South Korea’s Ewha Womans University in Seoul is quietly becoming a tourist attraction by Chinese visitors because of the university’s name.
Each day, as many as 70 bus loads of Chinese tourists visit the nation’s most prestigious women’s university. These tourists, most females, take pictures in front of the school’s main entrance, believing that doing so will bring them financial luck.
The school’s name is read as “Li hua” in Chinese language. “Li” is the same pronunciation in Chinese indicating “profit.” And “hua” is similar to the Chinese pronunciation of “fa,” which means to “earn money.”
Chinese people are very attuned to the names that are supposed to bring them luck.
“There is a belief among Chinese tourists that if you take a photo in front of the university’s gate or walk around near the university, it will bring you luck,” a tourism official told the local Chosun Ilbo newspaper, adding the belief is attracting a great number of Chinese tourists from the mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to this all-girls’ college.
“The Chinese people are also well informed that many Ewha graduates have become the wifes of high-ranking officials in Korea,” he added.
A Chinese female tourist, who was approached by a reporter while she was strolling around the campus said: “My guide told me that the graduates of this school are sought after by men for marriage. I am trying to collect the energy of the school and deliver it to my daughter back in China who wants to find a good husband.”
Since last year, there has been another rumor circulating among the Chinese tourists. That is, a woman who takes a photo in front of the school’s main entrance will give birth to a smart baby. Ewha is the nation’s top women’s college, comparable to Wellesley College in the United States.