Home > Course The City of Chuncheon, once the capital of the old country Maek, is located at the joining point of the upper stream o f the Han river and the Soyang river, and also surrounded by lakes on three sides, thus boasting of the naturally beauti ful landscapes. Furthermore, with the population of 185,000, Chuncheon is the seat of Kangwon provincial office, functioning as a provincial center of administration, education and culture. Chuncheon is a typical educational city which has more than 70,000 students in elementary, middle, and high schools pl us two colleges and two universities. As a tourist resort close to the captical city of Seoul, Chuncheon is surroundedw ith Mt. Samak, Mt. Yonghwa and Mt. Obong, etc., and dams such as Soyang dam made of sands and pebbles, the largest in it s kind in Asia, Uiam dam and Chuncheon dam. People can enjoy yachting, boating, canoeing and fishing in the lakes, and l ocal foods like Makguksu(noodle), Takkalbi(seasoned chicken-slice with vegetable), mandarin fish hot chowder, and sliced raw fish made of frout and Israel carp. Also preserved in Chuncheon are quite precious cultural relics that give hints on how ancient Korea used to be through out its long history, offering various historical lessons to the descendents. Located at Samchon-dong, the National Sec urity Hall of Kangwon Province is equipped with various data and installations including the War Monument of Chuncheon di strict, the Monument for Ethiopian Troop's Participation in the Korean War, etc., and therefore it is widely used as ant i-communist educational field. The Soyang Festival, which features many of regional traditions is a cultural event in this area. At this festival, which will be held with the opening of the Chuncheon International Marathon, many programs related to folklore sports, ar t and literature, etc. are performed colorfully.