Hadong Wild Tea Museum

On the southern slopes of Jirisan, on the road up to Ssanggyesa Temple in Hwagae-myeon, the Hadong Wild Tea Museum is a public museum about the tea culture of Hwagae, known as the place where tea growing began in Korea. It tells the story of the wild tea gardens that cling to rocky hillsides through films and digital displays, and admission is free. Add a tea ceremony or a leaf-roasting session and it makes a good starting point for exploring the Hwagae tea valley.

Hwagae, birthplace of Korean tea

The Samguk Sagi records that in 828, the third year of King Heungdeok of Silla, the envoy Daeryeom returned from Tang China with tea seeds, and the king had them planted on Jirisan. Hadong identifies the spot as the Hwagae valley on the south side of the mountain, and tradition credits the monk Jingam of Ssanggyesa with spreading tea across the region. In the late Joseon era, the monk Choui wrote in his Dongdasong (Ode to Korean Tea) that the tea bushes of Hwagae stretched over dozens of li, and that no tea garden in the country was larger. Hwagae tea was sent to the court as tribute through the Goryeo and Joseon periods until the late 19th century, and the native tea plants and tea etiquette survived even the Japanese colonial period, when traditional varieties were under threat.

A globally recognised tea system

Hwagae's steep slopes and frequent floods made rice farming difficult, so people turned early to growing tea among the rocks and stones of the hillsides. Instead of chemical fertiliser, they traditionally use compost made from the surrounding oak forests. This traditional tea agriculture was designated a Korean Important Agricultural Heritage System in 2015 and a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2017. The museum is built around these tea gardens and the way they are farmed.

What to see

• Hadong Wild Tea Media Zone: watch the tea gardens through the seasons and try virtual leaf-picking and pan-roasting with 3D motion sensors. A touch wall introduces some 30 tearooms around Hadong.
• Hwagae Valley video room: films about the tea gardens of the Hwagaecheon valley and the people who tend them.
• Tea Masters' Hall: profiles of the masters who have kept Hadong tea alive, and their teas.
• Tea wares through the ages and wild teas of the world: compare tea utensils from different periods and wild teas from other countries.
• Special exhibition room: changing shows on tea-related themes, from historic tea wares to ceramics by local artists.

Tripto tips

• Time needed: about 1 hour for the exhibits, 2 hours with a workshop.
• Opening hours: March–October, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–18:00; November–February 10:00–17:00. Last entry 30 minutes before closing. Closed on Mondays, 1 January and on Seollal and Chuseok days.
• Admission and workshops: entry is free. The tea ceremony class costs KRW 5,000 per person (about 40 minutes, minimum 4 people), leaf picking KRW 3,000 and the tea-roasting workshop KRW 9,000. Minimum group sizes vary, so book in advance on the museum website.
• Best time: April and May, when the new leaves are picked and roasted and the annual Hadong Wild Tea Culture Festival takes place. In early April you can also catch the cherry-blossom road from Hwagae Market to Ssanggyesa.
• Getting there: from Hadong Bus Terminal take a bus towards Hwagae and get off at the Ssanggyesa stop, then walk. By car, leave the Namhae Expressway at Hadong IC and follow the road via the Hwagae Market junction onto Ssanggye-ro, about 40 minutes. Ssanggyesa is about 900 m away, so it is easy to visit both.