I’ve had cut through the courtyard of the Daegu Yangnyeongsi Museum of Oriental Medicine many times in the past two years. But I had never even thought about venturing past the love locks that adorn a metal teapot at the entrance until today. And I was pleasantly surprised that the museum was so educational, entertaining, and accessible to English visitors. In addition, the museum provides hands-on experiences including medicinal footpaths and soap making.
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Yangnyeongsi Museum of Oriental Medicine in Daegu
5 Self Guided Walking Tours
Oriental medicine has been around for eons and so has the Daegu Yangnyeongsi Museum of Oriental Medicine. Just think back to your childhood and any given Sunday morning watching Kung Fu theatre. Every storyline included a life-affirming, life-restoring, or life eliminating rare herb, foul-smelling potion, or lethal concoction. Furthermore, it was always delivered with a blow dart or six-inch nails.
As a result, Oriental medicine isn’t all that dramatic. Most herbal medicines are boiled and made into a tea. No kung fu is actually necessary.
5 Self Guided Walking Tours
There is a year-round information booth in the courtyard of the Daegu Yangnyeongsi Museum of Oriental Medicine.
An acupuncture pond with rounded stones for you to walk on with barefoot delivers a great foot massage sans the needles. It’s closed for the winter. However, I hope it opens up before we leave in a few weeks. I love things like because I get to mingle with the locals.
The Oriental Market is one of 5 Self Guided Walking Tours available. The 2.65km long trail that takes 2 hours and starts at jewelry town and terminates at Seomun Market.
Herb Alley
The Daegu Yangnyeongsi Museum of Oriental Medicine is located in herb alley. The market spans a few blocks. The woodsy smelling storefronts display giant apothecary jars with herbs. Many herbal medicines are made with ginseng roots, animal antlers, and thorny tree barks. Healers grind the herbs into fine powders for teas.
Interactive Exhibitions
Exhibition Hall 1 is the history of Oriental medicine is located on the 3rd floor and consist of a few dioramas, videos, and historical artifacts representing the 400-year history of the Yangnyeongsi market area.
Exhibition Hall 2 is located on the 2nd floor and is where you’ll find all the hands-on experiences. There are scales and blood pressure machines. Plus interactive displays highlight the effects of herbal medicines’ on our overall well being. Unfortunately, many of the exhibits are in Hangul. So we ended up having fun pressing buttons with pictures we recognized.
Note… there is an information desk on the second floor if you want language assistance.
Hands-on Experiences
There are a number of hands-on experiences in the Yangnyeongsi Museum of Oriental Medicine museum. You can make your own herb soaps or facial mists. We used the museum’s interactive programs and exhibits to evaluate our health. However, since it was all in Hangul, we essentially pushed the buttons like two 7-year olds.
Herbal Foot Bath
We enjoyed making a herbal scent with lavender and citrus herb extracts. But we really wanted to do the herbal foot bath. Unfortunately, we arrived at 11 am and the baths weren’t open until later because they were being cleaned. However, Merline didn’t take no for an answer.
We plead and offer to clean the tanks. Ultimately, she let us in because it was my birthday. Twenty minutes later and we sat in the hot water. As a result, that 20-minute foot bath was therapeutic and a nice surprise too. And although I can’t prove it, I think that water might have been a little hotter than usual.
Museum Gift Shop
Naturally, it’s not a museum or tourist attraction without a gift shop. Therefore you don’t have to leave without a souvenir.
Open from 9-every day but Monday (unless its a holiday, then it’s open). Closed January 1st, Lunar New Year, and Chuseok. The museum entrance is free of charge.
Comments
Thanks for upload such kind of nice article i am happy to see your article.
Thanks for visiting. come back again soon.
I hope to visit there someday.
Herbal medicine is part of the Asian culture. Recently my boyfriend got me this luxury gingseng for fertility. I love him for bringing me that. 🙂
What a beautiful and interesting place! Really amazing!
Such a cool and informative place. Might wanna go there one day
I thought so too. I love to visit museums when I travel.
wow that looks so cool. i would love to visit. so much to learn.
This museum looks so nice! Would love go visit here soon! Thanks for the virtual tour though
No problem, I found it interesting, figured somebody else would too.
What an incredible museum to explore new things! I would love to see the making of the Korean Soap!
Omg awesome photos!!!! This looks like it was one awesome museum to visit!!!
what an amazing place to visit. Looks as if thr is so much to learn
This is super awesome !!! I have tons of friends who would love to go there and I would totally love it too!!! Ty for sharing !
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on the post.
Thank you for sharing your Korea travel! Am excited to visit these places soon, and learn how to make soap, korean-style 🙂
Thank you I appreciate your support.
I am happy to see stacy had a good time. I like that place too. There is unique smell and atmosphere.
It is nice being so close that and other things. Korea has been a grand adventure I will never forget. Don’t forget me.
The Daegu Yangnyeongsi Museum of Oriental Medicine is interesting! I’d like to try out the foot bath for myself.
Wow very fascinating I could hours there learning new things.
I find Oriental Medicine so fascinating and this would be a very cool place to visit! Especially the herbal part!
How interesting! I’ve always been curious about Asia’s medicines in the early age. I would love to learn more about it!
