Mindful meals and tea tastings: Students experience cultural offerings along the Seomjin River

A group of students explored cultural heritage sites along Korea's Seomjin River, experiencing monastic life, traditional tea culture and historic architecture.

Students pose for a group photo at in front of the Hwaeom Temple's main gate in Gurye County, South Jeolla, on Dec. 2. [PARK SANG-MOON]

GURYE, South Jeolla — Experiencing what it's like to be a monk, exploring a centuries-old hanok (traditional Korean house) and understanding the production and consumption methods of tea.

For anyone looking to experience local culture beyond just bustling photo spots, neighborhoods around the Seomjin River — Gurye County in South Jeolla and Hadong County in South Gyeongsang — deliver just that.

The Seomjin River flows between South Jeolla and South Gyeongsang, letting visitors experience the best of both provinces as they follow its course to visit temples, tea fields and historical buildings.

A group of international students took part in the experience, joining the Seomjin River Stay Signature Tourism Product Promotion Project trip on Dec. 2 and 3. K-campus, a platform for international students run by the Korea JoongAng Daily, invited the students in collaboration with the Jeollanamdo Tourism Organization.

"In South Jeolla, I've visited Jeonju before, and although it was very nice, I think it's very catered to tourists and can be a bit commodified," said Sara Kang. "But here, I could see the Korean culture, how people live and the nature for myself."

"I've also heard that Jeolla Province has the best food in Korea, and I did enjoy the food now that I've come here and tried it myself. The rice is definitely better than in Seoul, the namul [seasoned vegetables] and banchan [side dishes] are much more flavorful. Even the tea I had during the trip was excellent."

Students take photos at Starway Hadong, an observatory in Hadong County, South Gyeongsang, where visitors can see the Seomjin River, on Dec. 3. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Experiencing monastic life

Hwaeom Temple in Gurye County is a beautiful place to visit year-round — the ridges of Mount Jiri are layered in the background, and fall foliage lasts into early December thanks to the warm southern weather.

Students take photos of the Hwaeom Temple on Dec. 2. [PARK SANG-MOON]

But the temple offers more than just scenery to visitors. It welcomes those who wish to try monastic meals during designated gongyang (food offering) times: breakfast between 6 a.m. and 6:20 a.m., lunch between 11:30 a.m. and 11:50 a.m. and dinner either between 5:30 p.m. and 5:50 p.m. in the summer or between 5 p.m. and 5:20 p.m. in the winter.

Buddhist monks in Korea abstain from eating meat and oshinchae (five pungent herbs) — garlic, chives, green onion, Asian chives and asafetida — which are believed to incite anger and hinder focus and meditation. Instead, temple food uses plant-based ingredients and seasonings such as soy sauce and fermented bean paste.

During their visit on Dec. 2, students waited in line for their turn to try a monastic meal. Chatter around them fizzled out as they ate — in the temple, mealtimes are silent to help monks eat mindfully and achieve inner calm.

Visitors can have small servings of banchan, which include braised tofu, stir-fried potato, stir-fried zucchini and a variety of kimchi. Even the kimchi, which typically uses garlic or jeotgal (salted seafood), is made at the temple with plant-based seasonings such as dried shiitake mushroom, kelp and cabbage.

"It's my first time having temple food, and I like how everything is plant-based but all tasting really good," said Prakasita, a student participating in the tour. "You also have to be quiet when having the food, and I liked it because it was the first time I ate while being mindful and focused entirely on myself."

Students try the temple meal at Hwaeom Temple in Gurye County, South Jeolla, on Dec. 2. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Eating all the food and washing dishes in a separate dishwashing area is also part of the ritual, allowing participants to appreciate the meal and show gratitude to those who helped prepare it.

Walking a bit higher up in the temple, visitors can find Gucheungam, a small hermitage of Monk Dukje.

The hermitage is surrounded by a bamboo grove that stretches down from Mount Jiri, with Monk Dukje harvesting wild tea leaves from the grove and making tea since 2005. The tea has a smooth flavor, as it’s made exclusively from wild tea leaves watered by dew from the bamboo grove and picked less frequently than those from mass-produced tea farms.

"Trees are living beings and become stressed when they are overharvested, and that stressful energy gets reflected in the tea," said Monk Dukje. "When you drink store-bought green tea, it can sometimes upset your stomach or taste too bitter. That bitterness comes from tea trees being cut and harvested too often."

Students have tea and talk with Monk Dukje at Gucheungam on Dec. 2. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Students had the chance to sit down and chat with the monk while trying tea that was harvested from the bamboo grove in the springtime.

Rather than having a rigid lecture, students freely discussed various topics from tea to what it's like being a monk, and had the opportunity to ask personal questions. Hands eagerly shot into the air to ask how they could be less stressed and how to not be affected by others’ negative emotions.

"I think I now get the concept of how to prevent negative thoughts and his answers did really help me," said Katie, from Thailand. "In my country, we also have a lot of people believing in Buddhism and monks as well, but I think the relationship monks have with people is a bit different. I think it's really good how you can come to talk to them and ask for advice."

While the monk bid goodbye to students by saying they are always welcome to stop by, there are other ways to learn to produce tea firsthand.

For a closer experience of monastic life and tea culture, Gucheungam offers wwoofing, or worldwide opportunities to work on organic farms.

