Woryeonggyo Bridge

Woryeonggyo crosses the Nakdong at Andong in a long timber arc - about three hundred and eighty metres, the longest wooden footbridge in the country - with a small roofed pavilion at the midpoint. It was completed in 2003, so it is not historic, but the reason for its shape is: in 1998 a sixteenth-century tomb nearby was opened and found to contain a letter from a young widow to her dead husband, along with a pair of sandals she had woven from hemp and her own hair for his recovery. The letter is one of the most widely read pieces of vernacular Korean writing of its period, and the bridge takes its curve from those sandals. It is lit at night with a fountain, and locals walk it in the evening. Free, flat, and about twenty minutes to cross and return - it works as an evening stop rather than a destination in itself.

What you actually see

• The timber arc - three hundred and eighty metres of wooden deck.
• The mid-river pavilion - the roofed rest point at the centre.
• The night lighting - the bridge and fountain after dark.
• The letter's story - explained on panels at the bank.

When to go

April to June and September to November, in the evening for the lighting. It is exposed and hot in midsummer, cold and windy in winter.

Honest expectations

The bridge is modern - it is the story and the setting, not an old structure. Twenty minutes covers it. There is little else at the riverside besides cafes.

Nearby

Hahoe village is west; Imcheonggak and the Andong folk museum are in the city.