Hwacheon, South Korea, January 7 (Liu Xu, Jin Lin) South Korea's representative winter festival "Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival 2024" was grandly opened in Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do on the 6th. According to the organizers, more than 100,000 visitors were received on the first day of the celebration.
According to Korean media, the Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival began in 2003 and has received more than one million tourists every year since 2005. From 2020 to 2022, due to negative factors such as abnormal weather and the spread of the new crown epidemic, the event could not be held as scheduled. Last year, the festival was held for the first time in three years, attracting 1.31 million people.
In an exclusive interview with a reporter from Chinanews on the 7th, the Huachuan Mountain Trout Festival attracts 30,000 to 40,000 Chinese tourists every year, and tourists generally come from Guangdong, Shanghai and Hong Kong. He was very happy to see that tourists could enjoy activities such as ice fishing and sledding. He also said that Hwacheon will continue to cooperate with other countries in winter projects and continue to work hard to make Hwacheon festival more enjoyable for tourists.
The reporter saw at the celebration site that the characteristic ice fishing ground was crowded with tourists. Men and women of all ages indulge in the joy of ice fishing by hanging their rods into pre-carved holes in the ice and swinging them up and down to attract mountain trout swimming in the ice. Visitors can also take the fish they catch to the grill near the ice rink to grill and eat it freshly. It is reported that this year, the organizers have airlifted 160 tons of mountain trout from farms across South Korea to meet the needs of tourists for catching and fishing.
Pictured here are tourists showing the mountain trout they have caught. Photo by reporter Liu Xu
The Mountain Trout Festival also features a variety of snow and ice activities. The event venue has a ski slope of more than 100 meters, where visitors can experience traditional Korean sledding, ice football, curling, figure skating and other supporting activities.
The picture shows tourists experiencing the ice project. Photo by reporter Liu Xu
The largest indoor ice sculpture plaza in South Korea, built around the festival venue, also attracts many tourists. The ice sculpture plaza covers an area of 1,700 square meters and presents exquisite ice sculptures such as representative buildings from various countries.
The picture shows a group photo of tourists and panda ice sculptures. Photo by reporter Liu Xu
In terms of safety, the organizers have dedicated staff to check the status of the ice cubes every day, and confirm the on-site conditions in real time in the monitoring room through surveillance cameras. There are also facilities such as infirmaries, lounges, and rescue teams near the event venue, so that visitors can have a rest assured of having fun.
In order to boost the local economy, tourists staying in the local area can also enjoy free night fishing, golf course admission and other preferential treatment with the receipt.
It is reported that this celebration will last until the 28th of this month for 23 days. (ENDS)