O’Sulloc Green Tea Fields: What To Do on Jeju Island
No trip to Jeju Island in South Korea would be complete without a stop at the O’Sulloc Green Tea Fields and Museum. It’s a must see spot and included on almost every Jeju itinerary that you’ll find online and popular for a good reason. The O’Sulloc Green Tea Fields and Museum (오설록티뮤지엄) is one of those places that is almost always busy with tourists to Jeju. But for delicious reasons. That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of space to roam about though. With high-quality tea coming straight from the fields of Jeju, it really is a beautiful sight and a great souvenir from Korea or gift.
Plan a trip to the O’Sulloc Green Tea Fields on Jeju Island:
- What To Do To Prepare For Your Trip To Jeju Island
- How To Get There
- Basic Info
- What To Know About Korean Green Tea
- What To Know About O’Sulloc Green Tea Fields
- The Jeju Innisfree House
- What Else To See On Jeju Island
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What To Do To Prepare For Your Trip To Jeju Island
Are you traveling to Jeju Island soon? Here are some things to help you prepare for the trip:
Travel Insurance: World Nomads offers simple and flexible travel insurance. Buy at home or while traveling and claim online from anywhere in the world. We receive a fee when you get a quote from World Nomads using this link. We do not represent World Nomads. This is not a recommendation to buy travel insurance.
Pack The Right Clothes: Korea has four distinct seasons. The summer is hot hot hot and the winter is cold cold cold! Be prepared. Check out this post for what to pack when you come to Korea.
Study Korean: 90 Day Languages has a great course on Korean and offers a lot of help if you’re interested in preparing before you come. A little goes a long way here. Do note that in Jeju, they speak with a strong dialect.
Plan Your Airport Transfer: If you won’t be renting your own vehicle, then prepare your airport transfer before you get there. Make note of where you’ll be staying as there are two areas you’ll need to be aware of to plan your transfer. From the Jeju International Airport to the Jeju City area, you can rent a car here. If you’ll be headed from the airport to the Seogwipo City area of the island, you can rent a car here. If you want more information and options, learn more in this guide to how to rent a car in Jeju.
Get Good Hard Case Luggage: Packing all of the essentials is good only if they get to the other side with you. Make sure to have good luggage to get you and your belongings all the way. Roam Luggage has awesome customizable bags that will go the distance and look super cool on the way.
International Driver’s License: Make sure you have everything you need in order to rent a car in Korea if that’s your plan. If you’re a short term resident/visitor, then take your International Driver’s License. Don’t forget it at home. You can rent a car through Klook easily.
How To Get To There
Address: 1235-3 Seogwang-ri Andeok-myeon Seogwipo-si, Jeju, Korea (제주특별자치도 서귀포시 안덕면 서광리 1235-3)
- Just a note that there are three O’Sulloc tea plantations on Jeju Island. The one that tourists visit and always talk about is the Seogwang Tea Garden location located near Sanbangsan Mountain. There is also the Dolsongi Tea Garden location as well as the Hannam Tea Garden location. We’ll be talking about the Seogwang Tea Garden location in this post.
Get To Jeju: First you’ll have to get to Jeju Island. Did you know you can get there by plane OR by ferry? Here are all of the different ways you can get to Jeju Island.
Where To Stay: It’s easiest to visit the O’Sulloc Green Tea Fields if you’re staying in the southwest quadrant of Jeju Island. Check out this guide to where to stay on Jeju Island to help you find a good spot.
By Car: I highly recommend renting a car while you’re on Jeju Island. The island is NOT easy to get around on just public transportation. While you certainly can, you won’t be able to maximize your time at all using just buses.
By Public Transportation: Local buses 151, 771-1, 771-2, 784-1, and 820-2 stop just outside of the green tea fields.
On A Tour: You WILL NOT be able to see the entire island in one weekend or even a week so you need to choose if you want to see the north, west, south or east. O’Sulloc is in the west and Klook has a great tour for the western side that includes a stop at O’Sulloc. Join their tour to stop here along with some other great spots on this end of the island.
