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Pyeongchang ( , ; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ) is a
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several
Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...
s, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of
Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
, the capital of South Korea, and connected by expressways and high-speed passenger railways. Pyeongchang's slogan, "Happy 700 Pyeongchang", is taken from its average
elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...
of approximately . Pyeongchang hosted the
2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...
and the 2018 Winter Paralympics. It was officially rebranded as "PyeongChang" (with a capital 'C') for the purposes of the 2018 Games, in order to avoid confusion with
Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...
in
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
.


History

Pyeongchang region was ruled by the
Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC – 668 AD) (; ; Old Korean: Guryeo) also later known as Goryeo (; ; Middle Korean: 고ᇢ롕〮, ''kwòwlyéy''), was a Korean kingdom which was located on the northern and central parts of the Korea, Korean Peninsula an ...
Dynasty during the
Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...
period, and it was called Uk-o-hyeon (욱오현). After the
Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...
dynasty conquered the Goguryeo Dynasty and
Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...
Dynasty, it was renamed Baek-o-hyeon (백오현). After the
Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...
Dynasty was established, it renamed Pyeongchang-hyeon. Then, it was under control of
Wonju Wonju (; ) is the most populous Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gangwon Province, South Korea, with a population of 364,860 as of 2023. The city is located approximately east of Seoul. History During the time of Joseon, Gr ...
. When a 10-provincial system was enforced, the north of Pyeongchang region was involved in Sakbang-do, and the south of the region was involved in Jungwon-do. When a new administrative system was carried out by King Hyeonjong, the east of the region was involved in Dong-gyeo, and the rest of it was included in Yanggwang-do. An administrator for the region was sent from the central government, and it became independent of Wonju in 1299. When the
Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...
Dynasty was founded in 1392, the region was promoted from a ''
hyeon Korea has had administrative districts that can be considered provinces since the 7th century. These divisions were initially called ''ju'' () in Unified Silla and Later Baekje, and there were nine in total. After Goryeo conquered these states in t ...
'' to a
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
(''gun''). After the territory was divided into 8 Provinces under the reign of King Taejong, it was involved in Gangwon-do. After the territory was divided into 23 districts in 1895 with the 8-provincial system abolished, it was included in Chugju-bu. When a 13-provincial system was enacted in 1896, it was involved in Gangwon-do.


Geography

The altitude of Pyeongchang is wide-ranging, with 84% of its territory comprising mountains with average elevations of . Its best-known place, the township of Daegwallyeong-myeon, averages between above sea level, with some areas over high.


Climate

Under the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
, Pyeongchang County experiences a warm-summer
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(''Dwb''). Pyeongchang's winters are long and very snowy, while summers are relatively short. Average temperature of Pyeongchang from 2001 to 2010 was 7.1 °C, and it was lower than Gangwon's 9.0 °C. Annual
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...
of the region from 2001 to 2010 was 1,555.0 mm, and it was more than Gangwon's 1,491.5 mm. The warmest months of the year are July and August, with January and February being the coldest.


Culture and tourism

Woljeongsa Nine Story Stone Pagoda


Cultural heritage sites

In Pyeongchang, 16 heritage sites were registered by the South Korean government, and 45 Heritages were registered by the Gangwon Provincial Office. The count of cultural heritage designations is as follows. * Registered by the Nation: 5 National Treasures, 5 Treasures, 1 Historic Site, 3 Natural Monuments, 1 National Folklore Cultural Heritage, 1 Registered Cultural Heritage * Registered by the local government: 29 Tangible Cultural Heritages, 2 Intangible Cultural Heritages, 4 Monuments, 10 Cultural Heritage Materials


