Cheongha Gongjin Market

Cheongha Market is a country five-day market in the township of Cheongha-myeon, Buk-gu, Pohang. In 2021 the tvN drama Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha turned it into the market of the fictional seaside village of Gongjin, and a "Gongjin Market" sign went up over the entrance, with several shop signs from the series still in place. Come on a market day – dates ending in 1 and 6 – and you get a real rural market with fruit, dried fish, seedlings and hardware, plus the filming spots.

A long-standing country market

Cheongha is an old county name that first appears in records from the reign of Goryeo's founder, King Taejo. Nobody knows exactly when the market began, but it is thought to date from the 1920s, during Japanese colonial rule. In the 1970s–90s traders came from as far as Heunghae, Yeongdeok, Pohang, Yeongcheon and Gyeongju, but from the 2000s an ageing, shrinking population cut trade sharply. With a large open square in the middle and around 90 shops along the main road and arcade, it is laid out for market days rather than daily shopping.

The drama effect

In the drama, Gongjin is the seaside village where dentist Yoon Hye-jin (Shin Min-a) and local fixer "Chief Hong", Hong Du-sik (Kim Seon-ho), live. The production team dressed the area around Cheongha Market as Gongjin village, and 25 shops served as filming locations. In the months after the broadcast, from October 2021 to early the following year, about 100,000 people visited this small market, many of them from abroad. Information boards around the market mark the filming spots and nearby sights, so they are easy to follow.

• Bora Supermarket: the village shop from the series, still selling snacks, sweets and toys.
• Gongjin Banjeom: the drama's Chinese-restaurant sign is still up, but the menu is now beef-bone soup and rice soups.
• Cheongho Hardware: a chair set out in front for photos makes it a popular selfie spot.
• Hannat-e Coffee, Dalbam-e Maekju: the pastel-coloured building is an easy-to-spot filming location.

Market-day scenes

On market days the square and roadside fill with fruit, dried fish, grains, shoes, clothes and seafood, along with pesticides, seedlings and even livestock – everything a farming household needs. Being close to the East Sea, there are plenty of fish and seafood stalls, and older women set out home-made side dishes and snacks. A large squid sculpture outside the market announces that this is an East Sea market town, and tables and chairs in the covered square give traders and shoppers somewhere to rest. Rather than just ticking off the filming spots, take a full loop and buy something in season.

Tripto tips

• Time needed: about an hour covers the market and the drama signs.
• Market days: the 1st, 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st and 26th. On other days many shops are shut and it is very quiet.
• Searching on maps: Gongjin is a fictional name, so search for Cheongha Market (청하시장) in map apps.
• Getting there: Wolpo Station on the Donghae Line is about 2.5 km from the market. City buses run from central Pohang towards Cheongha, but they can be infrequent, so check times in a map app first.
• Combine it with: Wolpo Beach in front of Wolpo Station, for a day of sea and market.