* Topic: Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival

(화천산천어축제)

* Writer: West Bengal Team 4: Members- (Srotoswini, Tithi, Soumi, Torsa)

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Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival 

(화천산천어축제)

For centuries, one of the indispensable part of the Korean culture has been fishing. This can be clearly observed by the huge variety of popular seafood delicacies available throughout the country. One of the major hotspots for fishing enthusiasts is the Gangwon-do Province, where over a dozen fishing villages are present. So even the sub-zero temperatures of December to March, with frozen lakes and water bodies could not stop fishing lovers as they found a new pastime in ice-fishing. [1] Every January,

Hwacheon-gun (화천군), a quaint part of the Gangwon-do Province gathers millions of visitors, both local and international even at a temperature as low as minus ten degree Celsius.[2][3] This is because the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival is held there every year, which has been titled as the world's four major winter festivals. This festival even has its own brand slogan, as "Hwacheon, Korea's No. 1 winter festival."[2]

• History:

Every winter, as the Hwacheoncheon Stream, located in Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do freezes completely, it becomes the premise for this popular festival. The highlights of this event include carving holes in the ice and fishing for Sancheoneo (산천어) (Masou salmon), which gave the festival its name. [4] Sancheoneo, also known as ‘queen of valley’ is a very pretty and nutritious fish, which has various health benefits especially for high blood pressure. This native fish is a fresh water salmoniformes salmonidae fish, which is known to be found only in the cleanest and freshest of waters. [5]

• Origin:

This fun filled festival was launched in 2003 and since then it has now become the most popular winter festival in South Korea. in 2007, the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival gained popularity and was selected as an up-and coming festival, and in 2008 it was chosen as the excellent festival. After that since 2010, for four consecutive years this festival won the title of the best festival. In 2011 it was even introduced by CNN as one of the "Seven Winter Wonders" following which the festival saw a surge in international visitors. [2][6][7] Since 2014, the title of "Korea's premier festival" has been given to the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival for the fifth consecutive year. In 2019, the festival saws over 130,000 international visitors. As a premier festival for five consecutive years, since 2019 the Ice Festival has been selected as a "global promotion festival" by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. [2]

• Main attraction:

The main attraction of the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival is the Sancheoneo fishing, which is usually can be done by directly ice fishing on the frozen stream, lure fishing in the flowing waters, or by bare-hand fishing in a pool.[4] The visitors are allowed to catch up to three fish. [1] If someone fails to catch fish in the daytime, they can also opt for night time fishing. [2] After catching fish, it is collected in a bucket near the exit so that a massive outdoor barbeque can be arranged. [1] A designated spot is maintained for cooking the fish and eating, where people enjoy both roasted or sliced raw trout.[6] Hand fishing is also very popular among the locals, where people go down in the freezing waters to catch fish directly with their hands. [1]

• Famous activities:

Besides fishing, a core part of the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival are Snow and ice activities like ice sledging, ice soccer, curling, bobsleigh, winter trekking, creative sled contest etc. [2][4] Beside all these, for the adventure loving visitors, a zipline is set up over the frozen waters. [4] The excitement of the festival can be felt and observed all-over the town of Hwacheon. Even before the start of the festival, the entire area is beautifully decorated by Sancheoneo-shaped lanterns made from hanji paper, and the beautiful displays of LED lights at the Lantern Street Festival and light tunnels. [2][4] Beside this the Hwacheoneo Cinema displays the world’s largest indoor ice sculpture plaza, by displaying intricately designed large-scale ice sculptures. [4] Other parts of the festivities include set ups of traditional Korean folk games and a photo zone, food stalls selling fish items, both raw and fried, tteokbokki (stir-fried rice cake), fish cakes, and other sweet and savoury fritters etc. [4]

• Reference:

1.https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/HonoraryReporters/view?article Id=167201

2.https://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=10516

3.https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/FoodTravel/view?articleId=1672 39

4.https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=15471 31

5.https://www.narafestival.com/ice_eng/?lang=eng&f_code=01_05

6.https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/FoodTravel/view?articleId=1534 58

7.https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_2_1.jsp?cid=685 135

1. Topic: Hanbok (हानबोक)

2. Writer: WBT3 (Hindi Sub Team 2: Suparna, Vaishali, Ritoja, Shirsha)

3. Short Explanation: We created a Wikipedia page on 'Hanbok' in Hindi. The hanbok (in South Korea) or Chosŏn-ot (in North Korea) is the traditional Korean clothes. The term "hanbok" literally means "Korean clothing". The hanbok can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms of Korea period (1st century BC–7th century AD), with roots in the peoples of what is now northern Korea and Manchuria. Early forms of hanbok can be seen in the art of Goguryeo tomb murals in the same period, with the earliest mural paintings dating to the 5th century. From this time, the basic structure of the hanbok consisted of the jeogori jacket, baji pants, chima skirt, and the po coat. The basic structure of hanbok was designed to facilitate ease of movement and integrated many motifs of shamanistic nature. These basic structural features of the hanbok remain relatively unchanged to this day. However, present days hanbok which is worn nowadays is patterned after the hanbok worn in the Joseon dynasty.

4. Link: Hanbok (हानबोक)

1. Topic: Korean currency (कोरियाई मुद्रा)

2. Writer: WBT3 (Hindi Sub Team 1: Sanskriti, Bharti, Nisha, Nikhil)

3. Short Explanation: We created a Wikipedia page on 'Korean currency' in Hindi. Korean currency dates back as far as the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) when the first coins were minted. The coins, cast in both bronze and iron, were called tongbo and jungbo. Additionally, silver vases called ŭnbyŏng were widely used and circulated as a currency among the aristocracy of Goryeo. It was not until the beginning of the Joseon period that copper coins called mun were minted for wide circulation. Jeohwa (저화), which was made of standardized mulberry-bark paper early in the Joseon period, become the first legal paper money and was used as a medium of exchange in place of coins until it disappeared in the early 16th century. 