Koreans have always been about the herbs and teas when it comes to medicine and it’s fascinating to learn about. It would be nice to tour this museum!
Interesting museum to visit.I like oriental medicine and its treatments.So,this place would be a perfect place to visit.
What a fascinating museum! I would love to visit!!
This museum is interesting. I wish I can drop by there someday.
Looks like a wonderful place to visit. Would love to visit someday.
Definitely on my to visit list next time I’m in Asia.
What a cool museum! I would love to check this out one day. Glad you had a good time.
Looks like you had an awesome day there and I love visiting museum and so Interesting.
I would love to go here. It looks so beautiful.
Yiu shoukd South Korean is fun, beautiful and cheap.
This looks like an interesting and cool place to visit.
It is. I really enjoyed the experience.
I am fascinated by South Korea’s museums, I always watch variety shows and K-drama that’s why I am so interested. I would love to visit someday.
Kdrama is really interesting. I watch it often to practice my Korean.
Wow, this museum is so interesting and beautiful! Oriental culture is so fashinating, would really love to visit it!
It is an interesting experience, I highly recommend.
My goodness, I could spend a whole week at this place! I love all traditional medicines!
It was definitely a neat experience.
I bet you had a great experience there and I love the beautiful place. I wish I can go there someday.
There are so many interesting things to do here.
This place looks amazing. I love how much there is to do there. I hope I can get to see it one day.
I hope so too South Korea is loads of fun and adventure.
That’s very cool that they had that kind of a museum. I would love to be able to visit that someday. I love that they also give you a personal experience with it as well. What other kind of museum gives you that?
Me too. Everyone’s visit is different depending on what you want to experience.
This looks so neat, interactive, and relaxing! I feel like this is something everyone should take a visit to
I think I’ll do the foot bath again, it was very relazing and stimulatibg at the same time.
Happy late birthday!
I think it’s hilarious that you friend pretty much insisted to them that you should use the baths, I need that kind of friend.
This seems really interesting, I have to admit I am one who thought oriental medicine was much more than it actually is. I would love to see this and to find out exactly what it is.
She is a trip. I don’t think they were used to someone so insistant.
It is so true about experiencing what you have in your backyard. Living close to Washington DC I always take it for granted and don’t really venture up there. There is so much history and things I have seen yet.
I love DC. Its a beautiful city with tons of things to do and eat.
Wow I love hose little soaps. This looks like a great experience. Looks like a very educational visit. Great for a day out. Thank you for sharing, I always enjoy learning about new cultures.
Sure was. I love the mist I made and I hope the pond is opwn before we leave.
This museum looks great and I love that you can make something yourself!
Makesbit a special, individual experience.
I heard South Korean is a nice country to explore. The “DAEGU YANGNYEONGSI MUSEUM OF ORIENTAL MEDICINE” is a great example. I should visit there myslef. Although, I do not get to travel a lot ?
I would really be interested in visiting this museum. I use herbal medicine when able over chemical meds.
I always like when museums offer a hands-on experience. Great find for you right in your neighborhood.
This is so true. There is so many things do around my area in which I need to take advantage of. I don’t know too much of Oriental Medicine but it sure does sound very interesting!
If I had to go to a western medicine museum, I’d probably be really bored. But, I went to a “witch doctor” presentation in Peru once, and it was really cool to learn about what plants they use and whatnot. If I get the chance to visit here, I’ll check it out!
This sounds like such an interesting museum! I love places where you can get hands-on experiences.
Those Love locks would’ve been my favorite part! Such a unique experience! I have always wanted to find a place like that!
This looks like a neat place. I like the history of medicine, I think it’s fascinating. I’m sure I’d find this place quite interesting.
This was fascinating to follow.I feel like I was trailing you the whole time. I love that thing with the flower design, it’s so pretty
Thanks Bel. I enjoyed the experience and I am glad you did too.
oriental medicine is so big in korea. it’s a must visit when in korea! would def visit when i’m in korea!
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Yes. I drink the teas all the time. Ginger and lemon cures headaches and sore throats almost immediately.
What a neat place! So much to see and learn. I wish I could come see it
Yes you are so right even without the English translations.
This article makes me want to travel more. Sounds like an amazing birthday!
I can’t imagine life without travel. Its become a major passion of mine.
Oriental medicine is meant to be so good for the soul, at least that is what they believe. I love that the museum had hands on interactive experiences as well 🙂
Its a fun experience that recommend people in Daegu checkout way before two weeks before they leave.
Your clicks are amazing and so is this place. I want to visit this museum maybe someday. Glad that you both had a good time 🙂
Thank you. I am having a blast doing things I’d never do otherwise.
Sounds like a great birthday outing, and I love that your friend was so determined to get your feet into that bath! She sure seems like a keeper.
Merline is a trip. She would not take NO for an answer. Koreans aren’t used to that kind of determination, so I’d be interested in what they said to each other. lol
This would be such a cool experience. I’ve always liked those love lock spots. I’ve yet to leave a lock at any of them yet. Maybe one day.
They pop up everywhere. Its an easy way for them to make money esp. if they can limit the locks to once purchased onsite. But yes I have them all over the world now.
What a fascinating museum. I hope to visit there someday.
Thanks. You probably have something cool wherever you live too.