culture

Moran Hill, famous as a scenic spot in Pyongyang, has now become more famous as a nice cultural recreation ground of the people.

It was named Moran (peony) Hill as a chain of round peaks looks like a blooming peony blossom.

The hill is beautiful in all seasons, and its scenery in spring is mild yet animated.

Many young men and women add distinctive sights to the beautiful hill in the season.

In spring and autumn it is one of the best places for wedding couples to have photos taken from the entrance to the hill where water flows down peaks to form ponds and which evokes deep national sentiments for the Phyonghwa, Aeryon and other pavilions, traces of the mossy walls of the Walled City of Pyongyang and the arched stone bridge they saw only in films on the theme of history.

According to keepers of the hill, many brides and grooms visit the hill every day in the seasons.

Keep walking up the hill, and you will find it more beautiful.

You can see fresh green leaves budding on twigs of trees which survived winter, turf looking like green carpet and flowering trees with just-open flower buds, and hear the sounds of streams flowing down valleys and those of waterfalls accompanied by the chirping of birds. While going up the hill, listening to the “symphony” played by nature, you can see pavilions like the Sangchun and Aeryon pavilions one after another. And in different places of the hill, there can be seen people singing and dancing fascinated by its vernal scenery.

As natural woods in the centre of the city, the hill is also a good place for primary schoolchildren’s nature study. 

Listening to the explanations of their teachers and looking round ancient sites of historic interest, including the Ulmil and Choesung pavilions, they broaden their common knowledge of animals and plants and learn about the patriotism, wisdom and talents of their ancestors.

The Ulmil and Choesung pavilions dating back to the period of Koguryo (277 BC-AD 668) were those for watching the movements of foreign invaders and commanding troops, but they are counted as part of the eight famous scenes of Pyongyang. The open view from the Ulmil Pavilion in spring and the sight of the rising moon enjoyed at the Pubyok Pavilion are unrivalled indeed.

The painters busy painting pictures and photographers taking photos of the beautiful scenes add to the breathtaking sights of the hill.

Not a few passers-by often gather around painters engrossed in painting the appearance of Pyongyang seen from the hill, and all of them express admiration at the changed looks of the city.

Recalling with deep emotion that the spot with a nice pleasure ground was once a lonesome island and that the place where modern buildings rose was a vast plain, the elderly tell the rising generations that the beautiful scenery of Moran Hill and the wonderful change on the banks of the Taedong River have been brought about not by nature or time, but by the Workers’ Party of Korea’s policy for the people.

The hill is associated with many significant stories.

In October 1945, General Kim Il Sung went up the hill to have a bird's eye view of Pyongyang, resolving to turn it into a pleasure ground for the people. In March 1946 he went up the hill again to look down at the surrounding landscape damaged under the colonial rule of the Japanese imperialists, mapping out a far-reaching plan for turning all mountains of the country into the people’s paradise covered with green foliage by planting them with many trees. The Moran Restaurant frequented by people, waterfalls and even a single stream there on the hill are associated with the guidance of President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il who were so concerned about providing the people with beautiful and excellent cultural recreation grounds.

Therefore, the words of the elderly are a “special lecture” which cannot casually be heard and which can be given only by them as witnesses of history.

No matter how beautiful the hill is, it cannot be claimed to be a scenic spot apart from the people’s bright smile.