Cheongju

Cheongju
	Cheongju; 청주
	— Municipal City —
	Korean transcription(s)
- Hangul	청주시
- Hanja	淸州市
- Revised Romanization	Cheongju-si
- McCune-Reischauer	Ch'ŏngju-si
	; Emblem of Cheongju
	; Emblem of Cheongju
Country	South Korea
Region	Hoseo
Administrative divisions	2 gu 29 dong
	Area
- Total	153.3 km2 (59.2 sq mi)
	Population (2005)
- Total	637,646
- Density	3,840.5/km2 (9,946.8/sq mi)
- Dialect	Chungcheong

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For similar names, see Chongju (disambiguation).

Cheongju is the capital city of Chungcheongbuk-do (province), South Korea. The city is divided into two wards ("Gu"), Heungdeok-gu (western part of the city) and Sangdang-gu (eastern part of the city).

[edit] History

Cheongju has been an important provincial town since ancient times.

During Hideyoshi's Invasions of Korea, Cheongju was the site of the Battle of Chongju, during which the Korean forces re-took the city from the Japanese forces in an important early victory.

The government of the province relocated here from Chungju in 1908.

The opening of the Chungbuk-line in 1926 sparked regional development. In 1946, Cheongju and Cheongwon-gun were separated, and in 1949, Cheongju was upgraded to Cheongju City. Afterwards, it went through the separation of administrative dong and their transfer to Cheongwon-gun, with 2 branch offices (East and West)established in July 1989 that were upgraded to Sangdang-gu and Heungdeok-gu in January. ^[1]

[edit] Geography

Geum River goes through right center of Cheongju city. Additionally, the tributaries of Musim and Miho flow together in northern part of city. To east and west, there are mountains of Wuam and Bumo.

[edit] Cultural properties

Sangdangsanseong (Sangdang Mountain Fortress) lies on the slopes of Mt. Uam within the city limits. The fortress is comprised mainly of a 3-4 meter tall wall that stretches over 4.2 kilometers in circumference. The present walls date to the 1716 restoration of the site. Within the walls lies a small tourist village that has several restaurants.

Cheongju National Museum also lies near Mt. Uam, and houses several exhibits of cultural artifacts from the nearby area.
Heungdeok Temple Site is the home to the Early Printing Museum, and is purported to be the site of the printing of Jikji, the oldest existent book printed using movable metal type. The museum itself contains exhibits related to the art of printing through the ages.
Yongdusaji Cheoldanggan (The Iron Flagpole of the Yongdu Temple Site) is designated Korean National Treasure number 41, and is located near Cheongju Department Store in downtown Cheongju. Made of twenty iron cylinders, the flagpole stands 13.1 meters tall, and was formerly used to hang flags to honor the Buddha.