Business is booming at the indoor pool of Changgwangwon Health Complex, one of Pyongyang leading rest and relaxation facilities, as it becomes a refuge for the city’s residents amid the extended heatwave that has gripped the country. Business is so good, that tickets for the pool for August sold out early.
“As the heatwave continues, more people are heading to indoor pools rather than outdoor waterparks, and the indoor pool of Changgwangwon Health Complex’s popularity is through the roof,” a Daily NK source in Pyongyang said last Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “In response, Changgwangwon Health Complex plans to keep its indoor pool open without any breaks in August.”
Pyongyang residents are searching for places to escape the heat of the city’s unprecedented heatwave. Changgwangwon Health Complex responded to booming demand by actively seeking out customers, posting notices on July 29 and 30 that the pool “will operate as normal throughout the month of August starting from Aug. 1, with no days off.”
“As soon as Changgwangwon Health Complex announced that it would stay open for the month, rumors went around and people living near the complex in Jung District and Pyongchon District and people with connections to the complex scrambled to buy up tickets,” the source said.
As the number of Pyongyangites looking to use the cool, pleasant indoor pool of Changgwangwon Health Complex spiked, general tickets for the pool began selling like hotcakes. By early August, they were sold out, the source added.
In past years, Changgwangwon Health Complex had taken one day a week off in August to maintain and inspect the indoor pool’s facilities. This year, however, the complex’s management is ensuring that the place is firing on all cylinders by bolstering its weekday operations team and nighttime facility repair team.
“General ticket holders can use the pool for up to two hours,” the source said. “Changgwangwon Health Complex has specific times for when individual guests must enter and leave in accordance with its time limit regulations, so it makes sure there are no mistakes in usage.”
The pool is so popular that people are being turned away
Some university students from Pyongsong, South Pyongan Province who visited Pyongyang on a field trip on Sunday were forced to visit an outdoor water park when they could not buy tickets for the indoor pool of Changgwangwon Health Complex, the source said.
“When the provincial university students, who came to fulfill educational policy calling for field trips to Pyongyang during the summer vacation, could not visit the indoor pool of Changgwangwon Health Complex, they were disappointed, saying it was a shame they couldn’t go there because both Munsu Water Park and Changgwangwon Health Complex are fun, just as the Pyongyang naengmyon at both Okryugwan and Chongryukwan restaurants are delicious.”
Several of the students also responded with envy mixed with sarcasm, saying “the site of people spending money to enjoy the summer, despite being unable to eat or make a living, was positively Pyongyangite-esque.”
Meanwhile, with sales soaring during the peak season, employees at Changgwangwon Health Complex feel quite encouraged, the source said.
“Staff at the Changgwangwon Health Complex were surprised, saying they think it’s the first time they’ve sold out an entire month’s worth of tickets for the pool at the start of the month. In fact, Changgwangwon Health Complex had received criticism for failing to achieve sales plans for the first half of the year, but employees believe this opportunity will allow them to make up for the slow first half and even exceed plans for the second half of the year.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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