tourism

Mt Taesong, 270 metres high, has wonderful geographical features and is covered with evergreen pine trees and therefore the scene of the green forests of Mt Taesong in late autumn has been known as one of the eight scenes of Pyongyang since olden times.

It was originally called Mt Kuryong or Mt Ryong and got the present name after a large fort was built there to repel foreign invasion in the period of Koguryo (277 BC-AD 668).

There are a chain of six peaks rising like a folding screen on the mountain and two broad and long valleys with the long ridge of Jujak Peak extending southwest in between.

The mountain is mainly covered with pine trees, along with oak, oil-bearing and wild fruit trees and flowering plants, and inhabited by pheasants, migratory grosbeaks, orioles, woodpeckers, roe deer, hares and other animals and birds.

On Jujak Peak (184m) of the mountain there is the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on Mt Taesong, where the busts of the anti-Japanese revolutionary martyrs, who fought bravely for the freedom and liberation of the people, stand.

The picturesque mountain located near the heart of the capital city has been built as a splendid pleasure ground of the people.

The Taesongsan Amusement Park was completed in 1977 and underwent total renovation in October 2012.

In the park there are 14 kinds of amusement facilities including a 1 500-metre-long roller coaster, a big wheel and bumper cars and large and small service facilities.

In the mountain there are the large-scale Central Zoo and Central Botanical Garden keeping the country’s animal and plant resources and world-famous animals and plants.

The botanical garden covering a total area of over 570 hectares has thousands of species of plants including more than 3 000 species of gift plants presented by heads of state and prominent figures of different countries of the world and overseas Koreans, and thousands of species of indigenous plants, which are preserved as national treasures, and the number of them is on a steady increase.

Opposite the botanical garden is the over 100-hectare zoo.

In the zoo there are many animal halls and houses constructed in a modern style to go well with the surrounding scenery, such as a hall of gift animals, a distinctive aquarium, halls of reptiles, parrots and penguins, houses of beasts and elephants and an animal feat ground.

Beside the zoo, there is the Natural History Museum with a total floor space of over 35 000 square metres.

The museum, which gives a correct understanding and extensive knowledge of nature, has halls dedicated to space, Palaeozoic and Mesozoic eras, animals and plants and serves as a scientific research and dissemination base and distinctive educational base for working people, students and children and cultural recreation centre.

In Mt Taesong, there are also many historical sites and relics showing the time-honoured history of the country and the resourcefulness and talents of the Koreans.

They include Taesongsan Fort, 20 castle gate sites, over 170 pond sites and water ponds, Anhak Palace site at the foot of the mountain fort and old tomb clusters. The 200-metre section of the fort wall on Somun Hill, the pavilion on Jangsu Peak, Nam Gate, Kwangbop Temple and other relics are preserved in their original state.

In addition, there are such natural monuments as magnolia of Mt Taesong, catalpa of Mt Taesong and fossils from the Mesozoic era of Mt Taesong.