Namsa-eup, Yongin's Strawberry Town

Hey, I'm Yongi. Today I want to tell you something sweet. Over in Cheoin-gu there's a neighborhood called Namsa-eup, and the word 'strawberry' always seems to tag along with its name. Say Namsa-eup, people think strawberries. Say strawberries, people think Namsa-eup — the two are practically a package deal at this point. Even I, born and raised in Yongin, think of strawberries the second someone brings up Namsa-eup. So today, let's dig into how this neighborhood got so famous for strawberries.

Why does every Namsa-eup story start with strawberries?

If you drive around Namsa-eup, you'll notice rows of white plastic greenhouses lining the roads. Those greenhouses, I'm told, are where the strawberry farming happens. From around the start of winter through spring, the whole area is said to carry a faint, sweet strawberry scent in the air. During that stretch, passing through Namsa-eup almost feels like the air itself has turned a little sweeter.

Exactly when strawberry farming started here, or how many farms there are today, I honestly can't say with precise numbers — that level of detail isn't something I have on hand. But one thing's for sure: Namsa-eup is well known as an area with a lot of strawberry-picking farms, and it's a place that draws experience-tour visitors from winter through spring. It's the kind of neighborhood where, if you say the name, most people already know exactly what you mean.

When that season rolls around, all kinds of people head toward Namsa-eup — families holding their kids' hands, friends out for a casual day trip, you name it. I've heard that on weekends, the roads nearby get busy with cars headed out for the day. Having a place this close where you can fully soak in the season, just a short drive from the city — as someone who lives in Yongin, that honestly makes me a little proud.

Thinking about it, having such a clear seasonal outing so close by, right in that in-between stretch from winter to spring, is kind of special. Other seasons don't really have an obvious go-to trip, but once strawberry season hits, apparently a lot of people's minds go straight to Namsa-eup.

Little joys inside the greenhouse

A strawberry-picking farm isn't anything complicated, really. You walk into the greenhouse, see rows of strawberries growing right in front of you, pick them with your own hands, and eat them right there on the spot. After only ever seeing strawberries neatly lined up on a supermarket shelf, actually picking them yourself is apparently a completely different feeling.

Especially since it's often still chilly outside during that winter-to-spring stretch, the greenhouse itself — warm, with that faint strawberry scent drifting around — basically becomes an outing all on its own. That's probably part of why Namsa-eup ended up as a spot experience-tour visitors keep coming back to. Even the feel of the strawberry leaves under your fingers, or the little thrill of spotting a perfectly ripe one, is said to be its own small pleasure.

This is just my own take, but I think the experience of walking there yourself, seeing it with your own eyes, and then tasting it right after is what makes it feel more special. I'd guess the people who visit Namsa-eup are looking forward to that season for pretty much the same reason.

These days, Namsa strawberries show up on cafe dessert menus too

Here's the fun part — lately, Namsa-eup strawberries are being introduced in ways that go beyond the picking farms. I've heard that cafe dessert menus, things like strawberry lattes or strawberry cake, are increasingly paired with stories about strawberries from this area. Strawberries picked fresh at the farm end up back on a cafe menu that same day, in a sense.

The fun of picking it yourself at the farm, and the easy sweetness of enjoying it at a cafe — these two things seem to be naturally connected within the single neighborhood of Namsa-eup. Whether you head out to the fields when the season hits, or just sit down at a nearby cafe for a strawberry dessert, Namsa-eup has become a place with more than one way to enjoy strawberries.

How one fruit ties Namsa-eup's seasons together

When I think about it, strawberries seem like such a simple fruit, but within Namsa-eup they seem to wear a lot of different faces. Between winter and spring, they show up as visitors heading to the picking farms; after that, they show up again as desserts on a cafe menu. Strawberries just keep filling this neighborhood in different forms.

Every time I pass through Namsa-eup, I find myself thinking that somewhere inside those greenhouses, strawberries are quietly ripening right at this very moment. And when I imagine that strawberry later being picked by someone's hand, then showing up again as a dessert on someone's cafe table, it feels like a pretty rich story for such a small fruit to carry. Honestly, among people in Yongin, the Namsa-eup-and-strawberries pairing feels like it's become almost common knowledge by now.