Dongdaenum

I spent the afternoon exploring Dongdaemun. As soon as I stepped out of the subway I was smack in front of the Dongdaemun Gate. This is one of the four major gates of Seoul's old city walls. It was originally built in 1398 and then rebuilt in 1869.




Upclose you can see the intracate painting underneath the eaves.

This is the back side of the gate.

Of course this area happens to also be the largest shopping district in Seoul. I spent several hours here and only got through one department store called Doota. It was really interesting to see the Korean designers and also what they stock from other areas around the world. Prices of Korean products are reasonable - things imported from the US, not so much. Their department stores are set up with stores within stores, so brands have their own "store" and then there are stores that stock a variety of labels. They carry everything from Hermes, Cartier and Gucci all the way down to Sketchers and something that's their version of Abercrombie & Fitch. I will definitely be going back to explore the rest of this area. Interesting read on this dong...

http://english.seoul.go.kr/cav/att/dong.php