Folk Culture Festival at Nagan Folk Village.

Map, swiped from Naver.

Way behind schedule with this post, from the Nagan Folk Village (낙안읍성민속마을) on May 4th. The annual Folk Culture Festival was on for a couple of days, and that, plus being too under the weather to make it all the way to Namwon, made this as opportune time as any for my first visit.

Everybody who has ever been to Korea has done a blog entry on Nagan Folk Village, so I'll leave out a lot of the details and won't try to reinvent the wheel. Suffice it to say it's some 25 kilometers from downtown Suncheon, in one of the city's smaller villages Nagan-myeon (pop. 5,000), and is the considered the best-preserved folk village in the country. The town itself is surrounded by a wall (낙안읍성) that was built in the late 14th century to protect the town from Japanese pirates. Unlike the better-known folk village in Andong, this one isn't insanely boring, and was actually a very pleasant trip. It's one of Suncheon's representative tourist sites, and is part of the Suncheon City Bus Tour. You can also get there via city buses 63 and 68, or if you're in Beolgyo you can grab a bus bound for Nagan that leaves every half-hour.

The official site gives us a bit of an introduction with some Konglish and some unintentional humor:

Naganeupseong Folk Village harmonized with prominent mountain and beautiful river of Suncheon, is proud cultural heritage that shows naive citizen's characters symbolically, which is the only one in the world.

Okay, trying to be less of a smart ass I'll let someone else have their say, someone who apparently absolutely loves the village and who has three huge photo journals on it. An excerpt:

This place impressed me on several levels. Part museum, part artists' colony, and part time machine, this historic, inhabited fortress town is an ideal destination for those of us who adore travel but are easily bored by museums and standard touristy fare.

The Korean counterpart to Western Renaissance Fairs, folk villages are communities dedicated to preserving and perpetuating traditional customs and craftsmanship. The village at Nagan is exceptional in that it is housed inside a Chosun-era walled fortress, which in itself is a formidable historic landmark.

Anyway, within the walls are tons of thatched cottages, many of which now serve as minbak, restaurants, and private homes. A Naver search turns up 24 minbak in and around the walled village, and if you're interested in staying in a minbak you might want to poke around Namdo Minbak for some pictures and more information.

According to one source the village has 280 residents who own their own homes but who are responsible for maintenance and for keeping up appearances. (The official site says 229 as of December 31, 2004, and Suncheon says 279). Coincidentally, a story on the village turned up on my news feed below just now, and here's an excerpt:

Ahn Youn-soon, 46, a resident at this village which receives thousands of visitors daily, is unperturbed by the army of tourists who move about near her thatched cottage, a traditional residence.

“I’m used to living under the scrutiny of the tourists. I will carry out my household chores as usual whether there are tourists or not. I love to stay in this traditional residence; it is where I grew up.
“In the evenings, when all the tourists have gone, I laze in the garden listening to the birds chirping and enjoying the breeze. It is wonderful to be able to enjoy the beautiful scenery in a quiet way. It’s so peaceful and relaxing to be here,” said Ahn.

Ahn’s traditional house, like the others in the village, has two rooms and is surrounded by three other smaller thatched huts, which house the toilet, kitchen and storeroom respectively.

What makes Naganeupseong special compared to other traditional villages is that it’s not a tourist gimmick but a living village – families continue to live here. Some 230 people live in 100 thatched cottages here, and the government offers them a yearly allowance to maintain their cottages just as they are.

Besides the traditional houses, the village also has well-preserved Choson Dynasty government buildings, a market place, a village school, a bird-breeding farm and an old prison.

One source I mentioned earlier, Life in Korea, has an informative page on the village here, which borrows quite a bit from the pamphlet you get at the gate. You'll also find a lot of information and photos here from the Asian Historical Site, which has lots of information and photos on pretty much every sight worth seeing around here.

If you're waiting for another opportune time to visit, the Folk Village will host the annual Namdo Food Festival this October. Here are a few photos and a video:


Entering from the East Gate.





Here's a video of a volunteer from the crowd enjoying her time on camera. I only got a few seconds of it until, as you'd expect by this point, somebody decided to stand right in front of me.


The banner outside this exhibit says "Nackan Ehtnic Village Civer Bodily Sensation."


In case you didn't believe me.



A lot of this going on, as there was a photo contest.


Who's a good boy?




I was tempted to buy a piece of green celadon in the back as a gift, but I thought it'd be too tricky to try to mail it or carry it back to the States.


Took this picture near my apartment in December, but they fixed it before I had a chance to use it.

I also saw a woman wearing a shirt that said "Poodle Butts" but I didn't have the balls to try and sneak a picture.