The Jeju World Culture & Travel Expo was an opportunity for tourists and locals to discover a taste of what Asia and beyond has to offer. With some unique performances from the member countries of the ASEAN group, the Expo was a big hit, bringing in some major crowds over the weekend.
On a stage setup on the soccer field there were a few speeches proclaiming the opening of the summit, along with a few performances for those seated in the stands.
The most exciting features however, were kept inside the stadium, in the underground parking lot which had been converted into a world cultural ensemble with tents and booths.
I ran into Mr. Miller taking some shots of a Chinese performance. Their makeup and dress were simply amazing.
I can only imagine what a full-on performance would be like.
Along with the other countries setup, Jeju had a lot of its own stuff, including a 판소리 (pansori) haenyo performance:
Probably the most popular thing about the Expo was the food; with food from Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and more, people were quickly grabbing tables to stake their territory.
Brian and I decided we'd each get a different thing, so that we could try as many tastes as possible. For 5,000 you got a plate dinner, not completely filling, but it was a nice sampler of what eating food from the various countries is probably like; the real thing is probably a lot cheaper.
Certainly one incentive to visit one of the many countries present there.
After having a bite, I decided to roam around the exhibitions and collect some travel brochures and other material, in case I ever decide to travel the Southeast, which is what I'm hoping to do once I'm finished here in Jeju.
Most of the material was in Korean, but the odd English pamphlet was available; the pictures and name titles are what's really important, as they give you the inspiration to find out more about such places.
The Cambodian performance wasn't as impressive as the Chinese one, but it had it's own style and rhythm to it:
I think the country I was most drawn to was Myanmar, as the pictures from their travel booklets just looked unreal. They had this puppet show scheduled for later in the afternoon, but I didn't get to stick around for it. I managed to catch a few minutes of one of the performers practicing.
It was probably one of the most well organized and cultural setups I've seen here on Jeju. If the Summit was received half as well, then the whole thing was probably a big success. Cheers to World Culture.
Photos by Brian Miller
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