Daehan Dawon Tea Plantation, Boseong

Rows of tea bushes climb the hillsides of Bongsan-ri in Boseong at Daehan Dawon, the largest tea plantation in Boseong and its best-known tourist estate. Past an avenue of towering cedars, whole slopes open up like green staircases, and from the 350 m summit the view stretches all the way to the sea. It draws visitors in every season.

Planting tea on a mountainside

The tea company Daehan Daup was founded in 1939, and in 1957 its chairman Jang Yeong-seop bought the forested land here and began planting tea, together with Japanese cedar, cypress and bamboo. In 1994 the estate was licensed as a tourist farm and opened to the public.

It became famous nationwide through a 1997 telecom commercial, and later as a filming location for dramas such as "Summer Scent", "The Legend of the Blue Sea" and "The Rebel". The estate covers more than 300,000 pyeong (about 100 hectares) of hillside, and its tea is sold under the name Bongno.

What to see

• Cedar avenue: tall cedars line the path from the ticket office to the tea fields.
• Central steps and viewpoint: the stairway through the middle of the plantation leads to a view over the curving rows of tea.
• Sea viewpoint: higher up, the tea-field and sea viewpoints look out to the south coast on clear days.
• Forest trails: paths lead through cypress, juniper, maple and bamboo woods.
• Tea rest area: a tea shop, a restaurant serving green tea dishes and a kiosk with green tea ice cream.

Choosing a route

The estate signposts five routes by length. The shortest takes 20 minutes, route 3 via the tea-field and sea viewpoints about 40 minutes, and the hiking route 4 through the bamboo grove about an hour. There is also an easy route for those who want to avoid the steep steps.

Good to know

• Only part of the tea fields is open to visitors; the rest is used for cultivation and closed to the public.
• Leaves are picked around May and graded into teas such as ujeon and sejak, along with other tea products. During festival periods, leaf-picking sessions are sometimes held for groups.
• This estate in Boseong-eup is the first Daehan Dawon; a second one lies in Hoecheon-myeon. Entry used to be free, but an admission fee was introduced as visitor numbers grew.

Tripto tips

• Hours: March to October 09:00–18:00, November to February 09:00–17:00, open daily.
• Admission: adults KRW 4,000; ages 7–18, over-65s and soldiers KRW 3,000; under-6s free. An English guidebook is available.
• When to go: spring, when new leaves appear and picking starts around May, is when the fields are brightest.
• Watch out: picking leaves or walking between the rows without permission is not allowed; stay on the paths.
• Nearby: a second Daehan Dawon estate lies in Hoecheon-myeon, and Yulpo Beach and the Korea Tea Museum make good add-ons.