It’s hard to know which way to look during the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea. In front of the ropes, there are men solemnly parading in colourful costumes, wearing hats decorated with tall pheasant tail-feathers but, behind, there are women in the audience looking equally gorgeous.
The ceremony takes place twice daily at this centuries-old palace, with its courtyards, pagoda-like pavilions and elaborate decorations. Men dressed in flowing red, blue, purple or turquoise robes carry equally bright fringed flags and elaborately painted shields. They march to the beat of drums, cymbals and trumpets, armed with curved swords and poleaxes. In their pointy-toed boots, they stamp along to the triple-arch gateway of the palace, where the guards inside and out are swapped, and marched…