Temples

Sangwonsa is a temple on Odaesan Mountain that was originally established as Jinyeowon in 705. Although the
Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...
Dynasty's policy was the prohibition of
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, it constantly donated to rebuild the temple. In 1401, King Taejong donated to the construction of Sajaam Hermitage. In 1465, King Sejo and administrators donated to rebuild the temple. Sejo's son, King Yejong designated it as a memorial for his father. During the Third Battle of Seoul, the
United Nations Command United Nations Command (UNC or UN Command) is the multinational military force established to support the South Korea, Republic of Korea (South Korea) during and after the Korean War. It was the first attempt at collective security by the U ...
ordered that the temple be burned, but a Buddhist monk prevented it. Instead, the Command agreed to burn only the doors of the temple. Sangwonsa has the following cultural heritage sites: * The Bell of Sangwonsa (National Treasure No. 36) * Promotion of Virtue for Rebuilding Sangwonsa (National Treasure No. 292) * Wooden seated figure of the Manjusri Child in Sangwonsa (National Treasure No. 221) ** Wooden seated figure of the Manjusri Child's Enshrined Heritages in Sangwonsa (Treasure No. 793) * Wooden seated figure of Manjusri and its Enshrined Heritages in Sangwonsa (Treasure No. 1811) ** Wooden sedentary figure of Manjusri's Enshrined Classical Kooks in Sangwonsa (Treasure No. 1812) Woljeongsa is a temple on Odaesan Mountain established by
Jajang Jajang (590–658) was a monk born Kim Seonjong, into the royal Kim family, in the kingdom of Silla. He is credited with founding the temple of Tongdosa in 646 CE, near in what is now Busan, South Korea, and played a significant role in th ...
the monk in 643. After it was established, it was consistently rebuilt. During the Third Battle of Seoul, 10 buildings were totally destroyed by fire. Tanheo the monk restored Jeokgwangjeon, one of the burnt buildings, in 1964, and Manhwa the monk gradually reconstructed other buildings. Woljeongsa has the following cultural heritage sites: * Octagonal Nine-story Stone Pagoda of Woljeongsa (National Treasure No. 48-1) ** Reliquaries of the Octagonal Nine-story Stone Pagoda of Woljeongsa (Treasure No. 1375) * Stone seated figure of the Bodhisattva in Woljeongsa (National Treasure No. 48-2) * Painting of Three Bodhisattvas originated from Wonju Guryongsa (Treasure No. 1855) (Placed in Wolljeongsa, possessed by Guryongsa) * Clothes of the Buddhist monk Han-am (Registered Cultural Heritage No. 645)


Historic sites

The Pyeongchang Odaesan Historic Archive ( Historic Site No. 34) was one of five archival locations in the latter part of the Joseon Dynasty for the
Annals of the Joseon Dynasty The ''Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty'', sometimes called ''sillok'' () for short, are state-compiled and published records, called Veritable Records, documenting the reigns of the kings of the Joseon dynasty in Korea. Kept from 1392 to ...
and Sonwon-kyebo-kiryak.


Festivals

* Daegwallyeong Snow Festival :Daegwallyeong Snow Festival began as "Daegwallyeong Winter Snow Festival" in 1992 by Daegwallyeong Ski Club. In 1993, the first festival was formally held. Events of the 1st festival were skiing competition for locals, games of making snowmen, snow sledge competition, and sledge competition. Some games were added to next festivals, such as traditional games and snow car raising. : On 7–22 Feb 2018, 26th festival was held in hwenggye-ri, Daegwallyeong-myeon as a pre-event of the
2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...
. Events include an exhibition of snow figures, snow sledge competition, international naked marathon, traditional folk performances, and Hwangbyoungsan Mountain hunting game. * Hyoseok Cultural Festival : Pyeongchang is the hometown of Lee Hyo-seok, a Korean novelist, and this festival is held in Lee Hyo-seok Culture Village, where he grew up.


Museum

* Lee Seung-bok Memorial Hall : The Lee Seung-bok Memorial Hall is located in Nodong-ri, Yongpyeong-myeon to memorialize Lee Seung-bok who was a South Korean boy murdered by North Korean commandos in 1968. It was established in 1982, with building a memorial statue for Lee. Lee's house was restored in 2000.


Tourism

Odaesan Mountain is the home of historical Buddhist temples including Sangwonsa and Woljeongsa. It was designated as a national park in 1975. The highest peak, Birobong Peak is high. Two major ski resorts in the county were the home of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Alpensia ski resort has six slopes for skiing and
snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...
, with runs up to long, for beginners and advanced skiers, and an area reserved for snowboarders. The resort is open year-round. Alpensia hosted the majority of the Olympic snow events. Yongpyong Resort, which has a total of 28 ski slopes, hosted the technical alpine skiing events. Alpensia will be the focus of the 2018 Cultural Olympiad, with a new, purpose-built
concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage (theatre), stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention ...
within the resort with an indoor water park. Samyang Ranch is the largest highlands farm in Asia, located in the hills of Daegwallyeong at 850 to 1,470 meters above sea level. It is operated as a petting zoo and features a pastoral landscape. The ranch is operated by the leading Korean food and dairy company Samyang Foods, the first company to introduce ramyeon instant noodles into a poverty-ridden South Korea in the 1960s. It is the filming location of the drama '' Autumn in My Heart'' and the movie ''Lover's Concerto''.


