Namdo Taste Market, where tradition and youth coexist  

©Suncheon-si

 

 Suncheon has everything: fertile fields, wide seas, dynamic mudflats, and high mountains. Local specialties that only grow in Gurye, Beolgyo, and Gwangyangjang are also gathered in Suncheon. That is why this market is also called "100-Year-old Upper Market." This all-year-round market opens every day and is flooded with foods and numerous goods and things to see. The temporary market, which is open on days ending in 5 or 0 boasts fresh seafood as well as foods, grains, and vegetables gathered from all over the southern region of Korea. From the entrance of Suncheon Upper Market, you can see the market is filled with people with a big smile on their faces.              
 

[Suncheon]

 The market offers various kinds of foods. The representative one is pork rice soup, which helped the market to be placed in the "Top 200 Best Food Streets in Korea." If you order pork rice soup for two people or more, your meal starts with a side dish of boiled pork. Wrap one piece of the boiled pork with chive and dip it in salted shrimp. Such food is a perfect match with a glass of ipsae ju (maple soju). The pork rice soup is not greasy at all and it is said to be very good for curing hangovers. The Suncheon Upper Market Rice Soup Festival is held on September 8, which attracts a huge number of people every year since it was first launched in 2012.

[Suncheon Upper Market]

 Go up to the second floor of the rice soup alley to find stores run by the local youth. Ideas of the young people living in Suncheon are being turned into business projects. Take photos against the interior bursting with young spirit.

Address: 40, Bungmun-gil, Suncheon-si, Jeollanam-do        
Operating hours: 07:30-22:30 (varies by shop)        
Closed: Varies by shop / 20 minutes by public transportation from Suncheon Station and 15 minutes by public transportation from Suncheon Bus Terminal        
 

【TOP 3 Eateries at Suncheon Upper Market】

Pork Rice Soup      
Suncheon Upper Market features pork rice soup that captivated not only the locals but also tourists from across Korea. The soup is boiled with bean sprouts and that is why it has such a clean aftertaste with no greasiness lingering behind. If you order pork rice soup for two people or more, they serve you a free side dish of boiled pork.

Set Menu with Cockle      
Beolgyo is famous for cockles, but cockles caught in Suncheon are just as good. When you order a set menu of cockle and rice, various cockle dishes such as sweet and sour cockle salad, steamed cockle, and blanched and seasoned cockle are served together.

Mudskipper Fish Soup      
The mudskipper caught in the mudflats of Suncheon Bay is one of the must-eat healthy foods in Suncheon. The fish called jjangddung-eo in Korean is boiled with a variety of vegetables and seasonings. This spicy fish soup is sure to help relieve you from all the travel fatigue.      

 

【Places to Visit】

Suncheonman National Garden      
 It is Korea's first national garden, which was created to protect the natural wetland, Suncheonman Bay. Various gardens spread out on a plot of over 1.12 million square meters, including an arboretum in a traditional Korean garden style, World Garden that mimics the shape of 11 countries around the world, a lake garden designed by a world-renowned landscape designer Charles Jencks, an herbal medicine garden that showcases herbs native to Korea, and an international wetland center to promote the ecological value of wetlands. For seven months from April 1 to October 31, 2023, the Suncheonman International Garden Expo will be held here under the theme of “Living in a Garden.” The entire area around Suncheon including the Suncheonman National Garden, Suncheonman Wetland, and Suncheon City will be transformed into a garden. Since you have to walk all day, make sure to wear comfortable sneakers.

Address: 47, Gukgajeongwon1ho-gil, Suncheon-si, Jeollanam-do      
Inquiries: +82-61-749-8000       
Operating hours: 09:00-21:00 (Last admission 20:00)      
* Suncheonman Wetland 09:00-20:00 (Last admission 19:00)      
Closed: N/A (open all year round)

Naganeupseong Walled Town    
 This folk village has 218 thatched houses along with a fortress, which was built with stones instead of soil, all of them conserved in their original shape from the Joseon dynasty. Even today, residents actually live in those old houses cooking their meals in the old-style furnace and farming in the fields. Many of them also run guest houses. There are performances and daily activity and experience programs offered in the village. Join one of the programs such as playing the gayageum (traditional string instrument) or engage in an activity to play the heroine of a K-drama like “Jewel in the Palace (2003),” or join the weaving class to make cloth by hand. You may climb up the wall and take a great photo against the backdrop of the village.

Address: 30, Chungmin-gil, Suncheon-si, Jeollanam-do    
Inquiries: +82-61-749-8831~3    
Operating hours: November-January 09:00-17:30 / February-April & October 09:00-18:00 / May-September 08:30-18:30    
Closed: N/A (open all year round)

Seonamsa Temple  
 A walk around Seonamsa Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, may make you feel that you are in the world of immortals. You may start from Korea’s most beautiful Seungseongyo Bridge and Gangseonru Pavilion, and go to see the white apricot flowers behind the wall of Wontongjeon Hall, and red apricot flowers along the wall of the Gakhwangjeon Hall. The temple also has the Seongbo Museum, which houses 2,000 rare cultural assets of the Unified Silla and Goryeo dynasties. Make sure to stop by Haewooso, which is considered the "most beautiful toilet in Korea."

Address: 450, Seonamsa-gil, Suncheon-si, Jeollanam-do  
Inquiries: +82-61-754-6250