Poseokjeong is an abalone-shaped stone water channel set in a wooded garden south of the city, and it is all that remains of a pavilion complex where the Silla royal family held outdoor banquets. The channel, about 10 metres long, was fed by a spring and designed so that wine cups floated in a slow spiral current. Court guests would compose a poem before a floating cup reached them, or drink the wine as forfeit — a game called goksu.
The site has the melancholy that accompanies the end of dynasties. The pavilion buildings are long gone, and only the stone channel and its surrounding pines and bamboo remain. But the channel itself is remarkably preserved, and the carved stone has a sensuous, organic quality unusual in Korean architecture. The site is a short taxi ride south of central Gyeongju and is usually uncrowded.