Cheongha Market · 청하시장

VEMORIQ Pohang guide · Official listing checked October 3, 2026.

Cheongha Market: visit Gongjin without confusing fiction with daily life

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha calls its village Gongjin; the real market location is Cheongha Market in northern Pohang. Save 청하시장, 포항시 북구 청하면 청하로200번길 8 for navigation. Searching only for the fictional village can mix together several filming stops rather than take you to this market.

The Korea Tourism Organization lists the traditional market dates as 1, 6, 11, 16, 21 and 26 of each month. Choose one of those dates if market activity is central to your visit. A filming-location walk on another date is a different experience: do not assume the same stalls, food choices or atmosphere will be available.

Choose your reason for visiting first

• For the drama: start with the information boards identifying filming locations. Compare recognizable exteriors while leaving entrances clear.
• For market browsing: look at what is actually trading that day. The official listing highlights seafood, produce and prepared food; individual vendors determine availability.
• For photography: arrive with a few specific scenes in mind rather than expecting the entire fictional town to fit into one street.

Props and screen names do not prove that a business offers the service portrayed in the drama. Ask before entering an interior, photographing a vendor closely or moving an item for a picture. The strongest visit is one that leaves room for the market’s ordinary life.

Plan the journey back before you arrive

Put the market and your railway station or hotel into the same map itinerary. Pohang’s city name alone is not a useful measure of travel time. For a public-transport visit, check the current route in both directions, the stop location and the last workable departure before setting off. Older filming-tour articles may preserve bus numbers that no longer match your travel date.

If using a taxi, retain the Korean address and decide where you will be picked up afterward. Allow a buffer before a booked intercity train rather than scheduling a photo stop right up to departure time. Travellers combining several filming locations should calculate the transfers between the actual addresses; on-screen neighbors need not be neighbors in real life.

A manageable visit structure

VEMORIQ suggests allowing around an hour for a focused market and filming-location walk, with extra time for food, browsing or busy market days. This is a planning estimate, not a timed attraction. First locate the information boards, make a short loop through the public market area, and finish near your onward transport.

For a group, agree on a meeting point before splitting up. Keep enough space for shoppers and deliveries, especially around narrow passages. Carry a small amount of cash as a backup, ask the price before ordering, and check ingredients directly if you have dietary restrictions; a recognizable dish name does not describe every recipe.

When to simplify the day

If rain, limited transport or a late arrival reduces your available time, prioritize Cheongha itself and save other filming stops for another visit. It is more rewarding to understand one place than to spend the day chasing a list from a drama map. For more screen-to-street context, use our K-drama filming-location guide.