Yeongcheon

Yeongcheon 영천시
Municipal City
Korean transcription(s)
• Hangul
• Hanja
• Revised Romanization	Yeongcheon-si
• McCune-Reischauer	Yŏngch'ŏn-si
Emblem of Yeongcheon
Location in South Korea
Country	South Korea
Region	Yeongnam
Administrative divisions	1 eup, 10 myeon, 5 dong
Area
• Total	919.76 km2 (355.12 sq mi)
Population (2003)
• Total	113,807
• Density	123.7/km2 (320/sq mi)
• Dialect	Gyeongsang

Yeongcheon (Korean pronunciation: [jʌŋ.tɕʰʌn]) is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.

Yeongcheon is located 350 km southeast of Seoul, in the southeast of North Gyeongsang Province. It is on the Gyeongbu Expressway linking Seoul and Busan, and is also the junction of the Jungang and Daegu railway lines.

As a rural city, many of Yeongcheon's citizens farm to earn their living. The most well-known crop is the grape, which is generally large, seeded and often peeled before consuming (due to Koreans' concern over fertilizers and pesticides).

The Bohyeon Mountain Starlight Festival takes place in summer and is centered in the Bohyeon Mountain Observatory, which houses the third-largest telescope in Korea. In late summer, the Grape Festival takes place, hosting events such as the Miss Grape contest and a grape-eating competition. Yeongcheon is also well known for its Herbal Medicine Festival, which takes place in October and hosts traditional singing and lots of herbs.

Notable individuals born in the city include Goryeo period general Choe Mu-seon and Goryeo intellectual Jeong Mong-ju. Also, it was the hometown of Paek Gun Sang, a tremendous Korean War veteran, who led himself to a high government position without being paid any kind of salary during the Korean War.

Tourists to Yeongcheon are few, but popular destinations include Eunhaesa Temple, the War Memorial Park, Cyan Art Gallery, Yeongcheon Dam, the Jeong Sowon and Gatbawi.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/22/world/asia/22brides.html?pagewanted=2 http://en.yc.go.kr/

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