The Night of Seoul Lights Up With Seoul Lantern Festival 2012

Published on 2012/11/11 | Source

Seoul becomes even brighter at night! Starting last Friday 30,000 beautifully crafted lanterns began to populate the Cheonggyecheon Stream. I use the word populate because some of these lanterns are so lifelike that you could mistake them for actual people.

Most of the lanterns are made out of Hanji, traditional Korean paper. The process of building a frame for the lantern and covering it with hanji can only be done by a craftsman.

This year's Lantern festival theme is "Seoul's roots and the lives of our ancestors". Coinciding with this theme, most of the lanterns portray the activities rural Koreans did on a daily basis before Korea became a hyper-modern high-tech country.

In addition to Korean-made lanterns, this year there are also lanterns by artisans from elsewhere in Asia, including Singapore, Japan and the Philippines. If you love lanterns, Cheonggyechon is the place to be.

The festival runs from November 2 through 18 and the entrance is at the west end of Cheonggyechon, between City Hall and Gwanghwamun.

For those who can't make it to Seoul, I took plenty of pictures to share with you:

Pineapple (Fruit) Lantern

This lantern was gigantic and apparently a favorite for children. The first thought that went through my mind was, "Why a pineapple?" Later I learned that this lantern was made in Singapore, where pineapples are regarded as signs of wealth and luck.

Rice Threshing

Farmer's Lunch

Look closely and you can see people drinking makgoli!

Farmer Planting Rice

Traditionally, rice seedlings were planted in seed beds and then moved to rice paddies.

Mujawi (Water Pump)

Washing Place

Women washing clothes at a nearby river

Taffy Sellers

Taffy was a rare sweet treat for children and when a taffy seller visited a village, all the kids would run out to buy some.

Fish Merchants

Women used to carry baskets on their heads to sell fish

Traditional Wedding

See how nervous the couple looks?

About the author by Sophie Choi

Born in Korea and raised on three different continents, I have always been enthusiastic to share the uniqueness of Korean culture and design. On top of that, the advanced level of Korean technology makes me proud to call myself Korean and motivates me to spread technology related news to more people around the world. The list of things I like (and like to do) is endless: Shopping, Gummy jellies, Lilies... and it goes on

- https://www.facebook.com/AdvancedTechKOR