Hadong's Hwagae, the valley where Korean tea is said to have first been planted

Where on Jirisan were the tea seeds from Tang China planted in 828?

The story of Hwagae's tea planting site and wild tea fields

The Silla Annals of the Samguk Sagi, in its entry for year 3 of King Heungdeok (828), records that when Daeryeom, who had gone to Tang China as an envoy, returned with tea seeds, the king had them planted on Jirisan. It also notes that tea had existed since the time of King Seondeok but spread widely from this point. Daeryeom went to Tang as an envoy to congratulate the new year, met Emperor Wenzong, and returned in December that year.^[1][2][6]

The place named in the record goes only as far as 'Jirisan.' Hadong sees the Unsu-ri area of Hwagae-myeon, where Ssanggyesa Temple stands, as that spot. It was designated a Gyeongsangnam-do Monument (former designation No. 61) in 1983 under the name 'Hadong Ssanggyesa tea tree planting site,' and was re-designated as Gyeongsangnam-do Natural Heritage on March 27, 2025. A memorial stone for Daeryeom's tea planting went up in 1981, and a marker stone put up by Hadong County and the local tea society in 1992.^[3][4][5]

Across Jirisan in Gurye, Jeonnam, there is also a claim to the planting site. One view holds that 'Jangjukjeon' below Hwaeomsa is where tea was first planted, and it was designated a Jeollanam-do Monument in 1991. Both places are on the foothills of Jirisan, and Hadong and Gurye each present their own town as the planting site.^[2][6]

About 91% of Hwagae-myeon's land is steep mountain terrain. 'Traditional Hadong tea farming' is the method of planting and tending tea trees on slopes and between rocks where rice paddies are hard to make. In March 2015 the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs designated it National Important Agricultural Heritage No. 6, and in 2017 the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) listed it as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS). In Korea, it was the third listing after Cheongsando's gudeuljang rice terraces and Jeju's stone-walled fields. Even now tea fields continue for about 12 km along both banks of Hwagaecheon Stream, from the mountain foot near Hwagae Market past Ssanggyesa to Beomwang-ri, and tea leaves are usually picked from late April to late May.^{[7][8][9][2][10]}

If you want to taste the tea yourself, start at the Hadong Wild Tea Museum below the planting site. It displays old tea tools and tea-related artifacts, and also runs tea ceremony, tea-picking and pan-roasting experiences. Around early May each year, the Hadong Wild Tea Culture Festival is held around Hwagae-myeon. Hadong green tea is also used as a cosmetics ingredient. In August 2022, CJ Olive Young signed an agreement with the Hadong Green Tea Institute, switching the raw material of the green tea line of its own brand Round a Round from Jeju- and Boseong-grown to Hadong-grown green tea, and said it would use more than 10 tons a year.^{[13][11][12][5][14][15]}

Good to know before you go

Address

Around Unsu-ri, Hwagae-myeon, Hadong-gun, Gyeongnam (tea planting site); the Hadong Wild Tea Museum is at 571-25 Ssanggye-ro, Hwagae-myeon

Hours

The tea planting site is an open-air tea field area. Hadong Wild Tea Museum: March–October 10:00–18:00; November–February 10:00–17:00 (per the September 2026 revision of Korea Tourism Organization tourism info)

Closed

Hadong Wild Tea Museum is closed every Monday, on January 1, and on the days of Lunar New Year and Chuseok (same source)

Admission

Museum admission is free; experiences cost extra (tea ceremony 5,000 KRW, tea-picking 3,000 KRW, pan-roasting and dontcha 9,000 KRW each; same source)

Getting there

The simplest route is to take an intercity bus bound for Hadong from Seoul Nambu Terminal (Nambu Terminal Station, subway Line 3) and get off at Hwagae Terminal. It runs 8 times a day (06:40–19:30) and takes about 3 hr 30 min to Hwagae, and about 4 hours to Hadong Bus Terminal on the same bus (per the October 2026 timetable). By train, take the KTX from Seoul Station to Jinju Station (about 3 hr 30 min), then a Hadong-bound bus from Jinju Intercity Bus Terminal (about 1 hour). You can also take the KTX from Yongsan Station to Suncheon Station (about 2 hr 40 min) and then a Gyeongjeon Line train to Hadong Station (about 25 minutes), but only a few trains a day run on that section. Between Hadong Bus Terminal and Hwagae Terminal, an intercity bus takes about 25 minutes (3,100 KRW). From Hwagae Terminal, the tea planting site on the Ssanggyesa side is a few kilometers away, so go by taxi or county rural bus.

Good to know

Only 8 buses a day connect Seoul and Hwagae, and the last bus from Hwagae to Seoul is at 19:25 (per the October 2026 timetable). Settle on your return transport first. Since July 2024, Hadong County's rural buses have cost tourists only 100 KRW per ride too (per a March 2026 news report). To see tea leaves being picked, it's best to go from late April to May.

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