[Talk Talk Market] Jangheung Jeongnamjin Saturday Market

[Talk Talk Market]  

Jangheung Jeongnamjin Saturday Market

 Have you ever heard about Jangheung? It is a little strange place for both foreigner and some Koreans located in Jeollanam-do, KOREA. It is a place in the cleanest environments because Korea government has propelled national land development except Jangheung. So, environment and people in it are too clean and pure. This is why we called it ‘saved land’.

Jangheung Market is also keeping pure and traditional things like Jangheung. Do you know ‘Daemul’, a famous Korean drama which was the first drama to deal with a female president along with politics and government power around her? It was in Jangheung Market that Kwon sang woo’s father ran the Gukbap restaurant in the drama.

Although it is not that big, it is crowded with lots of people in the market day. It became famous through word of mouth and many tourists visited here. So, the county decided to throw a market on Saturdays to encourage urbanities to visit the market. It is the first weekend market in Korea.

The most interesting thing in this market is that you can see grandmas who pin a name tags such as ‘Yunhwa’ and ‘Jeongja’. They are authorized vendors who sell handmade foods and greens. The county and granmas have confidence in this system and we can buy products with trust.

Do you wonder the charm of saved land, Jangheung? 

Welcome to Jangheung Market!

[Talk Talk Market] Changpyeong 5-day Market

[Talk Talk Market] 

Changpyeong 5-day Market

 

 Changpyeong 5-day Market where tradition is alive!

 

  Do you know the famous movie, ‘The Curious of Benjamin Button’? There is a village in Korea where takes a journey backwards through time. It is Changpyeong, Damnyang where joined International Slowcity.

 

  Changpyeong 5-day Market reflects whole city, Changpyeong. It doesn’t sell industrial products made in factories. Instead of it, the villagers make something good like snacks by hand and put them to market.

 

  Changpyeong is a small and peaceful village, but the market is crowed with lots of people.

 

  It is too difficult to find products made in factories because the village keeps the traditions of the men who have gone before them. The market is full of the products that people have grown and made by hand.

 

  Your mouth might water at the sight of lots of delicious food. There are fermented soybean lump, vegetables pickled in soy sauce and Injeolmi, Korean traditional rice cake made from the glutinous rice and coated with bean flour. They’re fit to live in smaller size and amounts because the village women come out to sell things, carrying them in their hand or on their heads. We can guess that they always do their utmost to entertain our mouth :)

 

  Are you full? But this is not the end. You can enjoy the famous food in this region, Boiled rice served in soup! If you enter the street where the 5-day market is held, you can see the street of Gukbap, boiled rice served in soup.

 

Welcome to Changpyeong 5-day market, a place of great charm :)

[Enjoy Food] Jjangddungeo Tang (shuttles hoppfish soup)

Jjangddungeo Tang (shuttles hoppfish soup) - Boseong Market

Jjangttungeo or shuttles hoppfish is also called "loach of the sea" or "mini seal" since it's strong enough to crawl or even hop on the mud.

Jjangttungeo is the only fish that hibernates from early November to April. Also, it cannot be farmed so it must be caught.

Jjangttungeo tang is made by boiling fillet with spice, unlike loach soup which boils grinded fish. What's good about jjangttungeo tang is that it has no fishy smell. The soup goes well with soju(distilled liquor made from grains). One could have a try when you tour to Korea.

Tip
Jjangttungeo is caught between mid-April and mid-October,

and it is the fattiest in September.

Thus, September is the time to enjoy the fish as a stew or grill.

[TalkTalk Market] Gyeongdong Market

Gyeongdong Market

 

 

 

GyeongdongMarket started when, after the Korean War, agricultural food vendors from the Northern GyeonnggiProvince and the GangwonProvince gathered in the area to sell their wares. In the 1960s, the market grew rapidly following the completion of a road connecting GangwonProvince with the Seoul area. Medical herbs from GangwonProvince were transported to the market in an ever-increasing number and the market became to specialize in these types of medicinal herbs.

