There's no business like Seoul business

Goguryeo Blacksmith Town provided shooting locales for ‘The King and Four Guardians’. nation/KITCHANA LERSAKVANITCHAKUL

The biggest tourist draw in South Korea - if you can somehow ignore the shopping and the chance to see Kpop singers in their natural habitat - is the filming locations of the TV series that have become Asiawide hits.

You've seen "Autumn Fairy Tale", "Winter Sonata", "Dae Jang Geum", "Full House", "Sad Sonata", "Princess Hours" and "The First Shop of Coffee Prince" - now go see where they were made.

And "Boys over Flowers", too. This year's big ratings winner, seen on Channel 7 every Saturday and Sunday night (as "Rak Chabub Mai … Huajai 4 Duang") and a hit in Japan as well, is a remake of the Taiwanese series "Meteor Garden".

Most of the episodes were shot in Gyeonggi English Village in Yangpyeong, which is first and foremost an educational facility for students. But foreigners book tours so they can stroll down the halls of the fictional Shinhwa High School.

The village has only existed since 2008, when 55 buildings were erected to mimic an old colonial town in the American state of Virginia.

The young but oldlooking village has its own publicrelations agent, Kelly Kang. "Boys over Flowers" director Jun Ki Sang wanted a place that looked "a bit luxurious", she says, and loved the location in the foothills of Mount Yongmun.

Giant posters of the Korean drama and its stars greet visitors in the "school" hallways, an immediate photo opportunity for tourists pouring off their buses.

Everyone poses beneath the huge photos of handsome actors Lee MinHo, who plays Gu JunPyo, Kim HyunJoong (Yun JiHu), Kim Beom (Lee Jeong) and Kim Jun (Song WuBin), and actress Koo HyeSeon (Geum JanDi).

Ignoring the wet weather, we charge with umbrellas to the Monticello Global Leadership Centre, in which the TV show's classroom scenes were shot. In a central yard we spot another big poster, showing JanDi and JiHu with a yellow bicycle.

Instantly we recall the scenes, with the entire cast walking along this very street - JanDi's bicycle getting knocked over and her friend Gaeul spilling ice scream on JunPyo's shoes.

Inside the centre we can imagine the four actors walking through the glass doors among other students. Upstairs is F4's private classroom, with four tables. All the furniture and equipment is just as it looks on TV.

Near the door is the black locker where the tough boys hang red cards to identify which student is next to be bullied.

A beautiful, treelined boulevard with a model of the Statue of Liberty leads to the Virginia Recreation Centre, but this day is a school holiday, the place is empty of real students, and most of the buildings are closed.

"Boys over Flowers" has ended for Korean television viewers, but English Village remains lively as one of the country's top tourist attractions, even as educational programmes continue.

"The show got our name out there, but schools had already booked our facilities long before the show debuted," Kelly Kang points out.

"The show's given us lots of exposure, though, which can only benefit our educational programmes. A lot of tourists come - there were none before the show aired - and their visits harmonise with the education programmes."

Surely the success of the series has seen many more schools booking student activities at English Village? "That would be impossible for us to quantify," Kang admits, saying every educational institution that visits would have to be surveyed.

"Education is important to Koreans," she stresses. "All students learn Korean, English and a host of other languages as part of a national drive for global understanding.

"English Village gets visitors from many parts of the world. We've had language and other educational programmes with students from Russia, Japan and Singapore. These students meet Korean students and exchange cultural ideas. English Village provides a safe environment where these types of discussions are fostered."

We next visit Heyri Art Village, which has also provided shooting locales for "Boys over Flowers".

The restaurant on the first floor of the Artinus building has a Farmer's Table that's instantly recognisable from scenes of the posh cafeteria of Shinhwa High School.

You can just picture JanDi eating her homepacked lunch while the other students enjoy the buffet. On the stairway to the library, JunPyo claimed that JanDi was his girlfriend.

It's a pity we have no time to tour the art village itself, with a lovely herb garden in the centre, but we're off to N Seoul Tower and a stroll on green Namsan Mountain.

The plaza near the tower is where JunPyo waited for JanDi one freezing winter night. The two had planned a date, but became trapped in the gondola lift on the way up and spent all the night there.

The top of the tower affords a 360degree panorama of the capital.

On the first floor is the Teddy Bear Museum, where cuddly bears tell the country's story. In one corner are the teddies that belong to actor Bae Yong Joon.

And outside is a surprisingly charming attraction - the socalled garden of love keys.

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Is that all?

Don't be silly - there's plenty more to see:

Goguryeo Blacksmith Town in Guri was a filming location for the soap opera "The King and Four Guardians". You can see the MalgalGeoran tribe's steelmill structures, the village chief's house and a Mongolian village, all built with stone and wood.

Gyeongbok Palace is the largest of the five grand palaces built during the Joseon dynasty. Tourists can even don guard costumes.

The National Folk Museum has three exhibition halls devoted to the history and lifestyles of the Korean people and their entire current life cycle.

Dongdaemun Market is South Korea's biggest wholesale and retail shopping district. Thais pack the beauty salons like Skin Food, Etude and the Face Shop.

Ask the Happy Korea travel agency about tours of the "Boys over Flowers" shooting locations. Call (080) 808 6796, (086) 305 1469 or (086) 308 6786 or visit www.HappyToKorea.com.