Jeonju is the city that Koreans go to for food, and the reason has a name: bibimbap. The dish of rice, vegetables, egg and chili paste is made in many places, but Jeonju claims it as home, and the local version comes in a heavy brass bowl, with dozens of small side dishes, beautifully arranged. The city also has a tradition of makgeolli, the milky rice wine, served in some neighborhoods with a lavish table of snacks for the price of a single drink.
The Hanok Village, a district of more than seven hundred traditional houses with curved tile roofs, sits at the heart of the city, and wandering its narrow lanes is a pleasure, particularly in the evening when lanterns light up. Nearby stands Gyeonggijeon, a shrine that houses a portrait of Taejo, the founder of the Joseon dynasty, whose family came from Jeonju. The Pungnammun, a handsome old city gate, stands at the edge of the old town, and the city is known for its paper, hanji, still made by hand. A film festival in spring brings a younger crowd.
As the start of a mountain ride, Jeonju is a convenient point. The city lies on the Honam plain, with the long Jirisan range to the southeast, and expressways and national roads lead south through Namwon, a town linked to the folk tale of Chunhyang, toward Jirisan, Korea's first national park, whose highest peak, Cheonwangbong, is nearly two thousand meters. The roads over the mountain passes are among the best in the country, with long climbs, tight bends and sweeping views. They are closed or icy in winter, so spring to autumn is the season.
Jeonju is a big city with almost three-quarters of a million people, so fuel, food and hotels are everywhere. Traffic in the city is heavy, and the expressway exit onto the mountain roads is well signed. The best months are April, with cherry blossoms, and October, when the maples turn. Summer brings heat, monsoon rain in July and the risk of typhoons. Korean drivers can be aggressive, and motorcycles are restricted on some expressways, so plan your route to use the national roads, which are more pleasant anyway.