Suwon's UNESCO fortress: A Cinematic Hwaseong Tour

Suwon is one of Korea's most quietly compelling cities – a UNESCO World Heritage fortress town where Samsung Electronics grew from a small factory into a global empire. On this walking tour, you'll trace the story of Hwaseong Fortress, built by a grief-stricken king who paid his workers fair wages and curved the walls to protect their homes. You'll also discover how a city destroyed by war became one of Korea's most dynamic modern places.

The tour starts at Changnyongmun Gate, the fortress's east entrance, and follows the 4.7-kilometre wall through living history. Along the way, you'll learn why the north-facing Janganmun – not the south gate as tradition dictated – became the fortress's grandest entrance, and why a king's personal tragedy shaped every stone. You'll also pass through Haengnidan-gil, where young Korean entrepreneurs have turned preserved low-rise buildings into cafes, arcade shops, and restaurants.

The route winds past Hwahongmun Gate, the seven-arched rivergate spanning Suwoncheon Stream, and the Hwaseong Haenggung Palace, where King Jeongjo dreamed of retirement but died at 47 from overwork and insomnia. The tour ends at Seojangdae Command Post, the military tower on Suwon's highest peak, where a panoramic view of glowing apartment lights and golden fortress walls awaits – a view the guide describes as carrying an old king's loneliness, the hard work of modern Koreans, and their hidden tears.

On this 90-minute tour, you'll have a chance to:

• Explore the ongseong at Janganmun Gate, a jar-shaped defensive wall designed to trap enemy soldiers
• Spot Korean War bullet and cannonball marks still visible in Janganmun's brickwork
• Visit Banghwasuryujeong Pavilion, overlooking Yongyeon Pond where locals once believed a dragon lived
• Try your luck at a Korean claw machine arcade in the fortress's trendiest neighbourhood
• Stop at a Korean convenience store and pick up banana milk – a local post-bathhouse tradition
• Learn how the detailed construction records of Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe made restoration possible

Finish the evening at Suwon's famous Chicken Street, just below Paldalmun Gate, where cast-iron cauldrons have been frying whole chickens since the 1970s.