Tancheon
Korean name
Hangul	탄천
Hanja	炭川
Revised Romanization	Tancheon
McCune–Reischauer	T'anch'ŏn

Tancheon (Korean: 탄천) is a stream in Gyeonggi Province and Seoul, South Korea. The stream is a tributary of the Han River. It begins in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, flows through Seongnam, and eventually into the Han. It has a total length of 35.6 kilometres.

The area also serves as a large park, and there are paths for both walkers and cyclists on each bank with occasional foot bridges joining the two sides in addition to the bridges built for vehicle traffic. Along the paths there are many benches as well as exercise equipment. The whole area is extremely popular among local residents.

The stream empties into the Han River by the Olympic Stadium in Seoul.

Names

The stream has been known by many other names, such as Geomcheon (검천, 儉川), Heomcheon (험천, 險川), Meonae (머내), Cheonhocheon (천호천, 穿呼川), and Jancheon (잔천, 鵲川). The word Tancheon (탄천, 炭川) itself is composed of the Chinese characters for charcoal and stream, so a direct translation would be Charcoal Stream. In pure Korean it would be pronounced Sunnae (숯내 or 순내).

Water parks

Along the approximately 25-kilometre stretch of the Tancheon that passes through Seongnam, there are five water parks open to the public.^[1] They are free of charge and popular with families with young children. The Tancheon water parks (탄천 물놀이장) are open every year from July 1 to August 31, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. At the parks there are changing rooms available as well as many chairs and picnic tables. They can be found at:

• Yatap-dong, in front of Manna Church (만나 교회앞)
• Jeongja-dong, in front of Singi Elementary School (신기 초등학교앞)
• Geumgok-dong, in front of Bulgok Middle School (불곡 중학교앞)
• Imae-dong, by the Unjung Stream footpath (운중천)
• Behind the Bundang district office (분당구청뒤)

Photographs

These photographs are in order from south to north, i.e. from source to mouth.

• 
  Looking north from near Bojeong, Yongin
• 
  In Jukjeon, Yongin
• 
  The Pungdeokcheon joins the Tancheon from the south-west (right of photo) in Jukjeon, Yongin
• 
  Under National Road 43 to Gwangju in Jukjeon, Yongin
• 
  An artificial island in Jukjeon, Yongin
• 
  Looking north from Bundang's Seoul University Hospital
• 
  Looking north from near Taepyeong, Seongnam
• 
  Entering Seoul from Seongnam
• 
  Looking south from the bridge near Suseo, Seoul

See also

• Rivers of Korea
• Geography of South Korea

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Tancheon (category)

37°31′N 127°04′E / 37.517°N 127.067°E / 37.517; 127.067