One Fish, Two Fish, Ice Fish…Nice Fish!

Winter isn’t going away anytime soon, so why not try to embrace it? This is the question that I have been asking myself repeatedly as of late. In general I am a huge fan of winter, and all of the stuff associated with it: ice skating, snowshoeing, skiing, snowmen, (hot chocolate with lotsa marshmallows)…But winter in South Korea thus far has been without that beautiful blanket of snow- and the ‘wonderland feeling’ has been pretty elusive. Instead, I have been feeling perpetually chilled, and not going out to celebrate the season in my usual way. But when I got wind that there was an ice fishing festival going on a couple of hours away in Hwacheon (a town located in Gangwon Province, known for being the chilliest region in South Korea and the first to freeze) I knew that this was my chance to get out and enjoy the cold.

We bundled up and headed north east on small roads filled with switchback turns through the mountains, slowly closing in on our destination: the Sancheoneo Ice festival on the banks of Hwacheon Stream. The sun was shining, and it seemed like the perfect day to try hooking a few mountain trout (sancheoneo/ 산천어). Fish-shaped paper lanterns lined the roadside as we rolled into town, and a giant polar bear in sunglasses and scarf towered overhead – evidence that we were in the right place. If we needed any further convincing, a lingering glance toward the horizon would expel any doubt: hundreds upon hundreds of people were hanging out on the frozen stream. It was a crowded, icy path cutting a swathe between all sorts of little kiosks.

In my head, I had imagined a modest gathering of people coming to brave the cold just so they could huddle around little holes on the ice filled with hopes of catching a few sancheoneo. I mean, this is how we roll in the wilds of northern New York where I am from. Just a small group of friends, some whiskey, a little hut on a tiny pond in the middle of nowhere…human versus nature in all of its raw glory. But honestly, I have been in Korea long enough to know better. By now it should be obvious to me that when the word ‘festival’ is involved, people will come out en masse to celebrate. This was no simple ice fishing event- it was a full fledged winter carnival with all the fixin’s!

We zig zagged through the crowds past booths filled with fishing rods, local products, snacks, warming huts, fish roasting stations and ticket booths for all the activities that were taking place around us. Fishing for sancheoneo was just one activity on a long list of fun. Brave souls flew across the sky on zip lines over the heads of families trying their best to traverse the ice on special ice-cycles. Nearby, people donned skates while others waited in an impossibly long line just to take a quick ride down a multi-lane tubing hill. And for those feeling impervious to the cold- bare handed fishing…which actually involved getting into an open pool of water…(I cringe now at the very thought of such things.)

 

There was wonderful, winter-fuelled kinetic energy in every direction. Well…enough lingering! It was time for us to try our hand at wrangling some sancheoneo. We decided to go straight for the fishing, as I was dying to catch something and get it roasted on site. I had no clue how difficult this would actually be, and it was completely possible that we would go hungry this evening. We bought our fishing licenses and were given 10,000won in festival money, along with a couple of plastic bags for our potential bounty. Next we picked up two ‘fishing rods’ that looked more like dollar store toys than something that could actually reel something in, and headed over to dangle a hook into one of the numerous pre-drilled ice holes.

Dip. Yank. Dip. Yank. Everyone around us was having great success- there were fish flopping all over the place. To our delight it wasn’t long before it was our turn to get lucky, and once our winning streak started it just didn’t stop. The experience was less like fishing and more like shooting fish in a barrel. Barely half an hour had passed and we had already reached our catch limit (3/person). Obviously the stream had been well stocked, and although it had lacked some of the usual challenges, it was still a blast. Grabbing our gyrating bags of fresh fish we headed straight for the designated cooking tent.

The roasting contraption was an amazing sight to behold. It looked like a steampunk prop. Or something out of Mad Max. There it stood, behind a small protective fence: a huge cast iron stove with a wood fire in its belly, dotted with a hundred or so drawers, numbers scrawled all across its side. This is where the day’s catch would be transformed into dinner.

The process was simple and the result couldn’t have been more perfect.  We presented the fish to the aproned men at the table, and in an instant the wriggling was ceased and the flesh slashed to receive a heathy rubbing of coarse salt. After being wrapped up in foil and placed on a tray for us, we carefully transported them a second group of men in charge of nestling the fish packets into one (or in our case 6) of the special roasting drawers. Our pick up times and drawer assignments were scribbled onto a hasty ticket and handed over. We watched the clock like hawks, and when the time came we grabbed chopsticks and made our way back to the roaster. We traded in our ticket for a stack of steaming aluminum-foil packets neatly folded into newspaper.

All the tables were filled, so we found a small section of cement wall to call our own where we could enjoy our dinner. The foil was unwrapped to reveal the most perfectly roasted fish: tender flesh flaked off the delicate bones like it had been expertly prepared in a fine restaurant. Small crisp patches provided a delightful crunch. A little sprinkle of extra salt to enhance the natural flavours, and suddenly we were devouring each fish as fast as the chopsticks would allow.

While we cleared away the evidence of our feeding frenzy, it was difficult not to notice that the sun had all but disappeared from the sky…but we refused to leave Hwacheon without first making our way across town to see the largest illuminated ice sculpture display in Korea. As we walked, hundreds of lights brightened the night, keeping the cold January evening at bay. It felt like Christmas as we passed under a beautiful sparkling canopy stretching the length of Seondeung Street, leading us straight past a stage with a dancing polar bear- hip hop music pumping out the beats to a large crowd waving glow sticks. It looked like a rave (well, maybe like a g-rated dance party)…we pressed on… until finally we passed through thick plastic curtains and into a giant room of freezing, glowing splendor.

I had read on the festival website that all of this had taken 20 weeks to create. It really was quite the spectacle. Perfectly transparent bricks of ice formed famously familiar structures. The Taj Mahal, the Walt Disney castle, Venus de Milo…Everything in technicolour. We strolled about admiring, but given the fact that we were literally hanging out inside of a giant walk in freezer, it wasn’t long before the bone chill set in- a sure sign that it was time to head home. As our car chugged along on the dark and twisty mountain roads, I smiled at the thoughts of the day and how the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival had successfully restored my love of winter (most likely it was only temporary, but restore it did.) The theme of this year’s celebration was ‘unfrozen hearts-unforgettable memories,’ and that seemed just about right.

How to get there:
Driving from Uijeongbu or Dongducheon take route 3 to 37 to Seongjang-ro to 78 to 372 to 463 to 75 to 56 to 5 north

via public transportation from Seoul: Take an intercity express bus bound for Hwacheon from Dong Seoul Bus Terminal. 24 buses daily, travel time: 2 hours 40 minutes. Hwacheon Stream is a 10-min walk from the Hwacheon Bus Terminal.

The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival is an annual event that takes place for almost the entire month of January…for more info click here and here

Click here for map.

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