[One Day Ten Thousand Steps] "Night is Better for Walking and Enjoying"... A Program Full of Nighttime Heart

From the 25th to the 27th, every day from 6 p.m. for five hours, the ’2023 Cheongju Cultural Heritage Night Tour‘ was held throughout the original downtown area of Cheongju. The theme of the event was ’Juseong Yadok (舟城夜讀), Reading Cheongju Under the Moonlight.‘ It combined Cheongju’s old name ’Juseong (舟城)‘ and the classical idiom ’Jukyung Yadok (晝耕夜讀)‘ meaning ’plowing by day and reading by night.‘ The main stage of the event was ’Mangseonru,‘ a Chungbuk Province Tangible Cultural Property. From the Goryeo to Joseon dynasties, it was a place where officials and literati composed poetry and studied, and during the Japanese colonial period, it was a center of the national enlightenment movement.

Since the event was set at night, programs such as Night View (夜景), Night Road (夜路), Night Talk (夜說), Night History (夜史), Night Painting (夜畵), Night Food (夜食), Night Market (夜市), and Night Stay (夜宿) were prepared. Among these, the Night Road tour gathered at the Yongdusa Temple Iron Pillar Square to tour cultural heritage sites, and was named ’Scholars Walking at Night‘ through a citizen contest. At the same location, a walking event called ’Nilliri 10,000 Steps‘ was held every afternoon, a health challenge to walk 10,000 steps while visiting cultural heritage and cultural facilities. During the event period, the cumulative number of visitors reached about 70,000, establishing it as a representative urban cultural content of Cheongju.

The 'Nilliri 10,000 Steps' event held during the 2022 Cheongju Cultural Heritage Night Tour period
[Photo by Cheongju City]

The local governments, expecting health benefits for residents and economic effects through tourism, are discovering night-friendly walking paths and nighttime attractions. On the 25th, Gwangyang City in Jeonnam held a lighting ceremony for areas including Byeolhae Neudari Bridge, Baealdo Island, and Haemaji Bridge. Once the nightscape lighting is fully turned on, the Baealdo Island garden area is expected to create a beautiful night scene and significantly extend visitors’ stay time.

Namwon City in Jeonbuk is planning to create a basic plan for nighttime scenery in the downtown area and is promoting projects such as ’K-Heritage Utilization Night Viewing Environment Improvement Content Development‘ and ’Namwon Cultural Heritage Night Tour.‘ Yeosu City in Jeonnam also held a forum titled ’Switch On Yeosu Under the Night Light‘ to create a specialized nighttime tourism city. The Yeosu front sea is already widely known domestically and internationally, with famous spots such as Romantic Pocha (street food stalls), Yi Sun-sin Square, Jongpo Marine Park stretching to Hamel Lighthouse, and the water promenade Soho Dongdong Bridge. The Yeosu-Goheung Bridge Tour is gaining attention as a new tourist attraction on the southern coast. Incheon Jung-gu plans to develop its representative tourist sites, Freedom Park and the Open Port area, into new ’night tourism attractions.‘

Night View of Baedo Island Garden
[Photo by Gwangyang City]

Danyang County in Chungbuk has been conducting the ’Danyang Night Mission Tour‘ event to revitalize nighttime tourism since August 25. Participants who complete all three missions?visiting tourist sites, visiting restaurants, and verifying nightscape photos?receive a mission completion reward of 100,000 KRW per team. The restaurants include Salt Pavilion Park’s Moonlight Pocha, which opened for the first time this year to expand nighttime food options, and other restaurants operating at night in the region. Salt Pavilion Park is located on the way to Mancheonha Skywalk and Danyang River Trail. Danyang County operates Pops World Dajagu Halmine, a new media experience facility made by repurposing a closed school, and Mancheonha Skywalk at night, and runs the ’Moonlight Pocha‘ with night views and food until September. Tongyeong City in Gyeongnam plans to invest a total of 2.9 billion KRW by 2025 to create a global nighttime tourism city centered on its representative attraction Gangguan, including nighttime art exhibitions, nighttime festival development, and Night Fringe performances.

Scenes from the 2nd Jecheon Craft Beer & Moonlight Night Market Festival in 2022 [Photo by Jecheon City]

Jecheon in Chungbuk will hold the ’2023 Jecheon Craft Beer & Moonlight Night Market Festival‘ for three days from September 1 to 3 on the city’s Culture Street. Held for the second time following last year to revitalize the original downtown area, this festival allows visitors to enjoy the late summer nights with films and music, including the opening film screening of the Jecheon International Music & Film Festival. Along with menus prepared by about 10 local merchants such as Moa Kitchen and Star Stores in Jungang Market, visitors can also taste famous craft beers from eight breweries nationwide.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.