If you want to see the "real" Korea, you need to leave the cities and travel to the small villages. These villages are not only beautiful but interesting too. Some of the villages have "guards" to protect them from enemies and evil spirits. These guards stand at the entrance to the village. This is an old tradition which started hundreds of years ago.
The guards protect the village from evil spirits. At certain times of the year the villagers hold festivals to ask the guards for good weather to grow food, for help during times of sickness or even for help to produce more male children.
These guards are made of wood or stone in different shapes and sizes. Some of them are as small as your hand but others can be as large as a man. Often these guards have a human face. The eyes, nose and teeth are very large. The teeth are so large that they stick out from the small mouth. Usually the guards wear a hat too. Sometimes they hold a piece of wood which gives them their magic powers. Each part of Korea has its own kind of guard.
