Cheongju not to be confused with nearby Chungju , in addition to being the provincial capital, is also a historic city credited with creating the world's oldest movable metal type print book: Nonetheless, Cheongju is proud of its place in international history and subsequently hailed as a Jikji celebration year.
For a domestic traveler however, perhaps Cheongju's most notable asset is that it houses one of Korea's major domestic with a few international routes airports, servicing not just Cheongju but also the nearby major city of Daejeon. Cheongju International Airport [2] is located on the outskirts of the city. Flights to Jeju Island leave ten times a day but international flights are limited to China.
Flights from Jeju leave regularly, with the first flight leaving Jeju at Flights are short aprox. Taking pictures of the airport both from the plane and outside is banned as the airport also serves as an air force base. The main train station is located at Ogeunjang.
Trains are limited, making this a lesser reliable method of transport into the city. Most of the major cities in South Korea have an express bus to Cheongju. There are two major bus stations:. Taxis are the easiest way to get around, as they are cheap and quick. Cheongju has various markets scattered throughout the city that any traveler is bound to stumble across. Cheongju's local specialities are chestnuts, and little packets of them are widely available at tourism and convenience stalls across the entire Cheungchong Province.
It it is also a major growing region for apples, pears and peaches. Cheongju has a reasonably good mix of Korean and Western restaurants. Most of the American fast food chains can be found somewhere in the city. The local specialty, Cheongju daechusul is a type of takju , unrefined liquor fermented from grains. It would be in the same family as the popular makgeolli and its cousin, dongdongju. Carefully brewed with jujubes, glutinous rice, yeast, malt, pine needles and spring water pumped from an underground rock bed daechusul tastes sweet with a bitter aftertaste.
