You've Never Seen a Beach Like This

It doesn't exactly sound like a day at the beach: Thousands of umbrellas, helicopters patrolling above, women strutting the green Astroturf in high heels, and as many as one million people squeezed onto the sand. But that's exactly the scene you'll find—at least part of it—at South Korea's Haeundae Beach. The Los Angeles Times takes a look at the attraction, which boasts its own jail and police force, and carts away 10 tons of trash a day.

South Koreans, looking to avoid tanned skin—the sign of work as a laborer—jam-pack the beach with blue, red, and pink umbrellas, and sit under them in shorts, tees, and even hoodies, rather than bikinis. The fashion-conscious add stilettos to the outfit; the head tourist official plans to add new runways to accommodate them. He wants to haul in 50 million tons of sand to extend the beach, too. One American is impressed. "The hotels even have machines that blow sand. In Michigan, you're lucky to get a rusty outdoor water faucet." (More beach stories.)