Sancheono Ice Festival

For the entire month of January my small, rural town of 8,000 people transforms into a massive tourist attraction bringing in visitors from all over Asia and the world. Hwacheon is home to the Sancheono Ice Festival, which is a month long ice fishing festival. The festival includes way more than just ice fishing though. There is zip-lining, snow-mobiling, pony rides, ice- skating, life- size ice castles, massive ice sculpture displays, concerts, and more. The festival is the country's largest and most popular winter festival and attracts over 1,000,000 tourists a year. I was actually pretty shocked to find all new shops and restaurants in Hwacheon when I returned from my traveling but I then found out they are only open during the festival to accommodate the large number of people. The Sancheono Festival was even named one of CNN's 7 Wonders of Winter- something my host family never lets me forget. 

This weekend was the final weekend of the festival and my host family was eager to show me and my friend Amber, who was visiting, around. My host father works for the Hwacheon County Office and is a pretty big deal in town so attending the festival with him on Friday was like being with a celebrity. We were able to do anything instantly and for free! We started the afternoon with some ice fishing in the 'Foreigners Only' area. Apparently in this area it is less crowded and easier to catch fish because the Koreans want the foreign tourists to enjoy themselves. Despite the site's reputation for being an easy place to catch the fish I had no luck. I flicked my wrist over and over again but nothing bit. My host brother, father and Amber all caught two fish each, though so maybe I was just bad at it. 

After you catch fish at the festival there are several places you can go to eat the fish. You can go to a sushi area where they will fillet your fish and give you sauces with it or you can bake your fish in the oven. One oven bakes over a hundred fish at a time. My family decided to bake our fish and it was really tasty.

We then checked out some of the indoor events because it was a frigid 10 degrees outside. This included the first 3D art gallery in the world, which was your typical gimmicky Korean attraction, a 4D roller-coaster ride and trying on winter clothes from famous winter cities around the world. We also went to the Light Illumination Plaza, which was by far the best attraction. It is a huge tunnel built into a mountainside that houses extensive ice sculptures, including an ice slide you can play on. It was really neat and very beautiful. 

The next day my host mom took Amber and I to a nearby mountain to watch ice-climbers in the morning. We then returned home to warm up and prepare for the biggest event of the weekend- bare- handed fishing! Basically, you sign up and are given a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to change into. You then march outside with the other participants and stand around a 2 degrees Celsius pool of water with mountain trout swimming in it. The MC then warms up the crowd and gets certain participants to splash and swim in the pool a little before the main event. Then, all at once all of the participants jump in the water and reach around until they grab a fish. Once you grab a fish you must stick it down your shirt to store it. You can catch up to three fish total. Amber and I were resigned to participate but were really nervous about how it would turn out.

When we were standing on the blocks of ice for a few minutes as they talked I began to doubt my ability to get in the water, let alone catch a fish. My feet were already frozen and my entire body was shaking. I then just stared in disbelief as some of the other participants volunteered to get into the pool early and splash around and even dunk themselves under water. Amber was just sitting next to me cursing and trying to grab onto my arm and the arm of the stranger next to her. 

Amber and I are freezing in the center as people volunteer to get in.

Then all of a sudden we had to get in. I'm not really sure what empowered me to get in the water but once I was in there my competitive side definitely came out. I immediately started plunging my hands in the water and to my surprise was one of the first people to catch a fish. I was in disbelief and kept holding it up to show my friends who were watching and in the midst of my celebrations it wriggled free. Amber was then pulling on my arm because she didn't want to catch one and wanted me to get out with her but I was determined to catch another and chased her away. I was able to touch a few more but wasn't able to grab another one before the men started helping the participants because we had to get out of the water. I was then given a fish and after quickly debating whether or not to take it I took it and stuck it down my shirt. I then raced out of the pool but quickly found that I could not feel my feet let alone move them. I had to try three times to put my feet in the slippers they provided us with for the walk to the hot tub to warm up. It was insane. After sitting in the hot tub for a few moments I felt much better and was so glad I participated and caught a fish. It was a wonderful, once-in-a lifetime event!

I'm in the back right corner with the fish I caught.

Stuffing the fish down my shirt.

Amber and I after the hot tub.