Jeonju Hanok Village - 전주한옥마을

The Jeonju Hanok Village is located in the city of Jeonju, in Jeonbuk Province. What makes this village unique is that it is home to more than 700 traditional style Hanok houses, while the modern city has closed in around it. While you may think that since it is a traditional village you will feel like you've went back in time, I am not sure this is the case. Yes, the housing is traditional in style, complete with ondol style heating in the floors, the upturned/tiled rooftops, and its architectural style, but everything else about the village is very modern.

During my visit the village was filled to the brim with locals and foreigners alike; there were shops in every possible space available and everything from food, gifts, and traditional items were being sold. The village was especially popular for those who wished to rent and wear hanbok (traditional clothing) for a period of time. Everywhere you looked you could see young, old, couples, and entire families in traditional dress of the utmost beauty. Overall the village was teeming with people and energy, vendors, street food, and trinkets. Another noticeable thing on the streets were the hair clips that are currently in fashion, which are very simple, but different.

Basically they consist of a simple clip with some random plant, insect, or object glued to it, usually that sticks up high in the air. The most common hair clip of the day was a heart attached to a spring. The heart would therefore bob and sway around in the air above your head. Many many people were wearing these clips, children, couples, and even the elderly, so naturally they became popular with the tourists that were there as well.

There are also several foods that this area is known for. Bibimbap (비빔밥), which literally means mixed rice, is a common Korean food that is popular here and that is quite simple to make. At the village there is a building made specifically for cultural experiences in cooking, where you can prepare your own bibimbap. Here I was able to learn how to cook and prepare my own bibimbap meal. It is a simple dish that consists of rice, egg, pepper paste, and typically 8 different vegetables of various colors, all of which have symbolic meaning.

Ultimately however, the vegetables used is up to the makers preference and taste. This dish is unique in that not only the commoners, but also royalty would traditionally eat it. Simply put, preparing the dish mostly consists of frying the vegetables you use individually in salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, or a mixture of these and arranging them in the bowl. 

There also are choco-pies sold in Jeonju that you cannot buy anywhere else in Korea. These are the bomb. The one I tried was a chocolate cake with something similar to marshmallow creme and jelly on the inside, while the cake itself was coated in hard chocolate. Eating these could spoil cheaper choco-pies for you, as you will prefer them to those you find in convenience stores. Lastly, there were some really neat cotton candy vendors here as well. They took cotton candy to the next level, making characters and animals out of the treat. There were huge also, which made for some very happy children, and a very happy me. :)   The cotton candy was so large that my entire head disappeared behind it.  Check it out!

The surrounding area is enchanting as well, with mountains surrounding the entire area in the distance. There are many areas to hike in these mountains that are great for getting some fresh air outside of the city. Exploring some mountains is on my to-do list for the future.

Address: 29, Eojin-jil, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do
전라북도 전주시 완산구 어진길 29 일대  

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