Han River (한강 Hangang) is a major river in South Korea that divides Seoul into two halves. As it flows right in the middle of Seoul, there are many spots along the river set up as parks for people to enjoy. Grassy fields, pedestrian walkways and bicycle paths are built in the park for people to workout, go on a date, and simply have fun with friends.
Of the many spots, our family decided to go to Yeouido Hangang Park (여의도 한강공원), which is closest to our house, and arguably one of the cleanest Han River parks out there.
We had one purpose and one purpose only to go there tonight. 치맥.
치맥 (pronounced chi-mek) is short for 치킨+맥주, and that translates as chicken and beer. Korea is perhaps (or should be) known for consuming the largest amount of friend chicken. Seriously, I think some people here are addicted to this stuff. We eat it at school, at home, at beer pubs, at HAN RIVER PARK, at almost anywhere. We even call chicken 치느님 which means Chicken God. I might have eaten more chicken during my three years studying in Korea than my whole life living in Taiwan. (But then again that might not be true because the fried chicken 雞排 near my Taipei house was insanely good)
ANYHOW back to Han River… I guess it could be said that eating fried chicken along with beer is a must when one goes to Han River park. (Actually… I think besides going on dates or going for bike rides or skateboarding, that’s all people do near Han River…) So that’s what our family did.
Because so many people order fried chicken near Han River, the delivery system is very advanced. Just sit down and wait for someone to hand you chicken flyers and call the number on the flyer. When the delivery man arrives, he/she will call you and all you have to do it meet up with the delivery man at a specific location within Han River park to get the chicken. Easy right?
Besides chicken, there are also many convenient stores within the park selling snacks. I love these convenient stores because they have machines that help you make one of the best ramyun noodles within 2 minutes.
Perhaps it’s because it’s always windy near the river or because there’s a storm heading to South Korea, but it was so breezy and nice outside today. If you haven’t tried chi-mek near Han River, you’re definitely missing out on a great experience unique to Seoul.
*I must apologize for a lack of photos in this post… I didn’t take any photos of the actual chicken and beer because the lighting was horrible, plus it was really crowded in the park today and I didn’t want to be the creepy photographer who took pictures of people. But here’s some photos I took of the view I saw across from Han River park:
tiffany hs cho. 