Hanji Paper Making

Hanji is made from the inner bark of the paper mulberry, stripped, boiled in ash lye, beaten and floated in a vat with a slippery extract of hibiscus root that keeps the fibres apart. Sheets are formed on a bamboo screen with a rocking motion in two directions, which crosses the fibres and is why the finished paper tears badly in no particular direction. It was used for window panes that let light through and kept the wind out, for oiled floor coverings, for fans, boxes and string. Jeonju and Wonju are the two towns that kept the trade alive, and both run workshops for visitors.

What you actually see

• The vat and screen - sheets pulled and rocked in two directions before draining.
• Dak bark - mulberry stripped, boiled and beaten before it becomes paper.
• Papered doors - lattice windows that glow when lit from behind.
• Craft workshops - fans, boxes and lampshades you make and take away.

When to go

Year round, since the work happens indoors. Wonju holds a hanji festival, usually in spring, with demonstrations and a large market. In Jeonju the workshops sit inside the hanok quarter and take walk-ins on weekdays but fill up at weekends. Book ahead if you want the full sheet-making process rather than a craft kit.

Honest expectations

Most visitor sessions are craft classes using pre-made paper, and actually pulling sheets from the vat has to be arranged in advance. The museums are small and repeat each other. Hanji is genuinely expensive for what looks like a sheet of paper, and it does not travel well folded. English explanation is thin outside the main centres.

Nearby

Jeonju's hanok quarter surrounds the workshops; Wonju sits below the Chiaksan hills.