This past weekend, I went to the Jeonju Hanok Village in a city called Jeonju. I participated in a “Hanok Stay” which meant that I spend a night living in a traditional Korean house. One very special thing about this city is that while most of the city became industrialized and modernized, it preserved an entire village of old hanoks and turned it into a tourist attraction by inviting people from all over the world to experience the traditional Korean lifestyle and enjoy the food and culture.
A unique feature of the hanoks is the special heating system. During the old days, the ingenuity of the Koreans kept everyone warm in the winter and cool during the summer. Houses were built with Ondol, a sub-floor natural stone heating system. One side of the floor would be closer to the fireplace while the other side of the floor would be closer to the chimney. In the ground under the house, heat from burning the wood would course throughout the space and therefore would heat the floor, allowing people to survive the cold. Of course, if it got too warm, people could sit near the chimney side, where it would be naturally cooler since it is furthest from the heat source.
There are a variety of hanoks. I happened to stay in a more modern hanok, which was equipped with both modern and antique technologies. For example, my hanok had a bathroom with a sink, toilet, and shower, but it did not have an AC because the hanoks are kept cool by the natural structure and the natural building materials. It was built with traditional giwa (roof tiles), paper walls, and tree trunks as pillars. However, there were also electrical sockets.
In the village, there are countless restaurants that serve delicious korean food and many summery drinks. Additionally, there are many shops that allow people to participate in old fashioned cultural activities, such as making and designing paper fans, playing traditional games, engraving stamps with your family name, and getting the chance to wear traditional hanboks. There are even historical houses that preserve and showcase Korean history.
This is the view of the hanok I stayed in from the outside.
These are some of the meals that I ate while I was in Jeonju. The most famous dish that comes from the Jeonju region is Bibimbap, which literally translates to “mixed rice”.
I got a stamp made engraved with my own name (양지연). On the side of the stamp, it says “늘행복” which means “always happy”. A lot of tourists come to Jeonju Hanok Village to try on hanboks (traditional Korean dresses). I also got to design and paint my own fan.