 

 

 

The market sits across several blocks of Jegi-dong and Yongdu-dong in the Dongdaemun-gu district, but it is largely comprised of the Seoul Yangnyeongsi Market, a market selling ginseng, honey, cereals, and medicinal products. The Yangnyeongsi Market is responsible for about 70 percent of the nation’s total distribution of medicinal goods. In addition to other medicinal herbs, visitors can buy things like ginseng, bonnet bellflower, and balloonflower as well as tea ingredients like the fruits of schizandra and cornus, and Solomon's seal (tea ingredients that are hard to find in other parts of the city).

[Enjoy KOREA] Traditional markets epitomize Korean culture

Traditional markets epitomize Korean culture

Traditional markets in Korea have increasingly become an invaluable tool to bolster the tourism industry.

More tour programs for foreign travelers include a traditional market on their itinerary in an attempt to allow them a glimpse of unedited Korean culture and typical daily life.

The government and merchants have taken advantage of the change in getting rid of long-standings at many traditional markets that were once littered with trash and discredited for the sale of fresh produce kept in unsanitary conditions at unfixed prices.

Behind the achievement is the Agency for Traditional Market Administration (ATMA). It was established in 2005 under the support of Small and Medium Business Administration and is committed to reinvigorating traditional markets and transform them into a tourism magnet projecting the “spirit of traditional Korean culture,” according to a release.

Jung Suk-youn, director-general of ATMA, said his organization is responsible for establishing an environment where visiting traditional markets becomes a core part of inbound tourism.

“Markets are not a place where people just sell and buy products. It’s a place where the various faces of Korean society coexist,” Jung told The Korea Times at his office in downtown Seoul, Monday. “The core reason for travelling is to see and experience a different culture. I believe no other places are better than traditional market to see real face of the country.”

ATMA will host a variety of events at traditional markets in Seoul, Busan, and Sokcho for foreign residents and those in Korea on vacation ahead of the Chuseok holiday (the traditional harvest festival), which falls on Sept. 30.

Participants will take a market tour and with the help of Korean advisors buy ingredients for a cooking class to make traditional Korean food eaten during the Chuseok celebration. Other special activities will include learning how to perform “charye” (an ancestral ritual), a traditional “samulnori” Korean percussion performance, and shop with discount coupons offered by the agency.

“This is a proactive campaign to lure foreign travelers (to markets) and promote our culture,” Jung said. “We still have long way to go. But I’m certain that this small step will create more and more followers and they will eventually make a big stride in improving the value of markets as a tourism asset.”

On top of this, the agency runs a website (www.sijang.or.kr) that contains in-depth information about Korean traditional market. The website is available in English, Chinese and Japanese. In addition, it provides information on the specialties of each market and things to see and do around each one to fuel foreigners’ interest.

“The accessibility of traditional markets was indeed low despite their high value in the aspect of cultural tourism and keen interest of foreigners due to the language barrier,” Jung said. "The website will help foreign tourists take one step closer to traditional markets, and we will continuously upgrade its content that can promote the charm of traditional Korean markets.”

The agency has recently turned to social networking services to promote the nation’s traditional markets worldwide by starting a Facebook page. It also has a smartphone app, available for download via the website.

The Korea Tourism Organization recently joined forces with ATMA by publishing a traditional market guidebook for Chinese tourists in the latest in a series of efforts to revitalize visits to traditional markets in Seoul.

It focuses on the Gwangjang, Tongin and Gongdeok markets and suggests interesting experiences available there through a format based on SBS TV’s famous show “Running Man.” The book consists of different missions that can be completed by visiting food vendors or different stalls.

ATMA is also held responsible for improving the basic hygiene of markets and merchants. It has hosted a “college for merchants,” in which professionals educate vendors about customer services that have exclusively been available in department stores and discount malls.

“Merchants’ ignorance of customer services has led to a declining popularity of traditional markets,” Jung said. “Many merchants and mom-and-pop store owners are still trapped in the obsolete belief that people will buy products regardless of customer services. But that’s not the case anymore with supply to markets exceeding demand. It’s time for vendors to realize the situation facing them and become self-motivated to change.”

pss@koreatimes.co.kr,

article from -http://www.koreatimes.co.kr