SoKor 2015: Korean Folk Village in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do (Pt 2)

Welcome to the 2nd installment of my series of posts on my visit to the Korean Folk Village in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do. Yes, it’s a series, because there’s just so many things to see and do in this living museum to fit in a single post. In the first post, we officially entered the Village, and walked around key places, such as the Farmers’ Houses and the Nobleman’s Mansion. This time, we’ll explore more of this vast Village.

The Korean Folk Village is quite easy to navigate. That, and you have the handy illustrated map given at the Ticket Booth to guide you along. But then again, if the map does nothing for you, and you have a poor sense of direction, then the Korean Folk Village is as good a place as any to get lost in.

From the Nobleman’s Mansion, it was a short walk to this gazebo. Actually, there are a lot of gazebos strategically placed in various parts of the Village. They also double as resting places, because we saw many visitors leave their footwear on the steps and laze around inside.

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This is the Seonangdang (Shrine to the Village Deity). It’s basically a pile of stones or a tree located in the entrance of the village, and it supposedly contains a devotional meaning. When people pass this area, they put three stones on the Shrine and make their wishes on it.

Look up, and you see fabrics hanging from the branches of the tree. This is called the Five-Color Fabric tree, and it symbolizes the four directions and the center. It is said to be a way to prepare for, and ward off, disasters and misfortunes from besetting the Village.

The fabrics look so pretty, methinks.

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From here, you can go to the Bazaar, or the Public Market, As expected of a market, you will find lots of stuff for sale, mostly souvenirs unique to KFV (and some generic ones you can find in souvenir shops all over Seoul.) Of course, they are bound to be pricier here. So we just feasted our eyes on them and didn’t buy anything.

I must admit, though. Those flutes were so dang tempting! I just had to remind myself that I don’t know how to play it, haha!

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From here, we proceeded to another exclusive location (which will be devoted to a separate post) then proceeded to lunch (again, another post. Sorry!). Filled and sated, we proceeded to walk around some more, since there was still some time before the performances start.

Proof of how huge this place is: it even holds a body of water. A long one. With bridges. This is the first of those bridges.

This is the Hong Ye-Gyo, an arched stone bridge. Also known as “rainbow bridge”, it is made purely of stone.

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It has a Buddhist meaning, serving as a temple connecting the world to Heaven. It also maintained the form of a mountain fortress.

Here’s the view of the river from the top of the arched bridge.

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It is fascinating how Joseon technology was still considered ahead of its time. This here is the Water Wheel Mill. First, I saw the water wheel, then peered inside the small house adjoining it, and was just amazed at how “mechanical” it was. Ingenious.

And, yes, it is still working. You could step right in and try working it.

The Water Wheel Mill was operated by chute, and it was used to hull or pound grains. What powers the mill? The power of the falling water or the speed of the current of the water.

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There were other parts where you will find recreations of ancient homes from different provinces of South Korea. Of particular note is the House in Jeju Island There were even thriving fields and gardens of spices, and we readily identified a whole patch of perilla plants.

So we come to this other bridge.This is the Wooden Bridge. Before this, there was a Log Bridge, which looked flimsy, but there were families with kids having fun passing on it, so we gave it a pass and directly went here.

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By this time, the sun was scorching hot! It was, after all, already 1:25PM. We could hear announcements of the 1:30 Farmer’s Dance performance being announced, but we were just taking our sweet time. 🙂

The atmosphere was just so serene, heat and all.

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Once you cross the bridge to the other side, you will come upon the Performance Areas of the Village. It looks quite deserted, no? But all the visitors are flocked at the Performance Areas. And don’t worry, because I have a post lined up focusing on just those performances.

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If you’re coming here during the summer, wear a hat. Seriously. It’s a wonder how we didn’t get burnt. Must be the Korean sun agreeing with us, haha!

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