Along Hwagae Stream, Under Cherry Blossoms and Tea Fragrance | Travel Course | K-Travel Mate

Dosim Dawon, home to the oldest tea tree, is located in Hwagae, facing south toward Jirisan Mountain. To the south, the Seomjin River flows to the Namhae Sea. Hwagae Market, adjacent to two provinces, two cities, and five counties, is famous as one of the top 10 markets nationwide. Along with Ssanggyesa Temple, Chilbulsa Temple, and the Ten-Li Cherry Blossom Road, the clearest Hwagae Stream in the country flows here. Hwagae Dongcheon is Korea’s tea origin and the hometown of tea described in Dongdasong by the revered monk Choui Seonsa. Dosim Dawon possesses Korea’s largest tea tree, over a thousand years old (4.1m tall, 52cm circumference, 15cm diameter). The tea fields are located in a pollution-free area rich in organic matter, ideal for tea cultivation. Thus, compared to other regions' teas, it excels in aroma, color, and taste. Choui Seonsa highly praised Korean tea as superior to the famous Chinese Longjing tea. Dosim tea is made from indigenous wild tea grown without external input, handcrafted with care, continuing seven generations of tea farming.

[단야식당] 20년째 이 자리를 지키는 주인아주머니의 외모는 옆집아주머니처럼 푸근하지만, 음식에 관한 한 자부심이 대단하다. 음식을 타박하는 사람에게 "입에 음식을 맞추지 말고, 음식에 입을 맞춰라"라고 당부할 정도. 이런 주인의 자신감은 고스란히 음식 맛에 배어 나와 주변에서도 맛 집으로 통한다. [쌍계수석원식당] 즉석 영양돌솥밥은 지리산에서 농사지은 쌀, 차조, 검은콩, 빨간콩, 파란콩, 검은쌀, 쑥쌀, 대추, 밤 등을 넣어 돌솥에 20여분 조리한 후 고사리, 취나물, 버섯, 토란대, 토종고추장, 참깨, 들깨 등을 섞어 직접 짠 참기름을 넣어 비벼먹으며, 돌솥에 우러나는 숭늉의 진미를 맛 볼 수 있다. 아울러 각종 수석 삼천여점을 전시하고 있어 수석감상도 겸할 수 있다.

In the 3rd year of King Heungdeok of Silla (828), Kim Daeryeom, who went as an envoy to Tang China, brought tea tree seeds and planted them for the first time here on the Jirisan mountain range by royal order. It is said that in the 5th year of King Heungdeok, Monk Jingam propagated the tea. Even now, wild tea plantations stretch along the slopes on both sides from the entrance of Hwagejangteo Market passing Ssanggyesa to Sinheung. It is designated as a local monument, with a memorial stele for Daeryeomgong's tea tree origin erected, and was officially registered as a tea tree origin site in July 2008. Ssanggyesa tea is made by picking leaves grown after drinking bamboo dew, and is called Jukrocha or Jakseolcha. One-year-old branches are white with many small hairs, two-year-old branches are grayish brown and hairless. Leaves are pointed long ovals, green on the surface and grayish green beneath. Flowers bloom from October to November, and tea leaves are first picked from Gogu (Grain Rain) to make tea, continuing for about a month. The quality varies depending on the time of picking.

Ssanggyesa Temple was built when Sambeop Monk returned from studying Confucianism in the 21st year of King Seongdeok of Silla, bringing and enshrining the relics of Huineng, the 6th Patriarch of Chinese Seon Buddhism. In the 2nd year of King Munseong (840), Jingamseonsa Hyeso named it Okcheonsa, but it changed to Ssanggyesa in the 2nd year of King Jeonggang. Ssanggyesa, burned down during the Imjin War, was rebuilt by Byeokam Daesa in the 10th year of King Injo (1632). Attractions include the famous cherry blossoms of Ssanggyesa, the handwritten Ssanggyeseokmun by Goun Choe Chi-won, the stele of Jingamseonsa Daegongtap, a natural elm tree in the northern Guksam temple yard, and Buil Waterfall, located in the two valleys of Cheonghakbong and Baekhakbong to the northeast. Ssanggyesa is closely associated with tea; in the 3rd year of King Heungdeok of Silla (828), Kim Daeryeom brought tea seeds from the Tang Dynasty as an envoy and planted them around the southern Jirisan near Ssanggyesa by royal command. Near the Iljumun gate, the Tea Seed Planting Memorial Stele stands, and there is also a Tea Seed Planting Site monument in the village tea fields.