During my short trip to South Korea, I have a chance to revisit Gyeongju and its two UNESCO protected sites, Bulguksa Temple and Gyeongju Tumuli Park; however my true highlight was a visit to Yangdong, a small village outside the city of Gyeongju, together with Hohoe became the third world heritage site of Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, one of the cultural hotspot of this country. By a nice direct bus no. 203 from the Sin-Gyeongju Train Station or the central bus terminal, I was in Yangdong within 40 minutes. The first thing I saw was the large parking zone, with five tourist buses, clearly Yangdong was already being on tourist itinerary.

The village itself is beautiful with many lovely thatched roof houses, paddy rice fields, lotus ponds and blooming flower, one of the prettiest places in Korea. Strolling around the village is a thing to do, as the village has unique characteristic as the tiled roof house of the ruling class will be on the top of the hill, while the lower class thatched roof houses are built on the ground below; however most of the houses are still occupied by local people, few are opened for sightseers, but I loved these things, the village is still a living place, not a fake traditional villages which Korea has a lot and also Yangdong does not have ticket for entrance yet.

I don’t know what will happen with Yangdong in the near future, the site has potential to become a new tourist trap with many traditional houses turned to be souvenir shops and restaurants or café similar with traditional villages in China and Japan. The development of the fragile place is truly depending on locals’ decision. But at least in 2011, Yangdong is a lovely place to visit and a good World Heritage Site of South Korea.

In June 2023, I visited Dong Nak Dang House and nearby Oksan Seowon which are parts of Yangdong Village. The highlight of this area component is the small and beautiful river valley between these two places. The picturesque riverside pavilion of Dong Nak Dang House provides a perfect image of sophisticate lifestyle of bygone ruling class and classic Korean garden landscape. The view of river valley from the pavilion is just lovely but the view from the riverbank toward of the pavilion is far better. The whole area is full of pristine environment that is so perfect for having picnic or mediation and I saw two women leisurely drank coffee and enjoyed the peaceful vibe. Since this component of Yangdong World Heritage Site is quite small and far from Yangdong Village itself I would recommend only for visitor who already visited Yangdong and want to revisit this area, or someone who want to collect two World Heritage Sites in just one visit as Oksan Seowon is also a part of another Korean World Heritage Site, Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies.