By One of the quitisential landmarks of any combat arms soldier serving in the 2nd Infantry Division and a subject of much debate on how it got there is the Chinaman or Chinese Tunnel in northern Kyeongi-do:
The tunnel is located between the old Camp St. Barbara area and the Korea Training Center along an old dirt road that was once incredibly Highway 37. The dirt road snakes along the side of some steep hills before passing through a steep cliff face where the Chinese Tunnel is located:
This tunnel was used for years as the main route for all US military equipment traveling through the area. Fortunately now there is a sturdy, modern highway bridge that passes across the river thus avoiding the need to the use bridge for most US military equipment:
However up to this decade heavy track equipment was required to continue to use the tunnel instead of the bridge due to the weight restrictions of the bridge.
This is the view before entering the tunnel looking down the Hantan River towards the west:
The Hantan River may look shallow in this picture but I have seen this river in the rainy season nearly reached the top of the modern highway bridge pictured above.
Here is how the tunnel looked back in the early 1960’s:
The road from this vantage point looks nearly the same today other then the guard rail that has been constructed. Nothing over the years has changed with the interior of the tunnel as well:
Having passed through this tunnel more times then I can remember in a Bradley going to gunnery at the Korea Training Center; I can say from experience that this tunnel is just high enough for the Bradley to pass through and I could actually touch the top of the tunnel with my fingers from the top of the Bradley.
Here is what the entrance of the tunnel looks like from the west side:
I have heard this tunnel called both the Chinaman Tunnel and the Chinese Tunnel and along with the multiple names, I have also heard multiple explanations on how this tunnel received it name. Here is the list of the various reasons I have heard over the years:
- The Chinese Army was trapped during the Korean War and dug the tunnel to escape.
- The Chinese dug the tunnel when the bridge across the Hantan River was destroyed during the war.
- The Japanese used Chinese laborers during the colonial period to dig the tunnel.
- That it was not made by the Chinese but in fact was made by Koreans before the war but was mislabeled the Chinese Tunnel by GI’s during the war.
I have no idea which story is correct and I have Googled around trying to find information substantiating who built the tunnel but have never been able to find out.
Anyway here is something old 2ID veterans will not recognize on the west side of the tunnel:
The tall building is a hotel that was built along this dirt road well off of the main Highway 37 for some reason. Here is what the dirt road that passes through the tunnel and past the hotel looks like:
Next to the hotel there is actually a small bridge that a few years ago I was in a convoy when a M1 Abrams tank fell off the side of the bridge and into a ditch. Fortunately no one was seriously injured in the accident. Besides the hotel there is only a few scattered farms located along the long dirt road such as this ginseng farm:
Here is a Google Earth image of the dirt road looking East up the Hantan River valley:
On the East side, the dirt road ends at an intersection, which going straight leads to the old Camp St. Barbara area and taking a left goes across an old bridge that links to the new Highway 37:
The bridge looks old and rickety but it is actually sturdy enough to support heavy tracked vehicles:
Here is the intersection I mentioned earlier leading to Camp St. Barbara area:
If you know more about the history of the Chinese Tunnel and how it got its name feel free to leave a comment in the comment section below because I would really like to know what the actual reason is on how this tunnel received its name.
7:30 pm on December 1st, 2008 1
GI,
Thanks for Pics….I remember that tunnel very well…..not to mention that bumpy ass road that
lead to it. If you were NOT in full battle rattle, yo ass was going to the Hospital.
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8:15 pm on December 1st, 2008 2
During my 1st tour in Korea in 60-61 I was a truck driver. I drove between Cp Casey and Cp Kaiser several times a week doing through the tunnel. It was SOP to blow your horn just before entering it, so someone coming from the other way would know to stop. I really enjoyed driving in that area. Going east through the tunnel, then turning left just before the KTC would take you up to Cp Kaiser the back way. This area has some great scenery. A part of the back road to Kaiser went through a area called Greek Valley. I never could find out why it was called that.
Here is a picture of the rear gate into Kaiser that the road leads to.
[img]http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/kaiser-reargate.jpg[/img]
Cp Kaiser was located next to a small village called Unchon-ni, but is called Uncheon now.
Here is a link to the old Cp Kaiser
http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/ckaiser.htm
And Cp St Barbara that is very close to the east end of the tunnel.
http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/stbarbara.htm
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8:17 pm on December 1st, 2008 3
I forgot, I was at Cp St Barbara on my 2nd tour in 69-70.
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1:33 pm on December 2nd, 2008 4
As a BSFV driver in ‘92, it only took me once to learn that if you’re following an M1, let him get through before you follow.
Also, that love motel on the west side is where Korean men take their mistresses and prostitutes so that they are more secluded and discreet in their affairs.