4. Link: Korean currency (कोरियाई मुद्रा)

1. Topic: Gwangju Uprising (ग्वांगजू विद्रोह)

2. Writer: WBT3 (Hindi Team 2: Shirsha, Ritoja, Vaishali, Suparna)

3. Short Explanation: We created a Wikipedia page on 'Gwangju Uprising' in Hindi. The Gwangju Uprising was a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju, South Korea, from May 18 to May 27, 1980, which pitted local, armed citizens against soldiers and police of the South Korean government. The event is sometimes called 5·18 (May 18; Korean: 오일팔), in reference to the date the movement began. The uprising is also known as the Gwangju Democratization Struggle, the Gwangju Massacre, the May 18 Democratic Uprising, or the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement.

4. Link: Gwangju Uprising (ग्वांगजू विद्रोह)

1. Topic: Korean mythology (কোরিয়ান পুরাকথা)

2. Writer: WBT3 ( Bengali Sub Team 1: Susmita, Rupam, Adrija, Debanjana)

3. Short Explanation: We created a Wikipedia page on 'Korean mythology' in Bengali. Korean mythology is the group of myths told by historical and modern Koreans. There are two types: the written, literary mythology in traditional histories, mostly about the founding monarchs of various historical kingdoms, and the much larger and more diverse oral mythology, mostly narratives sung by shamans or priestesses (mansin) in rituals invoking the gods and which are still considered sacred today. 

4. Link: Korean mythology (কোরিয়ান পুরাকথা)  

1. Topic: Korean shamanism (কোরিয়ান শামানবাদ)

2. Writer: WBT3 (Bengali Sub Team 2: Sreetama, Susmita, Sayantika)

3. Short Explanation: We created a Wikipedia page on 'Korean shamanism' in Bengali. Korean shamanism or Korean folk religion is an animistic ethnic religion of Korea that dates back to prehistory and consists of the worship of gods (신 shin) and ancestors (조상 josang) as well as nature spirits. Hanja: 巫俗; musog or musok), the term Muism (Hangul:무속신앙; musok shinang) is also used. Korean shamanism has been influenced by Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. 

4. Link: Korean shamanism (কোরিয়ান শামানবাদ) 

1. Topic: Korean painting (कोरियाई चित्रकला)

2. Writer: WBT3 (Hindi Sub Team 1: Nisha, Nikhil, Bharti, Sankriti)

3. Short Explanation: We created a Wikipedia page on 'Korean painting' in Hindi. Korean painting includes paintings made in Korea or by overseas Koreans on all surfaces. The earliest surviving Korean paintings are murals in the Goguryeo tombs, of which considerable numbers survive, the oldest from some 2,000 years ago (mostly now in North Korea), with varied scenes including dancers, hunting, and spirits. 

4. Link: Korean painting (कोरियाई चित्रकला)

1. Topic: Education in South Korea (দক্ষিণ কোরিয়ায় শিক্ষাব্যাবস্থা)

2. Writer: WBT3 (Bengali Sub Team 1: Debanjana, Adrija, Rupam, Susmita)

3. Short Explanation: We created a Wikipedia page on 'Education in South Korea' in Bengali. Education in South Korea is provided by both public schools and private schools. Both types of schools receive funding from the government, although the amount that the private schools receive is less than the amount of the state schools. South Korea is one of the top-performing OECD countries in reading literacy, mathematics, and sciences with the average student scoring about 519, compared with the OECD average of 493, placing it ninth in the world. The country has one of the world's highest-educated labor forces among OECD countries. 

4. Link: Education in South Korea (দক্ষিণ কোরিয়ায় শিক্ষাব্যাবস্থা) 

1. Topic: Heo Hwang-ok (হ হোয়াং-ওক)

2. Writer: WBT3 (Bengali Sub Team 2: Susmita, Sayantika, Sreetama)

3. Short Explanation: We created a Wikipedia page on 'Heo Hwang-ok ' in Bengali. Heo Hwang-ok is a legendary Queen mentioned in Samguk Yusa, a 13th-century Korean chronicle. According to Samguk Yusa, she became the wife of King Suro of Geumgwan Gaya at the age of 16, after having arrived by boat from a distant kingdom called "Ayuta"; making her the first Queen of Geumgwan Gaya. More than six million present-day Koreans, especially from Gimhae Kim, Heo and Lee clans, trace their lineage to the legendary Queen as the direct descendants of her 12 children with King Suro. Her native kingdom is believed to be located in India. There is a tomb in Gimhae, South Korea, that is believed to be hers, and a memorial in Ayodhya, India.

4. Link: Heo Hwang-ok (হ হোয়াং-ওক) 

1. Topic: Baedari Secondhand Bookstore Alley

2. Writer: WBT3 (English Sub Team: Sukanya Roychowdhury and Shirsha Singh)

3. Short Explanation: We created a Wikipedia page on the 'Baedari Secondhand Bookstore Alley' in English. Baedari Secondhand Bookstore Alley is a historical and cultural space in Dongu-gu, Incheon, South Korea. The Baedari Alley was once home to about fifty bookstores specializing in secondhand books, but only a handful remain today. The name Baedari comes from the name of the village Baedari meaning where boats and ships dock, and it currently covers the Geumchang-dong and Songhyeon-dong of Dong-gu, Incheon.

4. Link: Baedari Secondhand Bookstore Alley