Cheongwadae Sarangchae is located in front of Cheongwadae, alos known as the Blue House, which is the Korean presidential residence. It is a historical memorial museum which displays the information about Korea in the overall and Korean tourism attractions. Also, visitors get to know more about the Korea presidents, just as its name implies
A Bit of History about Cheongwadae Sarangchae
Previously, Cheongwadae Sarangchae was the home of the public information hall called โHyojadong Sarangbangโ as it is placed in Hyoja-dong, a neighbourhood in Seochon. However, in January 2010, the place is reopened after extensive renovation with its present name.
Exhibition Information
Cheongwadae Sarangchae is a two-story building, with each floor displaying information of different themes. The first floor is known as the Korea Tourism Exhibit Hall. The hall has two parts : one introducing the beautiful tourism attractions of the country and culture, and another one telling the story about Cheongwadae and the presidents of South Korea. These two parts are connected with Bullomun which literally means an everlasting youth gate. It is a famous gate which you could find in many traditional tourism spots in Korea including Gyeongbokgung Subway Station and Changdok Palace!
The museum is not the kind of boring dull exhibition you might expect. The information are displayed in various interesting ways like 3D movie clips, touch screen displays, and photo zones. I was really astonished by their ideas of arranging those information such a memorable tour through the history of Korea. The information you could expect to obtain are : the history of Cheongwadae and the presidents, an art wall displaying beautiful sceneries of Korea collected on Instagram. There is also a kinetic photo zone where you can take photos against various backdrops like location of popular K-dramas and the interior of Cheongwadae. The photos taken can be received instantly by text message or email.
The second floor features the information about the current president Moon Jae-in and Cheongwadae. Also, you could take a glance of Korean history, the past, present and future vision of current government. The most interesting thing here for me was the replica of the presidential office photo zone. Here, visitors can sit on the presidentโs chair and take commemorative photos. Not only that, one could take a photo with the virtual President Moon and receive the photo via your email! This is probably the most memorable photo I have taken throughout this tour.
Other Activities and Places Available
Before the pandemic, there were various cultural events like demonstrations of handicrafts and traditional tea tasting held regularly at the lobby, though they are all cancelled now. Another interesting feature is that there is postcard sending service where the postcard you write will be sent to you after one year! In front of the postcard writing booth, there is also a stamp collecting booth.
Here is the English website of Cheongwadae Sarangchae if you want to know more! http://cwdsarangchae.kr/eng/
A souvenir shop and a cafe are found at the first floor as well. Visitors could enjoy a break with a cup of Korean tea after viewing the exhibitions. Also, get some souvenirs for your friends and family in the souvenir shop!
