From SBS TV:
Chinese people occupy Ewha Womans University, taking wedding pictures without permission
[News Anchor] Chinese Labor Day has started. It is expected about 100,000 Chinese people will visit Korea from the 27th for nine days, and Ewha Womans University is becoming a popular spot for Chinese tourists to visit. They want not only to shop around the school but to also take pictures on the Ewha Womans University campus.
[Reporter] The public parking lot in front of the Shinchon Station in Seoul is packed with tourist buses. All the tourists are from China. As they are getting off the buses, the Ewha Womans University area is occupied by Chinese people. It has become necessary for clothing stores and cosmetic stores to have signs written in the Chinese language and to hire workers who can speak Chinese.
“Hello. This is an aloe facial pack.”
Jang Jae-won/a clerk at a cosmetics store: “(Do you see many Chinese people?) About 60 percent. (Out of all visitors?) Yes.”
However, the students at Ewha Womans University are not happy about these Chinese tourists. Two women stepping out of the school’s library are not Ewha Womans University’s students. They are Chinese tourists. This time, male tourists are stopped. They are taking a picture of the library without any hesitation. The “No Trespassing” sign is disregarded.
Yoo Tae-young/Ewha Womans University student: “They come inside of the library and take a picture of the students studying. And they talk too loudly…”
The Chinese groom and bribe with tuxedo and dress are getting kicked out of the campus. They were caught taking wedding photos without getting permission.
Ewha Womans University janitor: It’s impossible to count… they are too many (Chinese tourists). When the school gets a report from the students, we kick them out right away.]
Why are Chinese tourists so obsessed with Ewha Womans University? When you pronounce the word Ewha in Chinese, it becomes leewha, which sounds similar to leepa, and leepa means ‘Something brings you a benefit’ in Chinese. In addition, the Chinese character Ewha means purity as well.
Wang Chunwe/a Chinese tourist: “In China, the word ‘Ewha’ has a meaning of wealth and light.”
Therefore, there is an ongoing rumor that taking a picture on campus of Ewha Womans University makes you rich among Chinese people. Thanks to the rumor, the stores around the school are enjoying some benefits, but the school itself is struggling with the tourists.
Comments From Nate:
umji****:
The tuition of this school is super expensive. Shouldn’t it increase the number of guards? As for the Chinese tourists, they shouldn’t bother student by entering where they are studying. They were even trying to take wedding pictures on campus. That’s too much.
dlwk****:
I can’t find any common sense in these people no matter how hard I try. I’m upset even though I’m not a Ewha student. I can’t imagine how frustrated they must be. Of course, if they were logical people in the first place, they wouldn’t do that.
jyre****:
And I thought Chinese couldn’t do anything dumber.
suhu****:
Try to visit the American East Coast universities.. like Harvard or M.I.T. Korean tourists are no better than Chinese people.
rudt****:
Chinese people make super loud noise in public places. Ji-ral in the library. Tsk tsk. Where is their gae-nyeom?
g789****:
The thing I hate the most is that I don’t care if they take a picture of themselves or not, but there are many tourists taking pictures of students. I just want them to not take pictures of students. ㅠㅠ
smfw****:
To those who comment like “What if they were white? Would you have blamed them? You guys blame them because they are Chinese.” I’m worried about your mentality. I’m a current Ewha Womans University’s student. The problem is not whether tourists are Chinese or European, but the fact that these people are infringing student’s rights by intruding on the school where students are learning. The libraries are usually so quiet that students don’t even want to make breathing sounds, and tourists show up and making a noise by taking pictures without thinking to get permission from students. The school, which should be the place for students, is crowded with tourists taking wedding pictures and pictures for online shopping mall. The even don’t get the school’s permission. Do you think this is a normal scene for an educational institution? I think it is legitimate for student to raise the issue of this.
psb1****:
It seems like it’s a fault of Korean tourism agencies that include the school as a tourist attraction.
sams****:
Just spend tons of money and leave.
jung****:
Once I visited Ewha because my friend studies there, and I saw people taking wedding pictures! kekeke My friend hates it.
shac****:
Can they just be quiet when they are on campus?
zsda****:
When you go to Jeju Island, the ones who make the loudest noise and bother other people are Chinese ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Their voices are super loud ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
meyo****:
Please kick jang-gae and Chosun-jok out of our country.
thel****:
Totally right. It’s super frustrating. The upper gate of ECC checks for student IDs, but the gate in basement level four doesn’t check for student IDs, so people can enter freely and walk around. They make noise in Chinese while we are studying, and take pictures. Makes me so upset
yhs2****:
Ewha deserves it. They did the performance degrading the army and forced the government to abolish veterans’ extra point system.
