KBS1 ‘Neighborhood Tour’
At 7:10 p.m. on the 7th, episode 357 of KBS1 ‘Neighborhood Tour’ will air in the installment ‘The Colder, the Hotter – Yangju, Gyeonggi Province’, showing Cheonhajangsa grand champion Lee Man gi rediscovering childlike wonder.
About a 30 minute drive from Seoul. With the majestic spirit of Bukhansan supporting the south and famed peaks such as Bulgoksan and Gamaksan forming a fence for the town, Yangju City in Gyeonggi Province is an ideal place to set out on a winter trip, embraced by beautiful scenery shaped by nature.
For its 357th journey, ‘Neighborhood Tour’ heads to Yangju in Gyeonggi Province to meet people who shine with their true colors and heat up life as the cold deepens, in a season when the chill wind that rides down the mountain range fills every alley.
In Uldae ri, Jangheung myeon, Yangju, the Songchu Valley in Bukhansan National Park signals a vigorous start. The valley was named Songchu because it has many pine and garae trees.
KBS1 ‘Neighborhood Tour’
Walking along straight standing trees and a clear stream leads to Songdam Falls, frozen solid, offering a spectacle granted only in midwinter. While savoring the crisp air of the winter mountain that refreshes body and mind, one enjoys the beauty of nature that quietly holds its place even in a biting season.
With 2026 marking the byeongo year, the Year of the Red Horse, the trip stops at a riding club in Yangju brimming with dynamic energy. From elementary to high school students, owner Wang Yun jae has become a steadfast mentor for youngsters starting horseback riding. To establish the presentable riding club he has now, he spent as long as six years living in a cramped container by choice, spending time with horses and cultivating the land. Now raising a youth team that will carry the future beyond his own dream, we look into Wang Yun jae’s steadfast life as he rides the golden second act of his life.
Where time in the fast changing city flows slowly. In Yangju, we meet the workshop of master artisan Kim Yong gu, who has held his place for more than 30 years still firing briquettes. In his hands, a sheet of copper soon becomes a door chime that rings clear, and is reborn as a fine candlestick or wall clock.
A handmade lighter developed after long research is a one of a kind craftwork and a point of pride. Even as imported knockoffs push out space for handmade craft, we peek into the daily life of an artisan who burns with passion to the end, and his wife Park Jeong im, who quietly supports her husband.
KBS1 ‘Neighborhood Tour’
Jangheung myeon in Yangju is wrapped like a folding screen by Bukhansan and Dobongsan. In winter, there is a place where the pure laughter of children echoes along the mountain foot. It is a sledding hill created inside a pristine forest recreation area of about one million pyeong. Drawn by the sight of both adults and children alike returning to childlike hearts and gliding across a white field of snow, local host Lee Man gi also pauses his steps. Here, where even the bitter winter cold turns romantic, he rides a sled and tastes winter snacks, calling back long forgotten childhood memories.
There is a special acorn feast you can find only in Yangju. Seeking to make food that is healthy and easy to digest, Kim Young gwon got an idea from watching quick moving squirrels in the mountains. The signature dishes born that way are acorn kalguksu made with acorn flour and acorn muk sweet and sour pork. With the hope that no one will go hungry as he once did in a poor childhood, noodles come with no limit refills. On top of that, if a guest donates a blood donation certificate, one bowl is served free. The warm generosity that shares comfort with the world and gives lavishly to visitors gently warms Yangju’s winter.
A rugged quarry that once cut stone transforms in winter into a silver ice wall that thrills climbers nationwide. The Garaebi Icefall in Gwangjeok myeon, Yangju, is a mecca for ice climbing known as the first place in the country to freeze over. Members of an ice climbing club sweat in earnest as they ascend a steep wall of ice, even in cold that numbs fingertips. From people who have come to Yangju in search of happiness unique to this season, we learn how to forget the biting winter chill.
Walking the friendly neighborhood alleys, we meet a couple trimming gaeddongssuk in their yard. It looks like an ordinary home, but inside there is a licensed brewery that makes various traditional medicinal wines and the spoonable liquor ‘Ihwaju’. With a long tradition recorded even in Goryeo era documents, Ihwaju is characterized by using almost no water and brewing with gumeongddeok and a rice starter called Iwhagok. Lee Gyeong suk, captivated by the taste of liquor her mother made, began a path in traditional spirits by chance. We listen to the fragrant life story of a couple brewing with a dream not only to carry on the family trade but also to globalize Korean traditional spirits.
KBS1 ‘Neighborhood Tour’
Even on a world like thin ice, there are neighbors who live with a blazing flame deep in their hearts. The stories of Yangju residents who therefore fear no midwinter cold will be revealed on episode 357 of ‘Neighborhood Tour’, ‘The Colder, the Hotter – Yangju, Gyeonggi Province’, at 7:10 p.m. on Saturday, February 7.
