Semiwon, a garden at Dumulmeori in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, began the "Semiwon Lotus Culture Festival" on June 26. The event runs through August, and its stage is the pond at the waterside where the Namhan River and the Bukhan River mingle.
A lotus leaf is broader than an adult's face. Water that falls on it cannot soak in, rolls about and slides toward whichever way the leaf tilts.
Lotuses spread their petals around sunrise and fold them again by midday. That is why the same pond wears an entirely different face in the morning and in the afternoon. As summer deepens, seed pods holding seeds outnumber the buds, so the scene in July and the scene in August differ from each other.
The name Semiwon comes from an old line about washing the mind by looking at water and making the mind beautiful by looking at flowers. The nature of the lotus, which pushes up a clear flower even with its roots set in muddy ground, matches that line. That is also why the garden places water at its center and flowers alongside it.
Lotuses draw in nutrients from the water and clear the water quality. But the summer when people crowd in to see the purifying flowers lays another burden on that water. Keeping the water that must be protected and the flowers that must be shown inside one fence has to be worked out anew each year.
Dumulmeori was long a land of ferry landings and farmland, and now it is a waterside for people walking along the river. The culture festival of one summer season is the most recent layer laid over that change.
There is not much shade around the pond. The early morning, closer to the opening hour than to midday noon, is better for the flowers and for those walking. Operating hours, fees and whether reservations are required are best checked through Semiwon's own notices.
A little more than two months of summer remain, but the time of a single flower is short. Visit the same pond twice and the same scene will not appear.
Event Information
Date: June 26, 2026 - August
Venue: Semiwon, Dumulmeori, Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province
