden in the city centre. It presents a harmonious combination of natural surroundings and varieties of plants. Rare flowers bloom in spring whereas mapples in autumn feature breathtaking colors. There are magnificient Kyongsam and Songun Pavlions

Kyongam Pavilion. It is situated at the foot of Mt.Kyongam. the pavilion was first built in Masan-ri in 1436 and later in 1798 it was moved to Kuup-ri, and then in 1817 it was moved again to its present location.

Jongbang Station is a passenger railway station. The old name is Kyedong Station till 1956. It is on located on the Pyongbu Line, which was formed from part of the Kyongui Line to accommodate the shift of the capital from Seoul to Pyongyang; though this line theoretically connects Pyongyang to Pusan, in reality it ends at Kaesong due to the Demilitarized zone. The station is located near the well-known tourist sites of Mt. Jongbang, Jongbang Fortress and the Songbul Buddhist temple.

Hwangju Riverside Stadium is a multi-use stadium. It is currently used mostly for football matches and hosts the home matches of Sariwon United. The stadium holds 7,500 people.

Sariwon Chongnyon Station is the central passenger railway station of Sariwon. It is on located on the Pyongbu Line, which was formed from part of the Kyongui Line to accommodate the shift of the capital from Seoul to Pyongyang

Map and Main Attractions

1. Folk Customs Street 2. Mt. Kyongam 3. Kyongam Pavilion

4. Mt. Jongbang 5. Fort on Mt.Jongbang 6. Songbul Temple

7. Jongbang Station 8. Hwangju Riverside Stadium 9. Sariwon Chongnyon Station

Folk Customs Street

Open since 2007, "to show the traditions and customs of the Korean nation to the youth, students and working people", with its murals depicting old arts of traditional games like tug of war and wrestling and crafts like kimchi-making. Nestled at the foot of Mt.Kyongam the street gives an insight to the visitors of Korea's old folk customs. The village consists of amusement hall, folk restaurant, Kyongamsan Hotel, Sariwon History Museum, folk game ground, Kyongsam Noodle Restaurant. 

Travellers will have a chance to walk around the old town and enter one of the several Macolli bars where locals enjoy the local beverage

Songbul Temple and Mt Jongbang

Songbul Temple. The temple is situated at the foot of Chonsong Peak, highest in the mountain. It was first built in 898 and rebuilt in Koryo dynasty. It consists of 5-story pagoda and six buildings including Kuknak and Ungjin Temples, Chongphung Pavilion, Myongbu Temple, Unha Hall and Sansin Pavilion.

Mt. Jongbang. It rises 481m high at Jongbang-ri, in Sariwon. The mountin ridges appeared a square at the viewer's eye level - that is why it is called Jongbang. In the mountain there are many spots to enjoy beatiful landscapes. In the mountain there are magnificent waterfalls, 100m high cliffs and dense forest. In the remote past there were 48 temples in the mountain but only the Songbul Temple has survived till present.

Fort on Mt.Jongbang. It is stone fort built at the stiff mountain in Koryo dynasty. It was re-built in 1632-1635. The length of the fort wall is about 12km, and it is 5-6m high. It had four gates with magnificient gatehouses. In the fort there are preserved sites of quarters, armory, granary and some other buildings. There are 4 ponds and 7 wells within the walls of the fort.

South Gate of the Fort on the Mt. Jongbang it is the largest and most solid of the wall gates. The pavilion on the South Gate is the highest of the wall-gate pavilions preserved in Korea, the archway is 6.3 m high and 4.2 m wide. The gate was destroyed during the Fatherland Liberation War and was rebuilt in Juche 57 (1968).

Simwon Temple

Simwŏn-sa is a Korean Buddhist temple. The temple contains one of the oldest wooden buildings in North Korea, as well as a famous peach tree and stupas from the late Koryo dynasty. Built in 1374 Pogwang Hall is the fourth oldest wooden building in North Korea, and houses a painting by the famous Neo-Confucian scholar Yi Saek. The hall is notable for its elaborate doors decorated with carved lotus blossoms, fish, birds, and snakes

Migok Cooperative farm

Migok Cooperative Farm is conviently located near entrance to Sariwon, it strives to meet the demands of the Juche farming method in doing farm even under the unfavorable climate conditions. The focus of this farm is rice. It is a great opportunity to visit a greenhouse to see how vegetables are grown using snails for environmental pest control. There also will be an opportunity to tour into one of the houses of the people working on the fields to experience farmer's life.

Sinchon

Sinchon is about 30 km drive from Sariwon. It is home for the Sinchon Massacre Museum which tells of an appalling atrocity committed by the US forces during the Korean War. The museum charts the massacre of over 35,300 civilians - men, women, children and babies.

Cuisine

Sariwon is famous with Onban - it is served with boiled rice in a bowl dressed with sliced chicken, muchrooms, shredded egg fry and pouring chicken soup inside.

Restaurants:

• Sohung Tea House - 30km further from Sariwon to Kaesong there is the Sohung Tea House that bridges the road, where according to korean guides "you can recover from fatigue and enjoy the nature" and have some tea, ginseng and beer, and taste some local snacks.

Hotels

• Sariwon March 8 Hotel: Deluxe room 1, standard rooms 3, economy rooms 20

Around Sariwon

• Sinchon - drive 30 km due east via Chaeryong to see Sinchon Massacre Museum which tells of an appalling atrocity committed by the US forces during the Korean War.
• Simwŏn-sa is a buddhist temple located in Yŏntan-gun. The temple contains one of the oldest wooden buildings in North Korea, as well as a famous peach tree and stupas from the late Koryo dynasty
• Anak - 16 km notheast of Sichon. Between Anak and Sinchon there are three UNESCO-listed tombs of Anak
• Kaesong - Kaesong is a small city at the border with South Korea (only 8 km from the DMZ with South Korea), it was a former capital of the Koryo Dynasty (918–1392 CE) for several hundred years and was the only major city that changed hands between North and South Korea as a result of the Korean War.
• Dinosaur footprint - 28 km away from Kaesong towards Sariwon there are 30 great plate marks from around 180 million years ago, found during the road's construction
• DMZ - is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. The DMZ is a de-facto border barrier, which runs along the 38th parallel north. The DMZ cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly in half, crossing the 38th parallel on an angle, with the west end of the DMZ lying south of the parallel and the east end lying north of it. It was created as part of the Korean Armistice Agreement between North Korea, the People's Republic of China, and the United Nations Command forces in 1953