[Filming Location] Hometown Cha Cha Cha

Have you been watching this drama? It took me a while to decide on whether I should be penning down a filming location post because I am seeing quite a bit of info online for this drama already (since I’m am jumping on the bandwagon late). At the same time, I feel a little unmotivated in blogging about such locations as I am not sure when will I ever get a chance to visit these beautiful places.. given that the entire covid situation is going a little out of control. When will I even make it to korea?

Anyway, the name of the town ‘Gongjin’ is fictional and all the locations are filmed in Pohang city and guess what.. I have actually visited this city before – back in the summer of 2011. Prior to my visit, I’ve never heard of this city and the only reason we went there was because we booked return bus tickets to Gyeongju for Seoul for the duration of 3D2N but after 1 full day in Gyeongju, we had been bored of the historical sites. Looking back, it was pretty much a moment of impulse and Pohang had been featured in the lonely planet book. Bus tickets from Gyeongju to Pohang was cheap and.. off we went on a random adventure. You can read about 3D2N Gyeongju/Pohang adventures from 10 years ago (gosh, had it been so long?) and reminisce about youth and freedom.

I’ll update more locations of the drama in time to come so do keep checking back =)

Episode 1

Wolpo Beach

Address: 월포해수욕장 South Korea, Pohang-si, Cheongha-myeon, 월포해수욕장

On a side note, I’m not convinced that you can really surf in this area. Tried searching through the google photos and I don’t see anyone surfing on this beach? From the photos, it seems too ‘close’ to the breakwaters to be able to surf..

Hwajeong Raw Fish Restaurant

Address: 백양회식당 South Korea, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Yeongdeok-gun, Namjeong-myeon, Namho-ri, 69-7

According to Google image street view, it was a real restaurant back in 2019. However, based on the korean blogs that I’ve read so far, the restaurant is now left in an empty state. Perhaps when tourism picks up, someone may consider re-opening that location as a real raw fish restaurant. Just a disclaimer, this place is pretty far from the main town of Pohang. It takes about an hour bus ride from Pohang bus terminal to Ganggu bus terminal + another bus transfer. No idea what’s in the vicinity. Probably just a small village area

Fish Port @ Pohang City

Address: 양포항, (사)한국문어생산자협회
South Korea, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Pohang-si, Nam-gu, Janggi-myeon, Yangpo-ri, 9-38번지 KR

Similar to the above location, this fish port is also not near the main area of pohang city. It is located 1-2 hours southeast of the main city. According to the map, it somewhat seems nearer to the city of Gyeongju (the history-rich place, famous for the mini-mountain tombs)

Sabang Memorial Park

Address: 경북 포항시 북구 흥해읍 해안로 1801 1801, Haean-ro, Heunghae-eup, Buk-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do

Fun fact: The hill is 126.4m high and the ‘boat’ is probably just a film set. Found older korean blogs visiting this place in 2018 and the ‘boat’ is nowhere to be seen. However, there’s a pavilion along the way up where you can take a break. There are koreans visiting this location during the weekends of September 2021 and they have taken photos with the boat. I suppose that this is a ‘live filming drama which explains why it is still around.

Breakwater with Red Lighthouse (near Hyejin’s house)

Address: 745-5 Seogbyeong-ri, Guryongpo-eup, Nam-gu, Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea

Yoon Dental

Address: 429 Cheongjin-ri, Cheongha-myeon, Buk-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea

This place is labelled as a community welfare center but I guess it has since been renovated into a filming location for Yoon’s dental.

Grandma Gam-ri’s House

Address: 751 Seogbyeong-ri, Guryongpo-eup, Nam-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea

Chief Hong’s House

Address: 755 Seogbyeong-ri, Guryongpo-eup, Nam-gu, Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea

The 3 houses – Chief Hong’s house, Grandma Gamri and Hyejin’s houses are all located close to each other! You can check out the Google map link at the end of my post to check it out! I don’t have the exact address for Hyejin’s house yet as I can’t seem to verify the location via Google maps street view as it is a small lane.

Gongchin Market @ Cheongha Market

As the google maps street view is not up to date, I’m not able to find the exact location of the spots below but I’m pretty sure if you’re visiting and walking around this area, it shouldn’t be too difficult to spot the filming spots. One thing to note is that the production team really masked the locations really well.

As seen from the image below, the really printed a sign to say ‘gong jin market’ (in hangul)

Just a note, this is not an actual cafe. The interior is probably a film set but the exterior is located within the market.

Address: 192, Cheongha-ro, Cheongha-myeon, Buk-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
경북 포항시 북구 청하면 청하로192번길 8

Also, the places that you see in the drama (supermarket, hardware shop etc.) are filmsets and they are likely to be torn down once the filming ends. People who visited Pohang in September could still take photo of these places as the drama is still filming. I’m not too sure if they would still be around in about 1-2 years time when we finally get to set foot in Korea? Oh, and I read that there was a super long queue for photos during the Chuseok weekend..

Observatory @ Kunlun Mountain

Address: 곤륜산 Heunghae-eup, Pohang, South Korea

According to reviews online, this place is a paragliding spot but I can’t seem to find anywhere in English that provides this paragliding experience. According to reviews, it takes about 20 mins to reach the top (from the parking lot) but many people mention that the climb is really really steep but many people enjoyed the view at the top.

<To be continued>

Thanks for scrolling to the end. You shall be rewarded with a link to my google map compilation of the filming location (Use the filter to select the correct drama). Would be useful as a gauge of how far each location is from another but based on my sensing, it seems that driving is highly recommended if you would like to visit these spots.