Gangwon-do becomes crowded with people during summer in Korea. This is because it has the vast, wide sea, water leisure activities, and abundant foods that are enough to attract tourists. Recently, ‘Yangyang in Gangwon-do’ has become the hottest place among them, rapidly emerging as a tourist destination representing the province as nature-friendly travel and play culture spread among young people. Let’s set off to Yangyang, where all three of tourist sites, food, and specialties are blended well together.

 

 

#Keywords - Tourism
Yangyang is the ‘hottest’ tourist site in Korea nowadays. As more people, especially the young, enjoy surfing, Yangyang has drawn attention with its clean and high waves, even called ‘Mecca of Surfing’ which is enough to demonstrate its recent popularity. The most visited places by tourists are Naksan Beach and Hajodae Beach. If you walk around here, you can easily see people surfing in the sea and about 40 surfer shops in total. Many pubs are lined up along the beach for people to quench their thirst from surfing, making Yangyang a great place to enjoy drinking and leisure at the same time. 

 

 

However, you are mistaken if you think the sea is the Yangyang’s only tourist attraction. Seoraksan National Park, a treasure trove of ecosystems, is also a must-see resort in Yangyang. It is home to the whopping 939 plant, 25 mammal, 90 bird, 11 reptile, 9 amphibian, and 360 insect species. You can see anthropological heritage as well; the oldest Neolithic ruins in Korea when you go to Osan-ri, and a stone pagoda built more than 1,000 years ago when you visit Dunjeon-ri.

 

 

#Keywords - Food
The major dishes of Yangyang are Seopguk (Mussel Soup), Ttugeoritang (Spicy Floating Goby Stew), and Songibeoseotjeongol (Pine Mushroom Hot Pot). These foods are considered as must-try specialties in Yangyang. Seopguk is recommended to try in particular, since it is not easily available in other regions. Made by boiling wild mussels with soybean paste and chives, it is so rich in nutrients that it is even called Yangyang’s “best health food”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ttugeoritang is another dish that can only be experienced in Yangyang. At first glance, it looks like Chueotang (Loach Soup) or eojuk (Fish porridge). But it is known as a special food that reflects the sorrows of life in Yangyang. Ttugeoritang is made by boiling freshwater fish living on the bottom of first-grade clean water in a spicy and hot broth, and by filtering fish bones in a sieve. Thanks to this, it is also a popular hangover dish to calm the stomach the next day after a drink night.

 

 

Songibeoseotjeongol is also a special dish in Yangyang. Its unique feat is a deep flavor infused by boiling pine mushrooms, a specialty of Yangyang, as the main ingredient with thinly sliced and seasoned beef and clams together. The deep flavor of pine mushrooms blends well together, so you can feel your body getting healthier even before you eat it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#Keywords - Specialties
In Korea, Yangyang-harvested pine mushrooms and salmon harvested are famous. Yangyang’s pine mushrooms are especially known for excellent chewiness and scent among all pine mushrooms, with a low moisture content and firm flesh as 100% natural mushrooms. Also, the pine mushrooms intake nutrients only from the roots of 20-to-60-year-old pine trees, that they have a unique, heavy scent similar to rosin. The 1st grade pine mushrooms must beat least 8cm long, have no top part spreading out, and have the stem in uniform thickness. Yangyang’s top-grade pine mushrooms are considered the best among agricultural products, with prices soaring to as high as KRW 100,000 
The Namdaecheon Brook located in Yangyang is a major salmon return stream in Korea. More than 70% of salmon returning to Korea are born and die here. As a result, the Salmon Festival has become a representative local festival in Yangyang, where people can enjoy salmon dishes and rich activities and programs. At the Yangyang 5-day Market, you can easily buy both pine mushrooms and salmon.