Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cherry blossoms in culture-rich Gyeongju
If you continue south from the main Insa-dong road, passing Tapgol Park on your right,
you'll soon hit the Cheonggyecheon, a restored waterway that runs over eight kilometers
through the city center. Follow it west and you'll soon see the massive (some would say gar-
ish) sculptured shell that marks its entrance from Sejong-daero, one of Seoul's main arteries
for centuries. Just north of this intersection is the Kyobo Building. An excellent bookstore
in the basement is stocked with material for Korean language learners, English-language
newspapers, and city event magazines such as
Seoul
; pick up a few to see what Seoul has to
offer in an average week. Since the store is popular with expatriates and English-speaking
locals, there's a fair chance you'll also end up meeting someone to discuss city life with.
From here you've got a couple of possible ways to explore Seoul's bustling retail scene.
If it's high-end boutiques and mammoth department stores you're after, head straight south
past the wavelike City Hall building to the Myeong-dong district, which heaves with shop-
pers until the late hours and has plenty of bars and restaurants to relax in when the credit
cards are (almost) maxed out. For a cheaper, more local, but also slightly more chaotic op-
tion, a short taxi or subway ride east to Dongdaemun Station will put you in the middle
of one of the city's largest markets, Dongdaemun, with the Gwangjang and Bangsan Mar-
kets also just blocks away. Dongdaemun Market focuses on clothes while the latter two
