Andong Hahoe Village

Hahoe was founded in the 14th to 15th centuries and grew to its present size and form in the late 18th and 19th centuries. It has been the home of the Pungsan Ryu clan since its early days; the Korea Tourism Organization notes that they still account for about 70 per cent of villagers. The village layout, facing the river and farmland with mountains behind, reflects the aristocratic Confucian culture of the early Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). The name refers to the river that winds around it.

Hahoe includes head-family residences, other substantial timber houses, pavilions, study halls and clusters of thatched commoners' houses. It was designated a national folklore heritage site in 1984, and in 2010 it was inscribed by UNESCO together with Yangdong as the Historic Villages of Korea. The village's mask play, Hahoe Byeolsingut Talnori, is a designated national intangible heritage, and Queen Elizabeth II's visit in 1999 drew international attention.

Hahoe's residents keep up family rituals, ancestral rites and seasonal customs, and many old houses are still occupied by the same clan lines that built them. Daily life carries on alongside tourism: farming in the surrounding fields, tending gardens and courtyards, and welcoming guests in family-run guesthouses. The masked dance tradition, once performed as part of a village ritual, is a strong part of local identity, and Andong is widely known in Korea for its Confucian heritage and dishes such as jjimdak (braised chicken) and heotjesabap.