Gwangju News

Discover Korea, Travel

Suwon is Korea’s only walled city. Known as Hwaseong (not to be confused with the neighbouring city by the same name), the fortified walls were built just over two hundred years ago by King Jeongjo in a failed bid to relocate Korea’s capital to Suwon.

By  Justin Barrass

When you alight at Suwon you find yourself in one of those all-singing all-dancing stations with a department store attached, despite having had to take a trundlebox to get there, Suwon not being on the KTX line. So it was, then, that I left Suwon’s shiniest building down an outdoor escalator, surely a novelty in itself, and found myself shin-deep in the heaviest snowfall in living memory. Not the best start on a practical level, perhaps, but at least it was pretty. The trouble I always find with these glittering stations is that you tumble out of them into the most rundown places known to man and Suwon is no exception, though there is one pedestrian street of veritable entertainment value directly opposite and it was along this that I now waded through the snow, which here found itself making a slushy street sorbet decorated with the accumulated detritus from the previous night’s revelry.

Now obviously I’m not here to write about Suwon’s swanky station or its obligatory dodgy area, but to regale you with my stroll around its claim to fame: Suwon is Korea’s only walled city. Known as Hwaseong (not to be confused with the neighbouring city by the same name), the fortified walls were built just over two hundred years ago by King Jeongjo in a failed bid to relocate Korea’s capital to Suwon. The fortress was largely left to fall into disrepair and was destroyed a lot during last century’s wars, but was restored accurately and almost completely in the 1970s and is now on UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites, so surely it’s worth a look.

And so I trudged along the street a couple of kilometres (There are plenty of buses, of course, but I thought I’d have a look at the town.) until Paldalmun, the south gate of the fortress, loomed up in the middle of the main road in the distance. Hwaseong has four main gates and the north and south ones are big two-storey affairs, so Paldalmun dominates this bustling district of town and is a big, obvious landmark and great starting point for a trip around the walls as it’s easy to get there however you choose to do so. The only trouble is that it’s stranded in the middle of a busy thoroughfare and is, as a result, entirely inaccessible!

If you’re ready for lunch then this is a great place to grab a bite as there are plenty of cheap holes-in-the-wall for Korean or western fare, and it’ll be about an hour before you find anything else.

And so then to the fortress. To find the wall it’s easiest if you head west first (that’s left as you face the gate from the direction of the station and bus terminal). Along here at the bottom of the hill there’s an information booth where you can pick up a map in any of a variety of languages. You really can’t get lost, though, as it’s a big wall and it goes more or less in a circle. There’s also a public toilet here for any last-minute needs. So, map in hand and a little lighter than before, I now progressed with confidence to begin my climb. Well I say climb, but Paldalsan, the hill over which Hwaseong passes, really isn’t at all high, being a rise of only a hundred metres from the gate below. It is, however, extremely steep, the scene of much panting, and also, as I now discovered, treacherous in snow. Being so steep, though, you’re up it in no time at all, so that’s a blessed relief.

At the top of the hill I stopped to make sure I was still alive and indeed to admire Seonam Ammun, the south-west secret gate. Yes, it turns out that Hwaseong not only has its four main gates, but also has a series of bonus “secret gates” thrown in at no extra cost. These were apparently to deceive invaders, so they could get soldiers in and out, umm, secretly. However this particular entrance is tall, grand, colourful, and doesn’t actually lead out of the fortress at all but instead takes you onto a spur, so it would surely be better named something like the South-west Rather Obvious Junction, though this perhaps has less of a ring to it. The walk along the spur comes as a pleasant stroll after the slog up the hill and it’s especially nice in crunchy, cooling snow, so take some if you’re there at the wrong time of year. Of course, being a spur, you have to come back the same way, but it’s only short and is well worth it, as there’s a good but foliage-dependent view from the end, where there’s also a nice pavilion, ideal for picnics.

