Volunteering
Tea, Practice and Life
Life and spiritual practice are not far apart. Gucheungam is a place where life becomes mind practice.
Tea
You can learn about tea from Venerable Deokje, who entered Hwaeomsa Temple and has been making tea for 20 years.
Wild tea mountain with a thousand years of history
We protect and manage together.
Meditation
Every morning, you can have time to meditate, have tea conversations, and ask and answer questions about practice with fellow volunteers.
Life
Experience authentic temple life firsthand.
Depending on the season, you can participate in "Ullyeok" (communal temple work),
such as farming, making Kimchi (Gimjang), and other daily temple activities.
Story's of wwoofers
My time here was a truly amazing experience.
During my stay, I met many wonderful people, learned about tea, experienced meditation, and deeply felt a sense of community.
Although I stayed during a quieter time than the harvest season, there was still work to be done. I made kimchi, sorted and packaged tea, and cut down trees in the forest. I sincerely recommend this place.
-Margot, Belgium
[Volunteering at Gucheungam]
At Gucheungam, we maintain our temple and the thousand-year-old wild tea fields together with volunteers.
Key Information
-
How to Apply: Online via the 'WWOOF Korea' website.
-
Minimum Stay: 2 weeks or longer.
-
Benefits: Room and board (meals and lodging) provided.
-
Seasonal Tasks
The primary activity is managing the wild tea fields (removing bamboo grass, kudzu vines, weeds, etc.).
-
Spring: Tea field management, Tea making, Packaging, Farming.
-
Summer: Tea field management, Packaging, Farming.
-
Autumn: Tea field management, Packaging, Farming.
-
Winter: Tea field management, Packaging, Farming, Making Kimchi (Gimjang).
-
Others: Making prayer beads, temple cleaning, weeding, preparing vegetables in the kitchen, and other communal daily tasks.
Daily Schedule
-
Breakfast (Temple Meal)
-
07:00 – 08:00: Meditation & Tea Ceremony (Chadam)
-
08:00 – 11:00: Temple Cleaning & Volunteer Work
-
Lunch (Temple Meal)
-
13:00 – 16:00: Volunteer Work
-
Dinner (Temple Meal)
Holidays: Every Monday (Subject to change during temple events).
Tea Production Season (Mid-April to May): No holidays. Work hours are from 08:00 to 18:00 (Separate fermented tea processing may continue afterward).
Thank you.
Best Regards, Deok-je, Head monk of Gucheungam
© 2026 Gucheungam. All rights reserved.
The copyright for all images and content on this site belongs to Gucheungam, and unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or commercial use may result in legal liability.