The first time I visited Gunsan was during a staff trip where we rented a boat and went to Seonyu Island and got really drunk (that's a story for another time). However, I recently gained interest in Gunsan when the cast from 1박2일 (2 days 1 night) did an episode there exploring the food, the Gunsan Islands as well as its colonial past. What really struck me when I watched that episode was that unlike Seoul, which has been tearing down colonial buildings built during the Japanese occupation, the city of Gunsan has not only preserved their Japanese era buildings but is also continuing to repair worn down Japanese style houses into their original appearance and turning them into cultural assets, reminding not only its citizens about how the city looked like under Japanese rule, but also to remind the Korean people the struggled they had to endure to fight for their independence. After a bit of researching, the fiancee and I took the 11:35 bus from Taean and 2 hours and 30 minutes later, we arrived in Gunsan. We were also lucky enough to be there in time for the "Time Travel Festival" which the city holds every year around the first weekend of October. The "Time Travel Festival" gives visitors a chance to experience the modern era of when the city was under Japanese occupation. A lot of the relics where on display including a mock up of what a Korean classroom looked like back in the day along with what toys were popular then etc. Most of the colonial era buildings are located in Wolmyeong-dong (월명동) located 1.8km north east of Gunsan bus terminal and are all located within a 30 minute walking radius. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to visit all of the historical sites since we our bus back to Taean was at 19:20. If you like to go somewhere for a day, do visit Gunsan. It's a lovely coastal city that not only has a rich history, but is also brave enough to embrace it. For more information about the historical buildings, please visit the city website here for the buildings and here for the festivals.
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