Serena - The Traditions of Chinese New Year in South Korea

As Lunar New Year's day, or Seollal, is just around the corner, various events are scheduled in Korea to celebrate one of the country's favorite holidays.
Traditional dance performance on New Year's Day at Namsangol hanok village
Visiting palaces, museums, folk villages or theme parks is a good idea to learn and experience the traditional New Year's customs in Korea, and here are some places that Korea.net would like to recommend for this Lunar New Year holiday.
In Seoul, the Namsangol Hanok Village (02-2266-6923/4) in Pildong (near Chungmuro subway station), is top of the must-see list. The village will hold a three-day New Year celebration event from Sunday (Jan. 25) to Tuesday, supported by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation.
This event has seven elements -- performances, wish-making, New Year folk customs, food, games, experiences and exhibitions -- designed to share the Lunar New Year spirit with visitors.
Amulet printing at Namsangol hanok village
The event will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday with the singing of Gyeonggi-minyo (a folk song originated from the Seoul and Gyeonggi Province area), followed by a percussion performance at 3:20 p.m. On Monday, the actual Lunar New Year's Day, the village will hold an exorcism performance named "jaesugut" wishing for good luck for the New Year and economic recovery for the country. In the past, jaesugut were held around Seoul and Gyeonggi-do (province) during the first ten days of the first lunar month. Other performances, including nong-ak (Korea's rural percussion music) and tightrope dancing, will also be staged on Monday to amuse the Hanok village visitors. On Tuesday, there's Bongsan talchum (mask dance) and Dong Chun Circus.
Foreigners experience folk custom of jesa (memorial service) in front of charye-sang at Namsangol Hanok Village.
To help people make New Year wishes, the Hanok village will hold various events, including kite-making, bokjori (small woven rice scoops that scoop up good luck) sharing, fortune telling and amulet printing.
On Sunday, there will be a folk custom class to teach etiquette and how to prepare the charye-sang (table setting for ancestor worship ceremony) and there'll be a photo opportunity space featuring charye-sang on Monday and Tuesday for visitors to take unique New Year's holiday snaps.
Visitors can learn about and try popular New Year food by participating in a garaetteok (long cylindrical rice cake) cutting game and trying traditional rice cakes or makgeolli (traditional rice wine). They can also put on a Hanbok (traditional Korean clothes), try their hand at traditional handicrafts, or play traditional folk games, including yunnori (a stick-throwing board game), neolttwigi (seesaw jumping), jegichagi (hacky-shack) and tuho (an arrow throwing game). For more information about traditional folk games, click here.
Tightrope dancing
In the traditional craft gallery of the Namsangol Hanok Village, there will be a special exhibition of paper dolls to show typical countryside seollal scenes.
Meanwhile, the National Folk Museum of Korea will hold a series of folk culture events during the Lunar New Year holidays from Saturday to Tuesday. On Saturday, a performance of Korean traditional martial arts named "18 Ability" will be held in the Main Hall of the museum. The museum will hold a series of folk performances on Tuesday including pungmul-gut (performance with folk percussion and shaman ritual), gillori (road play) and samullori (a percussion quartet). It will also hold folk custom experience programs, such as mask making, which visitors can take part in. The museum will also hold a special exhibition on the theme of the Year of the Ox. The museum offers a free admission. For more information, click here