Korea's Food Capital and Hanok Heartland — UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy where bibimbap was invented, 800 traditional wooden hanok houses cover an entire neighbourhood, and makgeolli rice wine flows from neighbourhood breweries into ceramic bowls the size of washing-up basins
Jeonju is the capital of North Jeolla Province in central Korea and the undisputed culinary capital of a country that takes food extremely seriously. Designated a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy (2012), Jeonju claims the original bibimbap — rice, vegetables, beef, gochujang (red pepper paste), and egg mixed together in a stone bowl (dolsot bibimbap) — as its invention, and locals will explain at length why Jeonju bibimbap is superior to every imitation. The Hanok Village (Jeonju Hanok Maeul) is the largest concentration of traditional Korean wooden architecture surviving in any Korean city…
Jeonju's significance in Korean history derives from its role as the ancestral home of the Jeonju Yi clan — from whom the entire Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897, 27 kings, 519 years) was descended. The Gyeonggijeon Shrine was built in 1410 to enshrine the official portrait (어진, eojin) of King Taejo (Yi Seonggye), the dynasty's founder. During the Japanese invasions of 1592–1598 (Imjin War), the portrait was evacuated to Jeolla Province's mountains to prevent its capture — returning it safely to Jeonju was considered one of the war's most important cultural victories. The Donghak Peasant Revolution…