In the past, there was a lot of sand by the Han River, and people swam in the water. “The Han River 1968,” a book by Kim Won at the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, vividly shows what the river was like before 1968 and how it has changed since then. Now the Han River is about 1 kilometer wide. Until the early 1960s, however, it was approximately 200-300 meters wide, and there were large sandy areas by the river. The British writer Isabella Bird Bishop, who explored the Han River in the late 19th century, described it as “the River of Golden Sand.” Nevertheless, because of the development of the river, the sand began to disappear in the 1970s. It was removed and used to reclaim many areas where the river had flown before, and apartment buildings were constructed there. Also, after the government built roads along the riverside from 1968 to 1970, it became difficult for people to walk to the river. In my high school days, I sometimes sneaked out of school and roamed by the Han River near my house. I took a walk near Banpo Bridge and looked at the water