Sport

Pyeongchang hosted the 1999 Asian Winter Games and 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games. The
2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...
were also held in Pyeongchang, as well as the 2009 IBU Biathlon World Championships.


1999 Asian Winter Games

The Asian Winter Games was held in 1999 in Gangwon Province including Pyeongchang. Originally, it hoped to host the 3rd Asian Winter Games, which
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
gave up; however,
Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...
was announced to host the 3rd Games. It was decided that Gangwon would host the 4th Asian Winter Games at the same time. In total, 799 athletes participated in the Games.
Alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...
,
cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...
,
biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not ti ...
, short track speed skating, and
figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...
events were held in Pyeongchang.


2018 Winter Olympic Games

On 6 July 2011, Pyeongchang was announced as the host of the
2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...
and the 2018 Winter Paralympics. The other candidates were Annecy, France and Munich, Germany. It is the third Winter Games in
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
after the 1972 games in Sapporo, Japan and the 1998 games in Nagano, Japan. It also is the first Asian locality to host the Winter Games outside Japan. Pyeongchang won their 2018 bid after two previous failed attempts for the
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
and 2014 Winter Olympics, to which it lost to Vancouver, Canada, and Sochi, Russia, respectively. For the 2018 Olympics, Pyeongchang was marketed with the CamelCase spelling of "PyeongChang", so the global audience would not confuse it with
Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...
, the capital of neighboring
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
. The two main facilities created for the 2018 Winter Olympics were the PyeongChang Olympic Plaza (where the opening / closing ceremonies and victory ceremonies were held) and the Gangneung Olympic Park (where the men's and women's short track, speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey, curling events were held). The 2018 Winter Paralympics was held in the same venues starting 9 March 2018.


Olympic venues and Dream Program

In preparation for the 2018 Olympics, the region built facilities including hotels and a world-class ski resort, named Alpensia. The region also ran the "2018 Dream Program", a program initially created in relation to the 2010 bid. The 2018 Dream Program was the fifth iteration of this sports and cultural program, involving 124 participants from 31 countries, who were invited because they live where there is no snowfall and have no opportunity to participate in winter sports.


2024 Winter Youth Olympics

Gangwon Province, which includes Pyeongchang, was chosen as the host for the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics. Outdoor venues in Pyeongchang used in the 2018 Winter Olympics have been repurposed for the games.


Transportation

Pyeongchang County is traversed from west to east by the Gyeonggang Line and Yeongdong Expressway. The railway and expressway both originate in the Seoul metropolitan region.


Trains

A new KTX line, named the Gyeonggang Line, was built between
Wonju Wonju (; ) is the most populous Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gangwon Province, South Korea, with a population of 364,860 as of 2023. The city is located approximately east of Seoul. History During the time of Joseon, Gr ...
and Gangneung via Pyeongchang for the
2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...
, connecting Pyeongchang to
Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
with a journey time of less than 80 minutes. The new line, which was officially opened on 22 August 2017, provides a main-line high-speed rail service that passes through Pyeongchang from west to east, with KTX trains calling at Pyeongchang station and Jinbu station (for the Olympic Stadium). KTX trains to Jinbu station were increased for the duration of the 2018 Olympics.


Buses

;Intercity Buses Pyeongchang Bus Terminal and Jangpyeong Bus Terminal, Jinbu Bus Station and Hoenggye Bus Station are the main intercity bus terminals of the county. Daehwa Bus Station is also served by intercity buses. ;Transit buses Local transit operators connect communities in the county to hubs at Pyeongchang Bus Station, Jangpyeong Bus Terminal, and Jinbu Bus Station.


Road

; Expressways Yeongdong Expressway passes through Pyeongchang from west to east. After the expressway was expanded in 1999 for the Winter Asian Games, it takes about two hours from Seoul to Pyeongchang by car.관동대학교영동문화연구소(평창군지편찬위원회), ''평창군지 상'', Pyoengchang County, 2003, pp. 589–90. ;
National highways National Highways (NH), formerly Highways England and before that the Highways Agency, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in Eng ...
Pyeongchang County is traversed from west to east by National Routes 6 and 42; National Routes 31 and 59 pass through from north to south.


Administrative divisions

The district includes one town ( eup), Pyeongchang-eup (평창읍; 平昌邑) and seven townships ( myeon):


References


External links


Pyeongchang County government website

Pyeongchang 2018 website
{{Coord, 37, 22, N, 128, 24, E, type:city, display=title