I was, however, picnicless, so back along the spur it was, back through the unsecretive gate, and along the wall to the north, following the top of the hill. Along here there’s another loo (Take note in case of post-picnic troubles.) and then an enormous bell. Here, there’s a booth where you have to pay 1000 won to pass. (It costs to walk around the walls, but you pay for the day and there are other checkpoints, too, so keep your ticket.) There’s a further 1,000 won fee to ring the bell. Well how could I resist? Lots of excessive monk-style swinging later, then bang! Blimey what a noise that thing can make. If you were in the vicinity then please accept my apologies and I will pay for any damage to your windows.

Just after the booth I came across my first proper secret gate. It actually really is very secretive indeed. No fancy colours – just a little opening at an angle in the wall. I can confirm that it also functions spectacularly, as the person outside it hadn’t expected me to emerge at all, judging from their reaction. That, then, was pretty much it for Paldalsan, but it had a final shout at the end with two fine structures standing in a clearing at the northern end of the ridge overlooking most of central Suwon. Take note of the palace below to the east, too, as this, half a kilometre from both the north and south gates, is a nice possible extension to a trip around the walls, as this was where King Jeongjo lived when he was in Suwon.

From here, then, I skidded down the snowy hillside, wishing I had crampons, or more precisely wishing I’d come the previous week, to Hwaseomun, the west gate. This, along with its eastern counterpart, is much less grandiose than the north and south gates, being only one storey high, but is still very nice and has a tower right next to it, too, though sadly the like of you and I aren’t allowed in that. There’s another public toilet just outside the gate, by the way in case you’re taking notes. It’s a short distance to Janganmun, the north gate, from here, and it rises above everything else beckoning you onwards, for this is the largest gate in the country, even bigger than Namdaemun used to be. It really is quite a sight, actually, and there’s a good place for mandu just over the road, too. You’ll be asked to show your ticket here, by the way. I mean at the gate, not the mandu restaurant.

Refuelled again, I headed on to one of the prettiest sections of the wall. Here, it crosses a stream at another bonus gate called Hwahongmun. This stands beside a little hill with a pavilion atop, and another secret gate, through which I now inadvertently slithered downhill at an alarming pace to a very nice pond known as Yongyeon. This place was intended to be a military camp, but was so nice that they decided to use it for picnics instead, which I think rather symbolises the whole fortress. It was never attacked and ended up being a very nice feature. From this pond, which was definitely worth the tiny detour, I went back to invade the fortress through its no-longer-secret gate, and headed east to a big building called Dongjangdae, which was apparently a military headquarters but which now appears to be a shed in a car park. I’m not sure whose idea it was to carpet the surrounding area in concrete, but, well, thank God for the snow covering it up. Oh, there’s another ticket check here, by the way, and yet another toilet, but by now you’d need to have some sort of medical condition to still need to be taking notes about the latter.

The wall now went around a field where people practise traditional archery, which was interesting to watch but not for long in the snow because standing still just wasn’t a good idea at all. There are a couple of nice structures, then the east gate (another toilet outside), which is very pretty and which has the benefit of not standing right beside a main road, so I’d say this was my favourite. From the east gate the snow deepened significantly and I ended up knee-deep in the stuff at one point, as the wind had caused little drifts. Less than entirely amused, I grumbled my way to Bongdon, which was a smoke signal station. My grumbling was entirely unfair, as this is actually a very interesting place, but by now I was far too cold to appreciate it properly, as I’d lost all hope of ever having any sensation in my extremities again. Not even taking note of the toilet for your benefit cheered me up.

From here, the wall continued around and back down to the stream, and it was a short walk through a traditional market and along a very tackily decorated “Fine Art Street” (note: final toilet) back to Paldalmun, my starting point. I was nithered to a ridiculous degree, but very glad to have seen this really very pretty fortress, to which I shall definitely return on a much warmer day.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

Direct train to Suwon: 3½–4 hours

Express bus to Suwon: 3½ hours

City buses between Suwon Station and Paldalmun (팔달문):

Blue: 400

Green: 2–2; 10–5; 46; 50–6; 66; 82–1

City buses between Bus Terminal and Paldalmun (팔달문):

Green: 46; 64; 64–1

Hwaseong Admission: 1,000 won (free at night)

Hours: Open 24 hours a day, though the palace closes at 6 p.m.

Leave a Response