Gallery Pakyoung, run by Korean publishing house Pakyoungsa, is home to both permanent and temporary exhibitions, featuring clever and likable pieces. 

But the gallery is most notable for its artist residency program. One floor above the GalleryPakyoung is the Studio Pakyoung, where the artists currently on exhibit work and live. Visitors can thus view both the artwork and the artist at work. 

Then there is Story of Africa, self-described café and gallery. With its sunny and spacious interior, unaffectedly intriguing paintings, and the quality Arabica coffee, it’s simply too pleasant a place to dismiss as a mere gimmick, despite the fact that it is themed. 

If you have already purchased a drink, for ₩2,000 extra you can gain entrance into Story of Africa’s back gallery: an adjacent room with more paintings. 

3. Book cafés 

The difficulty about writing about book cafés in Paju Book City is that there are so damn many of them. 

Every publisher with a percolator prints out a menu and thinks that they are on their way to becoming excellent book cafés. 

The problem is that they are. 

Every single one of them. 

Yet equally excellent does not mean identical. All of the book cafés have some unique quirk of their own, and fill a specific niche, just like their publishing companies.

Oullim Book Café, run by Hyewon Publishers, for example, is one of the more family-friendly places, with a generous selection of children’s books. 

"We carry almost 50,000 books from 34 different publishing houses," says owner Lee Young-ha, 50. "They are mostly books that have been returned to the publishing houses."

Unfortunately, there are no English books available.  

4. Jijihyang guesthouse 

At the end of a long day in Paju Book City, smelling like books and coffee, you can unwind in a room at the Jijihyang Guesthouse.

Jijihyang’s decor is unadorned and basic. In keeping with this theme -- black and white in terms of color, and environmentally green in terms of principles -- Jijihyang also does not place TV sets in guest suites. 

Visitors are encouraged to look out the windows instead. Or, maybe, read a book. 

5. Specialized exhibition spaces 

As if Paju Book City itself doesn’t make books enough of a fetish, Doosung Paper Gallery promotes the stuff books are made of. The gallery is run by Doosung Paper Company, which supplies more than 3,500 companies in printing and advertising industries, as well as 2,500 stationery shops.    

The Naby Nara Museum celebrates butterflies -- both dead and living. With a butterfly conservatory and a permanent exhibition of actual butterflies on the second floor, a butterfly-themed gift shop on the first floor, and a constant rotation of butterfly art exhibits and relevant workshops, the Naby Nara Museum is kid-friendly but not kid-exclusive. Pop in on a weekday afternoon to avoid the crowds.