Basic Info
Admission: FREE
Hours: Summer season (April~September): 9:00am – 6:00pm; Winter season (October~March): 9:00am – 5:00pm
Website: http://www.osulloc.com/kr/en/museum
What To Know About Korean Green Tea
Korea is the 29th largest tea producer in the world and exports 3,200 tons of tea each year. There are three main areas of Korea that are well known for their tea production: Jeju Island, Boseong in Jeollanam-do, and Hadong in Gyeongsangnam-do. In South Korea, tea leaves are collected 3-4 times a year and the taste and quality of the tea depends on the time of picking.
The different kinds of tea are:
- Woojeon Tea: This tea is made from the first young leaves grown after a severe winter and are collected before April 20th, known as Gokwoo. This premium tea has a soft and fresh taste and aroma and there’s usually a very limited quantity.
- Sejak Tea: This is the most popular kind of green tea and is made from the leaves that are collected during the first part of May before the leaf is fattened fully. This kind of tea is also called Jakseol because it looks like the tongue of a bird.
- Jungjak Tea: This tea is made from the leaves collected more toward the middle part of May and offers a more generous taste.
- Daejak Tea: Also called Ipha, this tea is made from the leaves ripened more than Jungjak. Collected near the end of May, this tea has a more astringent taste.
- Yep Cha: This tea is made from the fully ripened tea leaves that are collected between June and July.
What To Know About O’Sulloc Green Tea Fields
O’Sulloc is the largest producer of tea in Korea and three of their four tea gardens are located on Jeju Island. Jeju is one of the most famous locations for the production of green tea today so, it stands to reason that tourists flock to the green tea fields when they get a chance to visit. Green tea fields are all over the island though and if one just sets out on foot, he is bound to end up in the middle of one, be it O’Sulloc or otherwise.
The O’Sulloc Tea Museum was opened in 2001 and is shaped like a tea cup with a pond in the center. The cafe on the first floor invites diners to fill their bellies with sweet treats before heading up to the top floor of the building to get a view of the surrounding green tea fields from up high. Inside of the cafe and museum, there is also a gallery showcasing different tea cups and containers used in times past. This is less a museum and more of an tea experiential building or showroom really.
A building out back offers a more traditional tea drinking surrounded by nature location at specific times of the day and yet another building offers organic foods and drinks as well as a shop and place to form ones own soap bars. There is quite a bit to do and see while visiting the O’Sulloc fields so don’t get lost in the sea of tourists in the main tea cup shaped building and be sure to head outside for a wander.
The cafe where guests indulge in green tea ice cream treats or other sweet delicacies will be swarming with people watching eagerly for a table to open up, but the fields surrounding the main building provide ample space to roam, take in the smells of growing green tea and take photos without those other pesky tourists jumping in the background. Go in for some sweet treats and then go right back outside again to roam roam roam.
The Jeju Innisfree House
You can also check out the Jeju Innisfree House which is just next door to the Tea Museum. The popular Korean beauty brand has an entire line of natural cosmetics that uses ingredients from Jeju Island and the green tea fields of O’Sulloc. It’s definitely a spot to check out if you’re interested in K-Beauty.
The shop is also interactive and visitors can make their own soap and other products. There are small fees associated with the experiences, but it’s very fun and totally worth it. The floor to ceiling windows provide gorgeous views of the greenery outside but with the wondrous aromas of the products inside. I found this to be very eye catching.
What Else To See On Jeju Island
Don’t miss out other stops including the magestic Jeongbang Waterfall, the mysterious Sanbang Mountain and grotto and of course make sure to hike up Halla Mountain, the tallest mountain in Korea. The natural beauty of Jeju Island is immense and is a must see while visiting Korea. If you really love tea and want to continue that experience, look into staying in Chuidasun Resort for tea ceremonies and yoga and meditation classes.
If you can’t visit O’Sulloc Green Tea Fields in Jeju, then make sure you visit one of their cafes in Seoul and stock up on tea sets as they make the best souvenir and gift to give people back home upon your return. There’s a great one you can find right in Seoul’s Insadong district.
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One Comment
Rosh
Reblogged this on Rose of Sharon Healing and commented:
Green tea fields on Jeju Island, South Korea. Another great post from the Soul of Seoul.