Tour

Living Seoul

By Craille Maguire Gillies

Discovering a tech capital’s creative side.

In the movies, they call it a reversal – when the plot defies expectations, resulting in a disjointed but more rewarding story. If Seoul were a movie, it would be one long reversal. Seoul is an ancient, sprawling city spliced together over centuries, decimated by a war that never officially ended and then rebuilt as a den for the alpha male of the Asian Tigers. After years of sitting on the cultural sidelines, it now competes with its neighbour, Tokyo, as a fashion, tech and culture trendsetter.

Despite the chaos, or perhaps because of it, Seoul is full of little charms: streets that veer off suddenly and lead to alleys dotted with cafés and boutiques. To make sense of Seoul, we’ve picked four must-see neighbourhoods, each exhibiting a distinct part of this complex city’s character. Our advice: Hire a cheap taxi (look for the ones marked “Free Interpretation Service”) and hit as many as you can.

Samcheong-dong
Filled with galleries, boutiques, and restaurants (waffle houses are still all the rage), this is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in a city where little has been preserved. Hip cafés such as the Present and Bookcafe create an atmosphere reminiscent of Paris’ Le Marais area, only instead of wine and croissants, sweet black bean shakes are the order of the day. Nearby are several small but notable galleries, including Gallery Hyundai.

After a few hours wandering the warren of streets, climb the steep steps running off the main street to visit Bukchon, a smattering of historic Hanok houses. You’d almost think you were in a pioneer village – if you overlook the odd Mini Cooper parked in a laneway. Afterward, walk west to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace and the adjacent National Folk Museum, which make for a worthwhile side trip.

Sinsa-dong
When we mentioned we wanted to visit tiny Garosugil, a pretty street lined with restaurants and fashion boutiques, the concierge at the sleek W Hotel cocked an eyebrow and asked, admiringly, how we knew about it. Turns out, Garosugil is still a local secret – the median age is about 27. Shops like People to People carry homegrown fashion you’ll see a season later on the streets of Toronto and Vancouver. The main gil (street) is crowded but laid-back, while a few streets deeper into Sinsa-dong, local hangouts get the night started at about 10. Down one lane there’s an atelier called I Am a Real Artist. A small sign describes it as a “Conceptual Place Working Here,” and a long vertical door handle says “Pull” on top and “Jesus” on the bottom.

Dongdaemun Market and Cheonggyecheon Stream
An expressway once covered the historic Cheonggyecheon Stream, but thanks to a $300-million restoration, the expressway has been demolished, the stream restored and a small but impressive museum built to track the change. Now Seoulites stroll the six-kilometre pathways by the stream during their lunch hours. On either side of the stream, the rambling 24-hour Dongdaemun Market, with 50,000 manufacturers and 26 malls, stretches for kilometres. Though disorienting, Dongdaemun is a more authentic experience than the touristy Namdaemun Market downtown. (According to a guide, boutiques in Tokyo’s fashionable Shinjuku district have their designs made here.) Start at the ornate Dongdaemun Gate, one of four historic gates around Seoul.

Itaewon
Itaewon’s diplomat contingent and accompanying wealth have not made it the swish enclave you’d expect. Discos and bars seem to be the primary attraction. (You can thank former American soldiers from the old Yongsan Garrison for that legacy.) However, it is home to two of the city’s key cultural addresses, so it’s worth a visit. The War Memorial of Korea has numerous interactive elements and a notable exhibit on Canada’s involvement in the Korean War.

Art lovers should not leave Seoul without visiting the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, if only to stand under Louise Bourgeois’ quirky, towering cast-bronze spider, Maman, on the terrace outside. Leeum’s architectural triumvirate – the building was designed in stages by Jean Nouvel, Mario Botta and Rem Koolhaas – is home to art by everyone from Lee Sang-beom to Francis Bacon. It’s at the base of Mount Namsan, where you can walk the trails or go straight to the top of the North Seoul Tower, which offers the best views of the city, a beautiful mashup of complex layers.

Useful information

I Am a Real Artist, #103 540 Myungho B/D Shinsadong Gangnamgu, 82-2-517-1858
The Present, 2nd floor, 61-1 Palpan-dong, Jongno-gu, 82-2-735-1797

(Writer and editor Craille Maguire Gillies honed her urban navigation skills as an editor at enRoute and now writes about travel, culture and the environment for both print and online publications.)

TOP IMAGE: KOK LENG YEO
HANOK HOUSE: TOURISM MARKETING DIVISION, SEOUL METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT
MARKET: D’N’C
MUSEUM: MARCO 2000