A Bowl of Gukbap Lively at Oil Market...Where to Visit During the Holiday Break [Jo Yongjun's Travel Stories]

Traditional Five-Day Markets to Visit Near Your Hometown During Seollal
Bukpyeong Folk Market in Donghae: Beef Head Soup
Adding Garlic to the Eight Views of Danyang
Sweet Red Bean Porridge at Malbau Market in Gwangju

Sogure Gukbap Boiled Hot in a Cauldron

Red Bean Porridge That Remains Hearty Even After Many Years

Chotdaebawi illuminated to allow walking even at night

The handmade Saealsim enhances the savory flavor of red bean porridge.

The biggest traditional holiday, Seollal, is approaching. The 2025 Seollal holiday extends for a total of six days from Saturday the 25th to Thursday the 30th, thanks to the designation of the 27th as a temporary holiday. If you take a day off on Friday the 31st, you can enjoy a long nine-day vacation. After exchanging New Year's bows and sharing good wishes at home, how about turning your attention to the sights and foods near your hometown? There are many great places where you can create special memories with family and friends during the holiday period. Among them, visiting a traditional five-day market is also a joy. These markets carry the unique atmosphere and stories of each region. Especially if you are tired of holiday foods, tasting local dishes at the five-day market can offer special memories. Coincidentally, the Korea Tourism Organization also recommended travel destinations in February and introduced local five-day market foods. There is no better winter travel destination to feel the value of our tradition in a warm bowl made with fresh ingredients and skilled hands.

#Food Reflecting the Lives of Yeongdong Region People, Beef Head Soup at Bukpyeong Folk Market

A toad gukbap restaurant boiling gukbap in a large cauldron

On a chilly day when the cold wind seeps through your collar, a five-day market is set up in downtown Donghae. This is the Bukpyeong Folk Market, held on days ending with 3 and 8. Bukpyeong Market began in 1796, and the cultural square was the site of a famous cattle market (soejun) in Gangwon Province.

The cattle market opened at the crack of dawn. People who traveled long distances to trade cattle would fill their stomachs with a bowl of Makgeolli and a bowl of soup before the transaction. The cattle market disappeared in 2008 when it was newly opened in Miro-myeon, Samcheok City, but its traces remain in the soup street. Residents of Donghae say, "The soup restaurants at Bukpyeong Folk Market are like a hometown in the hearts of Yeongdong region people."

The most famous menu at the soup restaurants in Bukpyeong Folk Market is beef head soup. Since there was a cattle market and slaughterhouse nearby, it was easy to obtain parts like beef heads or offal left over from selling meat, so it might have been natural for soup restaurants using these parts to emerge. The taste of beef head soup varies by restaurant because each has its own secret recipe. Some restaurants serve a milky broth, while others serve a red broth. This is why you should choose a restaurant according to your preference.

Sky Valley at Dojaebigol in front of Mukho Lighthouse is a skywalk built 59 meters high. It offers a great view of Donghae, Mukho Lighthouse, and the surroundings of Mukho Port. Enjoy thrills by riding the giant slide and the sky cycle, where you cross a single aerial rope on a bicycle. Jeoncheon Tteundari Jeongwonmaru is a space created by utilizing the 265-meter-long abandoned Jeoncheon railway bridge. When the streetlights and sculptures are lit after sunset, it becomes an even more beautiful space. The area around Chuam Candle Rock and Sculpture Park, recently named Yeomyeongbit Theme Park, is also a great place for a leisurely night walk while enjoying the themed lighting.

#Adding Garlic to the Eight Views of Danyang! Garlic Cuisine at Danyang Gukgyeong Market

Danyang Mancheonha Skywalk

Garlic Bread Shaped Like Dangyang Whole Garlic

The Eight Views of Danyang are considered among the best eight views nationwide. The existence of a "Second Eight Views of Danyang" shows the pride of Danyang. Danyang Gukgyeong Market is considered the ninth view, meaning "gukgyeong" as both sightseeing and market viewing. It is a permanent traditional market with about 120 stores, originally the Danyang Traditional Market. Recently, it has been bustling with young travelers who prefer "mukbang" (eating show) trips.

The popularity of Danyang Gukgyeong Market is driven by the garlic that Chef Choi Hyun-seok, from Netflix's "Black & White Chef," supposedly forgot to add to his vongole pasta. Danyang is famous for its six-clove garlic, grown in slightly acidic limestone soil and mountain villages with large temperature differences. It is a native garlic variety with firm cloves and a special taste and aroma. Danyang Gukgyeong Market specializes in foods containing garlic. From black garlic fried chicken to garlic bread, garlic sundae (blood sausage), garlic dumplings, and garlic ribs, "garlic" is a prefix attached to many market signboards. Even the same garlic varies by type and store, making it fun to choose and eat. Large slices offered as samples add to the market's generosity. Some popular restaurants have long lines on weekends, and some open only on weekends. It's just a pity that you only have one stomach and it fills up quickly.

If you were to newly select the Eight Views of Danyang, the Mancheonha Skywalk, a 25-meter-high observatory built on Mancheonhak Peak, would be a candidate for the first view, offering views of the Sobaeksan snow scenery and Danyang city. The 1.12 km Danyang River trail, resting on the Namhan River cliff, lets you hear the sound of ice cracking on the river. Visiting the recently opened media art experience center Pops World completes the sharp and exciting travel experience in Danyang.

