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Start
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Gwanggyo Reservoir
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Hwaseong
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Hwaseong Haenggung
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Janganmun
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Suwon Chicken Alley
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Haegungdong
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Paldalmun
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Finish
Old Yet Friendly Haegungdong Mural Painting Village 행궁동 벽화마을
Suwon has a scientific cultural heritage acknowledged by UNESCO called Suwon Hwaseong Fortress but in order to preserve it, only the limited development was allowed in the neighboring villages and that's why it has old buildings. In order to vitalise these old buildings and alleys, Haegungdong Mural Painting Village was decorated with mural paintings, and it still has old alleys and tilt-roofed houses from the 70s so it would remind old people of old times~and it would be a good place to take pictures or take a walk in a filming site for young people.
This is the entrance to mural painting village. It has a narrow alley with no parking space so the big car was blocking the entrance.
Some of the paintings were drawn by artists and some of them were drawn by volunteer students.
I once came to Haegungdong Mural Painting Village five years ago so I can't say all of this is new. Maybe that's why some of the paintings look vague and more vintage.
In the alley, there's a resting place called 'Alternative Space Noon'. This is a nonprofit exhibition where it displays artworks and sells them in order to support creative works of artists. Anybody can come in and look around, buy if anything interests them, and there's a small cafe for drinks as well.
In an oddly exotic space where Korean-style and western-style houses are combined, there's a yard with grass that makes you feel like you're in a Hanok(Korean-style house) cafe in Samcheong-dong so you should stop by sometime. But unfortunately, I was there when the shop was closed, which is on every Monday. I wish it was open.
Every alley has a name here. I'm walking back my favorite alley called 'Saranghada Gil(Love, Street)'. It was just empty when I first visited here in winter but in summer, the ivies over the walls look amazing with mural paintings. With the ivies on the walls, one, two, three, kimchi! Even middle-aged man looks cute in this picture.
There are lock hangers for young couples promising their eternal love. Those who already left locks here!! I honestly hope your love still goes on.
There's a take-out coffee shop out of blue in the alley. The windows were closed but the signboard addressed 'Open', and I assume I would have to knock the window to order and get drinks.
If this was just cement alley without these adorable paintings, it would've been scary at night but these paintings make it look good.
This painting is known to be drawn by Kim Hee-cheol, a member of Super Junior, and Gawk Seol-bu, Taiwan actress, when they were shooting 'We just got married', MBC TV program.
The walls were almost cracked and fell down but with these beautiful paintings and pumpkin vines, the whole alley looks bright. Old and shabby things look friendly and pretty in this Hanggungdong Mural Painting Village, which is an attraction of this village.
So that was the 'Saranhada Gil(Love, Street)'. This is where you start to walk but I started from the end. As its name shows, the paintings were warm, cute and lovely.
Walking to the right from the 'Love, Street', you'll see 'CheoeumAchimgil(First Morning Street)' and between two streets, you'll see 'Geumbo Inn'. The owner said the painting was drawn by a Brazilian artist. Seems kinda proud that it's special because it's drawn by a foreign artist.
Looks like new for old Hanok and looks old for a modern building, huh? All the houses in Haenggung-dong are like this. It's attractive to see everything seems to have stopped since the 70s.
Right past Geumbo Inn, I got into another alley. A small signboard on the left wall says 'First Morning Street'.
'First Morning Street' was very short so I took one photo and headed to 'Backward Street' alley.
Okay, I thought they were real dandelion but they weren't. Faded colors made them look more real, they got me.
While I was watching the paintings, oh my gosh!! Briquettes!! I've never seen them since I graduated middle school so it's weird since it's been a long time but I couldn't figure out why would anyone need that many briquettes in summer. After that, I noticed it wasn't hard to find houses using briquettes. It is an old village after all.
After all those flowers, heart-shapes and lovely paintings, this abstract painting seems like an art piece by famous artist. I just pass by the flowers thinking 'okay, they're pretty' and this one made me assume the abstract message the artist tried to send but to me, it's still just a painting.
This is the painting drawn at the end of 'Romance-gil(Romance Street)'. They look good with pipes and giraffe drawings. I don't know who drew this but somebody's got good sense.
Now, I'll enter the rainbow flower alley, which was recently decorated.
As a flower alley, yellow flowers were welcoming me that I was confused with sunflowers but now that I see them, they're not. What is the name of this flower?
As a man, I was wondering why did they draw a dress on the wall but my wife said it's pretty. She said it reminds her of old times when she used to play with dolls and it looks exactly like a doll dress, and she couldn't stop saying 'oh my gosh!'
Newly decorated alley also had old concrete walls. Over the walls, there are sharp pieces of glass stuck on them. They were installed to protect the houses from thieves which I'm familiar with and I didn't know these still exist, but after all this is Hanggung-dong.
We walked from 'Rainbow Flower Street' to 'Good Street to Hide', which is practically all around Haenggungdong Mural Village.
The most famous mural painting village in Korea would be Dongpirang Village in Tongyeong, and I must say it has glamorous and pretty paintings which are worth to watch indeed. But I couldn't help but notice there are new stores opening these days that it disturbs the image of OLD VILLAGE, and I think the faded and plain paintings in Haegungdong are as attractive as they are because they keep everything, even briquettes, walls with pieces of glasses, and iron door with a granting sound as they were in old times. Why don't you take a walk in this old town while you eat ice cream you bought at the entrance in hot weather?
Address (Alternative Space Noon) : 232-3, Buksu-dong, Paldal-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do (경기도 수원시 팔달구 북수동 232-3)
