The Korea Times
On game days, lines outside a rice cake shop near Gwangju Songjeong Station can stretch more than 50 meters, a familiar scene that even local taxi drivers anticipate, often naming the destination before passengers finish asking. "In my whole life, it is my first time seeing people line up like this at a rice cake shop," a taxi driver said. The draw is pumpkin injeolmi, a sticky rice cake from the bakery Changeok Tteok that has become a viral sensation drawing crowds rivaling the craze for the Dubai chewy cookie. Yet, while domestic tourists travel across the country for this longtime local favorite, the true appeal of Gwangju reveals itself in the quiet, unhurried neighborhoods just beyond the bakery lines. Here, the buzz of viral food trends serves merely as a gateway to the city's true draw: a quiet dedication to rich architectural heritage and back-to-basics culinary craftsmanship. Historic cafes and traditional sweets In the historic center, the districts of Yangnim-dong in Nam District and Dongmyeong-dong in Dong District — locally dubbed "Dongridan-gil" — offer a patchwork of mo
Go to News Site