Buckwheat flowers that once graced Jeju's Ora district and the storied fields of Bongpyeong in Pyeongchang — where the characters Heo Saengwon and Dong-i roamed — have now arrived at Hapyeong Beach in Donghae. Coming outside their usual season makes them all the more welcome.
Hapyeong has reinvented itself once again. The site was once a dredged-soil dumping ground for Mukho Port before it began its transformation into a floral seaside attraction, hosting successive waves of green barley, coreopsis and cosmos blooms that played off the blue surf. This season, white buckwheat flowers take center stage.
A new white fence has recently been installed along the flower field beside the sea, framing the contrast between the buckwheat blossoms and the blue water and making the view even more striking.
Hapyeong Beach has long drawn visitors as a distinctive tourist destination where the sea and a railway line meet in an unusual shared landscape.
Rail safety concerns have restricted pedestrian crossings at the level crossing, limiting access for visitors. In response, the city has set up a dedicated photo zone along a nearby disused section of track where visitors can take pictures safely.
This autumn, visitors can take in all of it together — the white buckwheat flower fields, the blue sea at Hapyeong Beach, the decommissioned-railway photo zone and a coastal forest walking trail. Stumbling upon a summer bloom in the heart of fall feels like spotting a flower in the dead of winter, and the crowds are sure to follow.
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