Through wwoofing, people can volunteer to help Monk Dukje harvest and make tea during a two-week program in April or May. There are around 20 wwoofers per year, although the experience can be a tough one — volunteers live at the temple and harvest tea from morning to night.

Hanok with centuries of history

The Ssangsanje Hall at night [PARK SANG-MOON]

It’s not difficult to visit a hanok or spend a night in one these days, with so many hanok villages and themed accommodations across Korea. But getting a chance to experience a hanok that's centuries old and rich with family history doesn't come often.

Ssangsanjae Hall, also located in Gurye County, is a hanok designated as one of the county’s Local Cultural Heritage sites. The building originally served as a study for scholar Oh Hyeong-sun (1865–1940) and has since housed six generations, including its current owner, Oh Kyeong-young.

The hanok is on a huge 16,500 square meter (4 acre) plot of land, with six buildings such as the study room and the byeolchae (guesthouse). Some buildings are tucked inside a quiet bamboo forest, with a stone trail leading to the back gate where visitors can walk along a large reservoir.

Sikhye (sweet rice drink) and desserts served at Ssangsanje Hall [PARK SANG-MOON]

Ssangsanjae Hall is open to visitors, and allows people to experience tea and traditional Korean desserts made by Oh's wife, Kim Jung-hee.

Jeokdeokheon, a building used as a resting area, was filled with sweet delicacies made by Kim when students visited on Dec. 2. Each student was given a tray with a cup of sikhye (sweet rice drink) and assortment of desserts such as candied ginger and ginseng, chestnut and plum flower jelly, beef jerky, yakgwa (traditional Korean deep-fried honey cookies), candied tangerines and gimbugak (fried seaweed).

Each dessert was colorfully decorated, with the ggae gangjeong (deep-fried sesame puff) topped with dried strawberries, apples and tangerines. A puffed rice snack was also topped with a small piece of dried strawberry and a thin strand of dried seaweed to resemble a flower.

"I really enjoyed the sikhye, and while I've had sikhye before, the one we drank had a really good balance of being not too sweet," said Cherie Jardeleza. "I also liked how the desserts were decorated with pieces of dried seaweed, and I got to appreciate all the effort that went into creating the desserts."

Kim Jung-hee, wife of Oh Kyeong-young, the sixth-generation descendant of the first owner of Ssangsanjae Hall, explains about the desserts to students on Dec. 2. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Visitors can stop by to look around the hanok or book the tea and dessert experience through the hanok's website.

There's also the option for an overnight stay on special occasions, which some students took advantage of during the visit.

In the mornings, visitors are greeted by the owners, with Kim cooking a homemade meal consisting of kimchi, baek kimchi (kimchi without chili powder), acorn jelly, gim (seaweed), pickled plum and bulgogi (marinated beef). A bowl of steaming rice is essential, served with a warm siraegi soup, or soup made with dried radish leaves and soybean paste.

Exploring Hadong’s tea

A student poses for a photo at the Hadong Tea Museum on Dec. 3. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Hadong County is nestled in the east side of the Seomjin River, around 30 minutes from Gurye County by car.

Known for its green tea, Hadong County is recognized as Korea's first tea cultivation site, with wild tea seeds first being planted in the area in 828 A.D. during the Silla Dynasty (57 B.C. to 935 A.D.). Surrounded by Mount Jiri and the Seomjin River, the area often experiences fog and high humidity, creating ideal conditions for tea to grow. It also experiences temperature fluctuations, another factor that helps it produce high-quality tea.

For those who want to know more, the Hadong Tea Museum offers various activities in which visitors can try hands-on tea ceremony experiences.

Students who joined the museum’s tea class on Wednesday were given small bowls of green and black tea leaves to brew for themselves.

Students brew their own tea during the tea ceremony experience at the Hadong Tea Museum on Dec. 3. [PARK SANG-MOON]

The instructor carefully guided students, teaching how to catch the scent of freshly brewed tea, the differences between the first and second infusions and proper tea etiquette. As the tea's flavor can vary depending on how long it's steeped and the pouring technique, students poured tea for those sitting beside them, tasting each other's brews to compare the differences.

"I've seen tea ceremonies before, but I liked it because I could actually try it myself this time," said Nguyen Thi Giang. "The tea we brewed had a really good scent and I got to know that taste of the tea you brew for yourself is actually quite different from the tea you drink from stores or cafes."

Another must-visit place for tea lovers is the nearby Jeonggeum Tea Field, which is less than 10 minutes from the museum by car.

The tea field is part of the Hadong 1,000-Year Dahyang Trail, which lets visitors walk up a hillside for about 20 minutes to reach a small pavilion at the top.

Students pose for a photo at the Jeonggeum Tea Field on Dec. 3. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Neatly trimmed rows of tea shrubs stretch along the path, with visitors able to enjoy the view of Mount Jiri as they walk by.

"The organization of the tea fields really caught my eye," said Marceline Auger. "In France, we have gardens which are organized in shapes like squares. The tea fields here almost seem like someone perfectly cut them to have rounded edges, and that organization almost reminds me a little bit of the gardens back home."

"I also liked how we got to see the entire process of how tea is produced and how it's consumed during the trip," added Auger. "Monk Dukje at Hwaeomsa told us that they have volunteers who do wwoofing, and the trip makes me want to try it in the future."

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]