Explore Jeonju Hanok Village’s Alleys with a Cultural Tour Guide

It’s almost autumn. The weather has been just right for walking around Jeonju Hanok Village. The Hanok Village is offering several walking tour guides for visitors. I took the tour and found it both informative and interesting.

There are seven different walking tours offered by Jeonju Hanok Village: Gyeonggijeon Shrine History Tour, Hyanggyo Seonbigil Tour, Taejo Lee Seong-gye Road Tour, Hanok Village Alley Tour, Jeonju Buseong Old Road Tour 1, Jeonju Buseong Old Road Tour 2, Heritage and Art Village Commentary Tour.

All the tours are free of charge except for the entrance fee for Gyeonggijeon. You may find out more about the time and routes of each tour on the Jeonju Hanok Village’s homepage below.

http://hanok.jeonju.go.kr/contents/en_tour

I did Hanok Village Alley Tour. The tour departs every day 11am and 3pm, from the Gyeonggijeon Tourist Information Center. The tour covers the Jeondong Cathedral, Taejoro street, Fan Culture Center & Choi Myeong Hee Literary Museum, Eunhaengro Street, Seunggwangjae, Hanjigil Street, Jeonju Traditional Hanji Center, and Omokdae Tourist Information Center.

There’s no need for individual travellers to book the tours in advance. Be in front of the Gyeonggijeon Tourist Information Center by 11am or 3pm. Different tours start from different locations.

The Monday morning in Jeonju Hanok Village seemed more laid-back than weekends. The tours are more crowded on weekends.

We skipped Jeondong Cathedral, because it was under restoration. While walking, the guide explained why some paved stones are darker. Jeonju used to be a walled city. However, the Imperial Japan collapsed the wall during the colonisation period. Where the wall once stood are now paved with darker stones.

So, I learned something interesting and educational from the guide. Then, we proceeded to Choi Myeong Hee Literary Museum and Jeonju Fan Culture Center.

At Jeonju Fan Culture Center, the visitors can watch the exhibitions and experience fan-making and drawing on a fan. Throughout history and until now, fan is a specialty of Jeonju. I also learned that, in the past, men used the folding fan and women used the wider fan.

We entered the Eunhaengro Street. The name of the street ‘eunhaeng’ (gingko tree in Korean) comes from the 600 years old gingko tree on the street. The record says the tree was planted in its current site in 1383. In 2005, a baby gingko tree sprung up next to the old gingko tree

I found those cat sculptures very cute.

I visited Jeonju Hanok Village many times in the past, but it’s my first time discovering and walking the beautiful hidden alleyways. Turns out that some locals voluntarily gave up parts of their real estate to make the alleyways.

This is Jeonju Daesaseupcheong, hosting performances, experiences, or exhibitions related to Jeonju Daesaseupnori (Jeonju’s traditional performance contest).

This is Jeonju Traditional Hanji Center. Visitors can experience hanji (traditional Korean paper, also a specialty of Jeonju) making and various other things we can do with hanji.

The last stop on the tour is Seunggwangjae. It’s a residence of Mr. Yi Seok, a descendant of the Joseon Dynasty royal household. He gives lectures on the culture, traditions, and history of the royal household.

Since I took the tour on Monday, many museums were closed. However, my tour guide was never short of interesting stories about the alleyways we walked through. I had fun and educational time with the alleyway tour at Jeonju Hanok Village.

Jeonju Hanok Village Tourist Information Center
Address: Kirindaero 99, Wansangu, Jeonju
Contact: 063-282-1330
Homepage: http://hanok.jeonju.go.kr/contents/en_tour