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2:23 pm on December 2nd, 2008 5
I can ask a friend who is the Pocheon vice mayor for more info. His family settled in the area in 1953 and owns a bunch of land on the south side of the river just across from the tunnel. When his family settled there in the 50’s, land could be had for practically nothing.
See: http://kts123.co.kr/ for info and contacts on my friend. He is also head of Pocheon county’s SF association, and is a good man to know. His brother Tae-Il runs a BBQ place on the west side of the road just before you hit the “38 Seon” rest stop on highway 43. Feel free to drop in for a dose of militant pro-Americanism.
When I went back to Korea for the first time in nearly 20 years, just last year, the vice-mayor’s brother and I took a 4-wheel drive all around my old stomping grounds. I was in shock at how things had been built up. Bridges everywhere, and Jeongog, north of Casey, was a veritable metropolis. Paved roads everywhere, and we took one all the way to the top of Kamaksan (Hill 675). That was a treat, as that road (and the one going up 754 near Casey) were the maximum test of any driver’s off-road skills.
I guess with all of the sunshine breaking out, the ROKG felt comfortable letting people build, and put in a lot of infrastructure to support it. Back in the day, everything north of Casey was ‘tactical’.
If I had not retained a lot of terrain association, I’d have gotten lost on several stretches I used to drive daily.
My friends in Pocheon were quite adamant that the previous administration didn’t really understand what was likely to happen in the case of even a peaceful reunification, in terms of having swarms of NORK’s come down and steal everything that wasn’t nailed down….
I was also really surprised at how Sanjang lake has been built up into a tourist Mecca.
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3:32 pm on December 2nd, 2008 6
This is a story about the tunnel that was in the Stars and Strips around 1970. What the real story is still in question.
http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/tunnelarticle.jpg
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8:21 am on December 3rd, 2008 7
Bob I will have to drop into the BBQ restaurant the next time I am in in the area. Yes if that was your first time in the area in 20 years then the changes must have been a shock.
Bruce, great link with the S&S article that repeats one of the stories I heard that tunnel was constructed during the Japanese colonial period.
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12:59 pm on December 3rd, 2008 8
The other weird things for me on that visit:
All of the foreign guest workers on the farms. Kang Taeseon told me that nowadays Korean farmers don’t want to have to pick up anything heavier than money. And a big banner across Highway 43, advertising a matchmaking service to hook guys up with Vietnamese women (“They don’t run away!”).
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5:05 pm on December 3rd, 2008 9
I drove through the tunnel in 2006 on a hiking trip I did up in that area with some of my KATUSAs and had them ask at the hotel how the tunnel got built. The “official” explanation from the hotel employees is that it was done by the Japanese, per the S&S article you had a link to above. This is a nice area now that it’s being developed more and the people are really nice.
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6:25 pm on December 3rd, 2008 10
A Katusa told me that the restaurant at the junction of old 37 and new 37 on the Camp St Barbara side serves dog. Don’t know if that’s true or not. I was stuck at the training area in 1996 after a very heavy storm closed the road because that Hantan had flooded. After a few days they allowed the 113 series vehicles to convoy out using the bridges. Not sure why we didn’t just all go back to Casey via Chorwon East. So, yeah, the Hantan will rise. The first day of the flood we couldn’t even walk across the small vehicle bridge at the training area from the tentage area to the motorpool because the pedestrian bridge had let go and been swept away.
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7:25 pm on December 3rd, 2008 11
For you guys that were in this area in the early years, I am sure you will enjoy looking at my Camp St Barbara web page. It has pictures of the area from the 50s up through this year. It has pictures of the Camp, the Village, the roads, even have recent pictures of the Village, the road and towns from Munson, old Munson-ni, across 37 to where it meets 43. Hundreds of pictures.
http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/stbarbara.htm
I also have many of Camp Kaiser
http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/ckaiser.htm
I have some recent ones of Unchoen, old Unchon-ni, and a few of the Camp, but would love to add more if anyone has any.
Beautiful Area
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9:45 am on December 5th, 2008 12
Bruce, nice pictures. I have recent pictures of the Camp Barbara area as well I will get posted soon.
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5:16 pm on December 5th, 2008 13
I am looking forward to seeing them. I hope you can email me full size copies that I can put on my web page, with credits of course.
I would love to walk that back road from St. Barbara to Kaiser again. Some great scenery!
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1:20 pm on December 10th, 2008 14
[...] finishing my tour along the old stretch of Highway 37 that runs through the Chinese Tunnel, I then proceeded down the road to check out the old Camp St. Barbara [...]
4:53 pm on November 18th, 2009 15
I passed through the tunnel many times in ‘75-’76. We (1st Bn. 9th Inf) were at Camp Hovey and did frequent training and mortar gunnery at Nightmare range. I just happened to stumble on this page and discussion as was fascinated with the history of the tunnel. At least in our unit and at that time we called it the Chinese Tunnel. Thanks for the information. It was fun remembering those days.
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