Jeonju ‘Retro’ Tour: Jeonju Nanjang and Memory Museum

‘Retro’ has been fashionable for a while, and tourism is no exception. Today, I’ll introduce two spots in Jeonju where you can travel back in time to the 20^th century Korea for experiences and instagrammable photos.

Jeonju Nanjang

Our first spot is Jeonju Nanjang, located at the edge of Jeonju Hanok Village. Jeonju Nanjang is the theme park-style museum for experiencing the 20^th century Korea. The museum took 25 years for gathering materials and 3.5 years for construction.

Due to the COVID19, hand sanitizing and body temperature check are mandatory before entering. Wearing a mask is also required.

Unlike a conventional museum, Jeonju Nanjang is focused on experience. Thus, the visitors can touch and take photos of the displayed materials freely. Upon entering I came across the old elementary school classroom where people were taking photos with the props probably reminding them of their parents’ childhood days.

Jeonju Nanjang consists of 70 theme zones. The museum is rather labyrinthine. I suggest following the red arrow when visiting.

This is the old stationary store, usually located in front of schools. I could see old toys, notebooks, and crayons. I wondered where all these props were found.

Then I proceeded to <my mum’s childhood> zone. The household goods from the economically poor 1960s era were filling the room. Probably a whole family used to occupy a single room back then. I used ‘dadumi’ (‘fulling’ in Korean).

I was happy to see the old school arcade. The games were free. I spent some time here enjoying the games before the PC and mobile era.

Then I proceeded to the disco hall. The old school tunes were on, along with colorful lightings. There used to be DJs in these places back then, playing music with LP records. There also were the old bakery, comic book shop, and video room.

I also dug up the ice-cold water from the 110 years old well. It was a relief in the hot weather.

I was impressed by the hand-drawn wooden signboards at the <street shops> zone. The street looked like a movie set.

The sky-blue Pony, South Korea’s first mass-produced and exported car, is the famous photo spot of Jeonju Nanjang. The old movie posters of the <Gunsan Cinema> zone enhance the retro feel.

This post cannot convey all the experiences that Jeonju Nanjang offers. This place will interest both older and younger generation!

 

Jeonju Nanjang

Address: Eunhaengro 13, Wansangu, Jeonju

Opening hours: Weekdays and Sunday 10:00~20:00 / Friday, Saturday, and Public Holidays 09:30~20:30

Entrance fee: adults 6,000 won / middle and high school students 5,000 won / children (over 36 months) ~ primary school students 4,000 won

Jeonju Memory Museum

Our next retro tour spot is Jeonju Memory Museum. The museum is also located on the edge of Jeonju Hanok Village.

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The visitors to the museum can play old school games. Those born in the 80s or 90s will be familiar with these plays.

These matchboxes, gums, fans, magazines, phone books, and baseballs could be found in old restaurants or pubs.

In this museum, instead of arcade, the visitors can play ‘bbopki’, a stationary store lottery for children which used to cost 100 won or 200 won. Here, it was 1,000 won for two games or 2,000 won for 5 games.

For reward, different old junk food was offered. I really liked the candy that color lips and tongue.

The matchbox depicting the 10 beautiful sceneries of Jeonju seems like a good souvenir.

The ‘dabang’ (‘teahouse’ in Korean) has the old sofa and table, and public phones too. Just like those old days, I also played stacking matches while waiting for my tea.

This is the old elementary school classroom with the small chairs, desks for two, and the chalkboard, which worked like the guestbook for this museum.

At the main exhibition hall of the museum were the famous red underclothes, the old lunchbox, thermos bottle, and the like. I could learn what my parents’ school days were like.

On the wall were the paper clothes for paper dolls. My mum also liked playing with them. Imagining her childhood, I was impressed to see them displayed here. There were also colorful slap-match games.

Jeonju Memory Museum sells homemade sweet beverages and coffee. It was a moment of time travel to my parents’ childhood.

 

Jeonju Memory Museum

Address: Jeondongsungdanggil 8, Wansangu, Jeonju

Opening hours: every day 11:00~19:00 / lunch hour 12:00~13:00

Entrance fee: 3,000 won

Today, I introduced two retro tour spots in Jeonju for a visit with your family, friends, or your significant other. It must be a relief from the busy 21^st century life to visit the 20^th century Korea.