Full-size photo slideshow here.
Yep, it’s the Banpo Bridge and the Moonlight Rainbow Fountain, recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s longest bridge fountain. So while the bridge itself might not rival the Brooklyin Bridge, at least its fountain is cooler.
Gizmodo liked it, too:
It’s like a combo of the NYC Waterfalls and the Bellagio fountains, but somehow is cooler than both. I like it!
The JoongAng talks about Korea’s love affair with the fountain.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Great pics.
What’s striking about Seoul is how such a, frankly, ugly, concrete eyesore of a city by day looks quite beautiful and impressive at night, with the Han River, its bridges, the bright lights , and mountains in the background.
Looks to me like some sort of multicolored pissing contest.
Jeffery Hodges
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M. Kaplan has it exactly right — when I lived in Mapo, I used to jog across Mapo-daegyo every night and wonder at how great the lights of Seoul looked reflected off the Han. Then I woke up the next morning and the magic was gone. Still, great pics though!
BTW, wasn’t it 2MB who was raked over the coals as mayor when he undertook to light up the bridges of the Han — at some expense — as part of his beautification campaign? Or am I thinking of someone else?
DLB
Nothing better than a major attraction and speeding cars? How about speeding cars driven by recklessly aggressive drivers AND tourists. Tourists who have cameras stuck to their faces and walk backwards to get the shot. At night. “Say kimch…” Hilarity ensues.
Actually, with the Banpo Bridge, it’s not the cars that are the problem, but rather the bicyclists.
There’s gotta be a Guinness Book section for Gayest, Most Ridiculous and Wasteful Use of Resources.
@2
That’s exactly what I was thinking…but in an aesthetically pleasing way of course.
I really enjoy the pictures on this site. Just goes to show that, despite the ugliness of Seoul mkaplan refers to, there’s plenty of beautiful scenes if you keep your eyes open (by day as well as night).
Robert – beautiful pictures.
Mkaplan and DLBarch – fully agree with you…..Seoul can’t be accused of being beautiful during the day but at night it is beautiful – especially along the Han. Not only are the bridges lit up with colored lights but so, too, are the buildings along the river.
As to the lighting of the bridges by 2MB, seems to me that I remember the bridges being lit in the early 90s as well.
Granted, Seoul can be ugly, but I consider it one of the world’s great cities . . . though it’s the only city that I’ve ever lived in . . . other than, briefly, Basel (unless one counts Daegu).
Jeffery Hodges
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Unaccountably, I forgot Jerusalem. Now, that was a city! Odd, strange, maddening . . . but a city, a shining city on a hill.
Jeffery Hodges
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Yes, it CAN be ugly, but at the same time, it can be remarkably beautiful, both on a micro level (palace architecture, Bukchon hanok, etc.) and on macro level (beautiful cityscapes from the surrounding mountains, etc.).
That works only if you have tunnel vision and can erase mentally the ugly scenery around, and sometimes *on* those mountains…
Can’t beat those Brooklyn Bridge 4th of July fireworks, though
Occupational hazard! Call OSHA for the corrective lenses.
Very nice…But, I still wouldn’t drink a glass of that water.
Nice pics! Thanks! So far as I know that stuff was not in place while I lived there.
The Bridge, Moonlight, Rainbow, Fountain and Bellagio…all hostess bars in Itaewon.
Bellagio Itaewon? Is Steve Wynn that hard up – or should that be flaccid? Vegas must have slipped a few notches since I was last there.
Hostess bars?
I thought they were just DDR rooms…
You mean the Esat Germans own(ed?) them?
I’d like to (once again) “accuse” Seoul of being a beautiful city by day. Not because I want to be contrary and not because I want to agree with Koehler, just because that’s what I happen to think. Exhibit A would be “A Septemeber Day at Changgyeonggung Palace”. Take your pick of exhibits B, C, D, etc. from Koehler’s previous work, particularly his recent mountain phase.
Talking of East Germans, I’m now living in Potsdam – which has basically registered half of its downtown as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is all good, but I’d still take mountains and buddhist temples over lakes and baroque palaces any day. As for Berlin? Nein danke!
I love this. Love it. Love it. Love it. Nice job with the pics.
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