By Honorary Reporter Jadiene Shani Teng from Philippines

Photos = Jadiene Shani Teng

The hit K-drama "Crash Landing on You" that ran from December 2019 to February 2020 was immensely popular worldwide, especially in my home country of the Philippines. 

My family got hooked on this series after first watching it three years ago, so we got excited to visit the locations in Switzerland shown in the production. From April 22-23, we went to the country to see where the show was filmed.

Our first destination was Jungfraujoch, the most elevated accessible point of Europe, and on a cable car, we got an aerial view of the village Grindelwald in the Bernese Alps, two places  that appeared in the series' final episode. Coming from a tropical weather country, we felt that the weather here also reminded us of Korea.

This small platform in the small village of Isetwald is where Capt. Ri's memorable piano scene was shot, making this village a popular tourist spot.

Afterwards, we rode a bus and later set sail on a boat on Lake Brienz, getting off in Isetwald, a quaint village in the Bernese Oberland region featured multiple times in the K-drama. Just a few steps from the port is a small platform where Capt. Ri Jeong-hyeok's memorable piano scene was shot. Many tourists formed a long line to take a photo on the platform where he stood, with some of them snapping shots from every angle. 

While patiently waiting in line for our turn, I realized the tremendous impact of K-dramas on global tourism and how one series turned a mere platform in a small village near the Swiss Alps into a tourist destination for visitors not just from the Philippines but also from Korea, India, China and other countries.

Lake Lungern and vicinity also appear in the K-drama as this sign says.

Since our guide knew that we were fans of this drama, we had a brief stop at Lake Lungern, the neighborhood of the house in the series' final scene. A sign even mentions the area's appearance in the drama, which added to our excitement of being where the two protagonists were. 

Our guide said many tourists visited this area just because of the K-drama, attesting to the global power of Hallyu. 

My sister and my cousin recreate a photo of Ri Jeong-hyeok and Yoon Se-ri, something many visitors do at the park Lindenhof in Zurich, Switzerland.

During our walking tour, we also ventured a few blocks away to Lindenhof, a park overlooking the old town of Zurich. The view of the Protestant church Grossmunster was used as a backdrop in the drama's opening sequence and promotional photos. I saved a photo of this place on my phone, and even people not in our tour group asked to take a look and try to recreate the shot. 

A scene showing Yoon Se-ri finding Capt. Ri was also shot here. We had a different tour guide for Zurich, but both said the K-drama made Switzerland more popular with tourists who wanted to see the sites they saw in the series.

Visiting these places in Switzerland allowed us to relive the magic of watching "Crash Landing

on You" a few years ago, showing the power of K-dramas to connect people around the  world and boosting tourism not just in Korea but in other countries like Switzerland.

msjeon22@korea.kr

*This article was written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.