Gunsan City, Gyeongam-dong Railroad Village, Modern History Street, Chowon Photo Store, Sinheungdong Japanese Style Hirotsu House, and Dongguksa Temple, South Korea
A day trip to Gunsan from Jeonju, South Korea. I visited various locations related to Korea’s modernizing period, from the early 1900s to the 1940s.
Gyeongam-dong Railroad Village: South Korea, Jeollabuk-do, Gunsan-si, Gyeongchonan 3-gil, 49.
Gunsan Modern History Street: 1-67 Jangmi-dong, Gunsan-si, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea
Sinheungdon Japanese style Hirotsu House: 17 Guyeong 1(il)-gil, Sinheung-dong, Gunsan-si, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea
Dongguksa Temple: 16 Dongguksa-gil, Samhak-dong, Gunsan-si, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea
Going to Gunsan from Jeonju by bus. When I go from one city to another city, I take an intercity bus because the bus station is conveniently located, economical, and has separate space for luggage. It costs about $5 to $10 depends on the distance and takes about an hour to an hour and a half.
Many rice fields can be seen from the bus.
The first stop was Gyeongam-dong Railroad Village. This area is not a village but rather a one-block-long unused railroad track with stores on both sides of the track.
Many photo studio stores
A train model at the end of the track
Many side stores rent school uniforms that tourists wear to feel nostalgic as they were high school students.
The railroad is hidden behind the row of stores.
Took a bus to Gunsan Modern History Street, where buildings built in the early 1900s were still standing.
Next is the Gunsan Modern History Museum.
Other early 1900s buildings. They are used as art or historical museums, coffee shops, or concert hall.
One of the art museums in the area.
Inside the Gunsan Modern History Museum. This boat is the model of the boat that carried the rice to Seoul.
Japanese took over the farmland from Koreans and exported half of the rice produced to Japan.
A model of the city during that time, the early 1900s.
A school
A shoe store
The percentage of rice shipped to Japan from Korea.
This model house shows where ordinary Korean people who worked in the city lived outside the city area.
A view of outside from the museum.
Walking to Chowon photo store. This store became a tourist attraction because it is used in the popular movie “Christmas in August.”
One can see the glimpse of the store beside the large building.
This is it. Nothing spectacular, but it is within easy walking distance from other attractions in Gunsan.
From the photo store, I walked to Sinheungdon Japanese style Hirotsu House. This house was built by a Japanese businessman in 1935. This house shows how rich Japanese people lived in Korea.
A short walk from Japanese-style Hirotsu House is this little Buddhist temple. This temple is the only Japanese-style Buddhist temple in Korea.
One can donate each roof tile for the temple.
Near the temple is this Japanse style building which is now used as a museum.
Inside the building displays, the various Korean flags were used.
The standard Korean flag and the meaning of it.
