One of the most romantic and beautiful parts in cities is a river.
They show all different kinds of beauties of the city depending on the time of the day and the year.
Looking at the river running through the city is relaxing and eases our mind, especially when the city is filled up with modern and concrete buildings. That is probably why I like rivers in cities and always look for a river when visiting a new city.
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| Han River |
One other reason I like rivers is its historicity. Sometimes I feel that rivers are beyond the nature. They have changed with the city developing for centuries, and even they had been flowing before the city was made.
A river tells the whole story of the city.
Han River tells the whole story of Seoul too.
Let me tell you some of them.
Historicity of Han River
These is a big river in Seoul called Han River. (called Han-gang in Korean)Actually Han River is more than a river to Korean people.
When we achieved rapid economic growth in a couple of decades after the Korean War (1950-1953), this remarkable achievement was named "Miracle on the Han River".
Historically, occupying Han River meant reaching its height. Until Korean peninsula was unified as one country, Three Kingdoms of Korea (57BC -668AD) fought for the territory around Han River.
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| Bridges of Han River (Source: The Seoul Institute) |
There are 27 bridges over Han River now. Until 1960's, there were only 5 bridges.
Then how did we cross the river when there were few bridges?
By boat!
People took a boat and even cars were carried by boat to cross Han River.
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| Seoul citizens crossing Han River by boat in 1969 |
You may heard of the name of subway stations in Seoul which include "Naru (나루)" , such as Yeouinaru (여의나루) and Gwangnaru (광나루). "Naru" means a port so they were used as a port back then. But we don't take a boat to cross the river anymore now!
Instead you can take the Han River ferry cruise and enjoy scenery of the city. 😊
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| Han River with sunset |
The scenery from above reveals another beauty of Han River.
However, Han River has a tragedy behind this picturesque view.
During the Korean War, a footbridge of Han River was exploded as a military operation while lots of citizens were crossing the bridge to evacuate. This military operation that caused lots of victims is criticized still today.
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| Han River |
Han River is a main drinking water source in South Korea, providing drinking water to 25,000,000 people living in the Seoul Metropolitan area. Seoul's tap water is quite clean but none of us drink it. I guess it is because we are taught not to drink the tap water since we are little.
These days most households install a water purifier at home. You can easily find a water purifier everywhere in South Korea such as offices, banks, department stores and so on.
Before using the water purifier, we used to boil tap water with barley and make barley tea to drink.
To encourage people to drink Seoul's tap water, the city government made a new brand for Seoul's tap water called "Arisu (아리수)". All water purifiers installed at public schools were removed to make students get close with Arisu (actually tap water). But it seems their strategy failed. I heard that none of students drink it.😂
Although we really love seeing Han River and spending time in the riverside park, maybe we are not ready to drink it yet.😅
I end the first story of Han River for now.
Hope you enjoyed this article and please look forward to the next one!
Next article
⇨ 4 things you should do & 4 things forbidden in Han River Park.
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