#The Spicy Beef Tendon Soup That Tastes Better When Cold, Changnyeong Traditional Market

Steaming Hot Suyukgukbap with Beef Tripe

Changnyeong Traditional Market in Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, was a large market where peddlers gathered in the 1900s. It was established in its current location in 1926 by consolidating scattered markets, boasting a history of over a hundred years. On the 3rd and 8th, when the five-day market is held, it is crowded from dawn. If you think "How big can a rural market be?" you are mistaken. Walking through the bustling crowd and browsing various things, you never seem to reach the end.

The most famous item at Changnyeong Traditional Market is not garlic, known nationwide as a production area, nor onions, which were first cultivated in Korea here. It is beef tendon soup (sugure gukbap). The scene of Lee Soo-geun eating beef tendon soup on KBS TV's "2 Days & 1 Night" made it a famous local dish. Beef tendon is a special part that yields about 2 kg per cow. Several beef tendon soup restaurants are around the market. Each shop tempts customers with large cauldrons steaming hot. The reddish broth is filled with bean sprouts, blood pudding, green onions, and beef tendon. The chewy beef tendon releases savory meat juice the more you chew. Changnyeong locals enjoy adding noodles to the soup. By the time you put down your spoon, your body frozen by the cold is completely warmed. The twisted doughnuts featured on "Master of Living" and the long lines for glutinous rice hotteok are irresistible rural market snacks even when full.

Changnyeong was a large county with a magistrate during the Joseon Dynasty. Especially around Changnyeong Traditional Market, there are many historical sites such as Changnyeong Hyanggyo Confucian School, Seokbinggo Ice Storage, Silla King Jinheung's Stele, and the three-story stone pagoda in Suljeong-ri East. It is good to combine a cultural heritage tour. Extending your route to Yeongsan-myeon, you can find the beautiful Hongye Bridge (a round bridge shaped like a rainbow), the Changnyeong Yeongsan Mannyeon Bridge. Visiting Changnyeong Ecological Insect Garden, where you can touch and observe insects living in Upo Wetland, and Santokki Song Hill themed on the children's song "Mountain Rabbit" makes the day fly by. Bathing in the 78°C hot spring water at Bugok Hot Springs, the highest temperature among domestic hot springs, is the ultimate winter luxury.

#Sweet Taste and Warmth That Melts the Heart, Red Bean Porridge at Malbau Market

Elderly ladies Gu Sun-deok and Moon Myeong-ja operating Old-fashioned Patjuk

Malbau Market, located in Usan-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, is a traditional market with over 500 diverse stores, making it one of the largest markets in Honam. Food lovers visiting the market come year-round, and the most popular menu is red bean porridge, which is filling and good for health. Shops specializing in red beans in Malbau Market all feature red bean porridge and Dongji porridge (winter solstice porridge) as their signature dishes. Red bean porridge contains chewy knife-cut noodles, while Dongji porridge contains soft rice cake balls. Shops serving red bean porridge take great pride in their taste and dedication. Thinking of customers who come all the way to Malbau Market for red bean porridge, they wash and soak red beans every dawn, boil the soaked beans vigorously, and handcraft the rice cake balls or knead and cut the noodles. Because of the unique hand taste, the flavor of red bean porridge varies. The taste of kimchi served as a side dish is also important. It is fun to tour the shops like a food pilgrimage and find your favorite red bean porridge shop. At 5,000 won per serving, you can enjoy a generous bowl of red bean porridge, a rare generosity these days.

At the National 5·18 Democratic Cemetery, created to commemorate the spirit and meaning of the May 18 Democratic Movement, you can feel the breath of democracy in Korea. The National Gwangju Museum, the first regional national museum built in Korea after liberation and the first museum in the Honam region, offers permanent exhibitions from prehistoric artifacts to celadon and white porcelain from the Goryeo and Joseon periods, as well as Asian ceramics. The Gwangju Museum of Art, the first public art museum in Korea, presents outstanding works reflecting the vitality of local culture and arts. How about starting anew in 2025 in Gwangju, a city where past, present, and future coexist?

#A Food Festival Returning Every Five Days, Moran Folk Five-Day Market

A tense moment with puffed rice that could pop at any time

Moran Folk Five-Day Market is held on days ending with 4 and 9 every month. On weekdays, it serves as a parking lot, but on market days, tents and stalls are set up in the open space. As the cold wind bites and the chill penetrates your clothes, hot food is craved. Twisted doughnuts, hotteok, puffed rice snacks, red bean porridge, knife-cut noodles, and beef tendon soup are everywhere to whet your appetite and fill your stomach.

Since Moran Folk Five-Day Market was one of the largest markets since the Joseon Dynasty, there is a century-old oil specialty street so large that you can follow the aroma without knowing the way. About 40 oil shops with over 40 years of history are packed closely together. Signs from Chuncheon, Cheonan, Hwaseong, Yeoju, Gangjin, and other regions gather all over the country. The "Roasting Lab," located on the first floor of Moran General Market shopping building, runs an experience program called "Walking with Aroma." It includes general education on types of oil, demonstrations of oil pressing, a tour of the oil market alley, and making sesame candy, all filled with aroma. Reservations can be made by phone for groups or individuals. The program is scheduled to operate from March this year, but group experience dates can be adjusted by phone. Moran Folk Five-Day Market, held in the heart of the city, is an outdoor classroom for children and a nostalgic, hearty hometown place for adults to fill their stomachs.

Just nearby is the Seongnam Sports Complex outdoor sledding hill, where you can enjoy winter sports in the city for only 1,000 won. The modern Seongnam Jungang Public Market, enhanced with convenience, is also worth visiting, and at Baekhyeon Cafe Culture Street, designated as Seongnam City's third specialty street, you can warm up winter with sweet desserts.