Cheongdo County (''Cheongdo-gun'') is a
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
in
North Gyeongsang
North Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상북도, translit=Gyeongsangbuk-do, ) is a province in eastern South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remained a province of Korea until the ...
Province,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
. It is connected to the national transportation grid by the
Gyeongbu Line
The Gyeongbu Line (''Gyeongbuseon'') is a railway line in South Korea and is considered to be the most important and one of the oldest ones in the country. It was constructed in 1905, connecting Seoul with Busan via Suwon, Daejeon, and Daegu ...
railroad and the
Daegu-Busan Expressway. The seat of government is located in the center of the county, in
Hwayang-eup.
In the
Samhan period, Cheongdo may have been the site of the small polity of
Ieso-guk. It was later absorbed into
Silla
Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of K ...
, and gained its current name of "Cheongdo" in 940. The county's nine subdivisions were established in 1919. The county government moved to its current location in 1961. In 1966, the
New Village Movement
The Saemaul Undong, also known as the New Community Movement, New Village Movement, Saemaul Movement or Saema'eul Movement, was a political initiative launched on April22, 1970 by South Korean president Park Chung-hee to modernize the rural Sout ...
began in Sindo 1-ri,
Cheongdo-eup.
Every year Cheongdo is host to an international
bullfighting festival.
The slogan for Cheongdo is "Singgreen Cheongdo."
Administrative divisions
Cheongdo is divided into two ''eup'' and seven ''myeon'', as below. These in turn are divided into 212 ''ri'', and 668 natural villages (''jayeon burak'').
Twin towns – sister cities
Cheongdo is
twinned with:
*
Gangnam-gu
Gangnam District ( ; , ) is one of the 25 local government districts which make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. Gangnam translates to "South of the (Han) River". Gangnam District is the third largest district in Seoul, with an area of . A ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
*
Jung-gu,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
*
Nenjiang,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
Festivals
* Bullfighting Festival
* Persimmon (Bansi) Festival
* Lantern Festival
Culture
Museums
* Cheongdo Museum
Monuments
* Cheongdo Memorial Park of Saemaeul Undong
Parks
* Unmunsan National Recreational Forest
experiences
* Seonamseowon Confucian Academy
* Cheongdo Hwarang-themed Cultural Park Auto-camping Site
* Cheongdo Bicycle Park Camping Site
* Cheongdo Rail Bike
* Cheongdo Hwarang-themed Cultural Park
* Comedy Cheolgabang Theater
* Korea Comedy Town
Other important spots
* Cheongdo Bullfighting Stadium
* Cheongdo Wine Tunnel
* Cheongdo Provence
Architecture
Historical
* Songamjeongsa House
* Unmunsa Temple
Foreigners
As Cheongdo is a small town, with a population that is just over 50,000, there is not a high number of foreigners. However, there are a few foreigners that are living there as English teachers through th
EPIK Program Unfortunately, it is very rare to come across a local Cheongdo resident that speaks English. Learning basic Korean is an essential for living in Cheongdo.
Climate & Weather
Much like the rest of Korea, Cheongdo has four distinct seasons. Summers in Cheongdo can be extremely hot as Cheongdo is only 30 minutes away from Daegu by train. Daegu is known to be one of the hottest cities in South Korea, due to the surrounding mountains that trap all the heat.
Winters can be rather cold, reaching -15 degrees Celsius on occasion. Furthermore, the air is extremely dry during the winter time.
Both Autumn and Spring are rather mild, no
extreme weather
Extreme weather or extreme climate events includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Often, extreme events are based on a locat ...
conditions for either. However, during Spring, typically in April, the air quality is very poor. It is very common to see locals protecting themselves with face masks against the "
yellow dust."
See also
*
Geography of South Korea
*
Subdivisions of South Korea
South Korea is made up of 17 first-tier administrative divisions: 6 List of special cities of South Korea#Position in hierarchy and types, metropolitan cities (''gwangyeoksi'' ), 1 List of special cities of South Korea, special city (''teukbyeol ...
References
External links
County government website
{{Coord, 35.647253, 128.734088, format=dms, display=title
Counties of North Gyeongsang Province