A range of mountains envelops the town like a wall, with the entrance in the western area. An array of houses stand along the bottom of the mountains with the river flowing through the village and rice fields surrounding the river. All this creates a breathtaking scenery in a harmonious landscape. The Folk Village encompasses the following facilities; the Folk Village proper which collects, reproduces, restores, exhibits, presents, preserves and bequeaths Korean cultural artifacts and heritage, the Museum Area that researches and studies the identity of the Korean people, and also exhibits, teaches and exchanges cultural heritage and folk documents, the Family Park where families can enjoy various entertainment facilities, and the Traditional Marketplace, offering diverse traditional cuisines, handicrafts, souvenirs, and a parking lot.
Many of the buildings, including 168 traditional houses, were relocated to the folk village and restored according to the original lifestyle of the Korean people in the late Chosun period. Approximately 30,000 items of daily life have been collected from diverse regions and placed in each room based on their characteristics and period, enabling visitors to conveniently see, listen and feel the apparel, food, domestic life, manufactur- ing technology, religious ceremonies, and folk amusement according to period. The facilities include houses from the Southern, Northern, and Central parts of Korea, in addition to Jeju Island, houses from different regions, classes, and professions, traditional houses, government houses, temples, seowon, seodang, altar, mortar mill, water mill, Bigyo (stone pillar bridge), Birim (stone pillar forest), Honjeon gate, rainbow bridge, Pyungsuk bridge (flat stone bridge), wood bridge, Dokmok bridge, workshop, rice field, farm and perfor- mance arenas have been recreated, restored and exhibited.
About 20 employees practice their handicraft skills and process in pottery, winnows, willow tubs, round willow baskets, cookery, round bamboo baskets, bamboo buckets, bamboo flat wooden spoons, tinware, scooped wooden dishes, wooden shoes with clogs, straw sandals, Korean paper, brassware, masks, knotting and embroidery, musical instruments, leather brushes, pyrograph, farming tools, paper crafts, and furniture. The food section of the traditional marketplace has a diverse offering of Korean cuisine, including dwenjang-guk (soybean paste soup), bibimbap (steamed rice with mixed vegetables), rice soup, chueotang (mudfish soup), guksu (wheat flour noodles), naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles in broth), dotorimuk (acorn jelly), seafood jeon (seafood pancake), ?, nokdu jeon (mung bean pancake), injeolmi (glutinous rice cake), and dongdongju (rice wine). Various other traditional products and souvenirs are sold in the stores.
In the Folk Scene Performing Arena, Farmers' Music and Dance, Korean Seesaw, and Acrobatics on a Tightrope are performed twice a day. In the Southern Part Traditional House No. 9, traditional weddings are reproduced twice a day in the spring and autumn, and during holidays, traditional holiday customs and religious ceremony folk entertainment are recreated and performed. In the convenience area, there is the Korean hall, Yangban hall, street house, coffee shop, traditional goods shop, souvenir shops, pottery exhibition center, photoshop, wheelchair and stroller rental shop, lockers, public phones, and ATM. Restaurants in the area offer food such as bulgogi, dolsot bibimbap (steamed rice with vegetables in a hot stone pot), somorigukbap (cow head rice soup), mushroom stew, seafood pancakes, mung bean pancakes, and dotorimuk (acorn jelly) and visitors can sample diverse teas and drinks at the coffee house, including traditional ginseng tea, ssanghwa tea, ohmija tea (maximowiczia chinensis fruit tea), gugija tea (Chinese matrimony vine tea), gingko nut tea, jujube tea, plum tea, pumpkin porridge, redbean porridge, coffee, and ice flakes.
There were a lot of difficulties in reproducing, restoring and exhibiting in detail the Korean materials in the Folk Village on October 1, 1994. In order to improve the collection, study, and research of Korean cultural heritage, a Folk Hall and a museum containing many ancient art was founded in December 1996. The exhibitions in the Folk Hall enabled visitors to understand the traditional lifestyle and culture by centering on traditional holiday customs, ceremonial occasions, religious ceremonies, entertainment, and manufacturing technology through the year-round life of a four-generation family from the late Chosun period. The area of the Folk Hall is approximately 3.2 million pyeong. In the seven exhibition rooms, traditional customs of the four seasons and folk customs separate from the world are orderly recreated. In addition, visitors can learn more about the lifestyle, folk religions, entertainment, and manufacturing through various documents.
The museum being constructed shall exhibit Korean cultural heritage and artifacts depicting the ancestor's creative spirit and artistic beauty to the public, in addition to both domestic and foreign professional scholars, in order to reconfirm the excellence of Korean culture. The major collections include invaluable pieces of art, such as about 2,500 paintings and pieces of pottery collected during the past 30 years. The total area of the museum is approximately 270 pyeong, comprising 5 Permanent Exhibition Halls and 1 Special Exhibition Hall. Celadon porcelain is exhibited in Exhibition Hall No. 1 (Ceramic Ware Room No. 1), Bunchong porcelain and white porcelain in Exhibition Hall No. 2 (Ceramic Ware Room No. 2), blue and white porcelain in Exhibition Hall No. 3 (Ceramic Ware Room No. 3), Buddhist art in Exhibition Hall No. 4 (Buddhist Art Room), and paintings from the Chosun dynasty in Exhibition Hall No. 5 (Painting Room). Art is regularly exhibited and changed based on small themes at the Permanent Exhibition Halls, while special exhibitions are regularly held based on large themes at the Special Exhibition Hall.
white porcelain in Exhibition Hall No. 2 (Ceramic Ware Room No. 2), blue and white porcelain in Exhibition Hall No. 3 (Ceramic Ware Room No. 3), Buddhist art in Exhibition Hall No. 4 (Buddhist Art Room), and paintings from the Chosun dynasty in Exhibition Hall No. 5 (Painting Room). Art is regularly exhibited and changed based on small themes at the Permanent Exhibition Halls, while special exhibitions are regularly held based on large themes at the Special Exhibition Hall.