Manseok Park (Suwon)

Manseok Park in Songjuk-dong, Jangan-gu, Suwon, is a neighbourhood park around a broad lake called Manseokgeo. The lake, though, is a reservoir that King Jeongjo had built in 1795, while Suwon Hwaseong Fortress was going up. Nearly 230 years later it still holds water, and in 2017 the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) listed it as a World Heritage Irrigation Structure.

A reservoir born of drought

When severe drought struck in 1794, Jeongjo paused work on Hwaseong and drew up relief measures. One of them was to dig a reservoir on wasteland north of Janganmun Gate, both to help farmers and to raise revenue for running the new fortress city. Manseokgeo was fitted with sluices and water gates that were state of the art for the time, and its water irrigated a large state farm, Daeyudun (the "northern farm"). The name, meaning roughly "ten-thousand-sack channel", is said to come from the extra 10,000 sacks of rice it made possible.

Jeongjo placed reservoirs on all four sides of Hwaseong: Manseokgeo to the north, Mannyeonje to the south in front of his father's tomb in 1798, and Chukmanje (Seoho) to the west in 1799. The eastern one has left no trace. Manseokgeo's embankment is 387 metres long and 4.8 metres high; its recorded water surface is 24.7 hectares, with an average depth of 1.8 metres.

Lotus island, pavilion and a lost name

In Jeongjo's time a small island was built in the middle of the lake and planted with flowers and trees, and lotus was grown on the water. On a rise at the southern end stood Yeonghwajeong, a pavilion overlooking the reservoir. The autumn view of ripened rice fields rippling like gold around the lake, known as "Seokgeo Hwangun" (golden clouds over the stone channel), was counted among the Eight Autumn Views of Suwon.

When Ilhyeong-myeon and Uiwang-myeon were merged into Ilwang-myeon in 1936, the reservoir came to be called "Ilwang Reservoir" for decades. It only officially regained the name Manseokgeo in 2020. Sources differ on whether the park was created in 1997 or 1998; part of the reservoir was filled in at the time, so it is smaller than it once was.

What to see

• Lakeside paths: a path loops around the lake, with a pine-shaded stretch as well. Even at a slow pace a full circuit takes less than an hour.
• Lotus leaves and reeds: in summer lotus leaves blanket one side of the lake and reeds line the shore. From the decks you can watch shoals of carp below.
• Sunsets: evenings are especially good, with the sun going down over the western side of the lake.
• Facilities: a fountain, a multi-purpose sports ground and tennis courts make the park a favourite with local residents.

Tripto tips

• Admission and time: it is an open park with no admission fee. 40 minutes to 90 minutes is enough for a walk.
• When to go: July and August, when the lotus is lush, or autumn evenings for the sunset.
• Getting there: the park is about 1.8 km north-west of Janganmun, the north gate of Hwaseong Fortress, a 25–30 minute walk, so it follows on well from a walk along the fortress wall. There is a public car park next to the park.
• Combine with: pair it with Chukmanje (Seoho) to the west to get a feel for the reservoir network Jeongjo built around Hwaseong.