Uncover Korea’s enduring traditions and fascinating cultural heritage
From UNESCO-listed villages to centuries-old traditions, Andong offers an immersive journey into Korea’s cultural heritage, surrounded by peaceful rivers, mountains and countryside.
Andong likes to call itself the spiritual home of Korean tradition, and it's not an idle boast. This is a city where centuries-old ways of life – a one-clan village, a masked ritual dance, a working Confucian academy – aren't performed for visitors so much as simply carried on.
We love how much of that tradition is still genuinely lived rather than staged. Hahoe Folk Village has been home to the Ryu clan of Pungsan since the 15th century, and it's still a working community today, which is a large part of why UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 2010, alongside Yangdong Folk Village.
The village itself rewards a slow wander. Six of its tile-roofed aristocratic homes are designated National Treasures, the Yongmogak Shrine holds the Jingbirok, a National Treasure record of the 1592 Imjin War, and a 650-year-old zelkova tree, known as Samdindan, still has visitors tying wishes to its branches.
Hahoe's other great tradition is its mask dance, believed to be around 500 years old and originally performed to appease the village's guardian spirit. Thirteen alder-wood masks, with movable jaws and characters ranging from a nobleman to a flirtatious widow, are preserved today in the Hahoe Mask Museum, having been designated a National Treasure in 1964.
For something more scholarly, Dosan Seowon, founded in 1574 in memory of the Confucian scholar Yi Hwang, forms part of a UNESCO listing of nine Neo-Confucian academies inscribed in 2019, and its raised library and lotus pond are as much a lesson in architecture as in philosophy.
Getting to Andong is straightforward too, with around five KTX services a day from Seoul taking a little over two hours.
Get in touch with our South Korea team today to start planning your perfect Andong itinerary.
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Sophie
South Korea Expert