The Changing of the Royal Guard Ceremony began Saturday and will be held until the end of December at Daehan Gate of Deoksu Palace and Donhwa Gate of Changdeok Palace.

Seoul City said that the annual reenactment of gatekeepers shift, which attracted some 400,000 tourists last year, began some 15 days earlier than last year, and Chinese announcements have been added to the current English and Japanese translations to satisfy the increasing number of Chinese tourists for the World Cup.

Tourists can participate in Chukguk and Royal Tuhorye, traditional games from the Joseon era, and can have their pictures taken in a guard's costume. In addition, various souvenirs with royal guard's character design, such as dolls, key chains, and cell phone accessories, can be purchased at the palaces.

(Park Yeong-seok, yspark@chosun.com )