Seoul-searching in Dongdaemun

In other news, I went to this place called Dongdaemun (Heunginjimun)...twice.

Apparently it has the largest shopping district in Jongno-gu, Seoul. It also has many historical attractions, including the Great Eastern Gate, a.k.a. Dongdaemun (동대문) a.k.a. 東大門. Most importantly, it has GREAT street food!

Dongdaemun, outside of the Subway Station Gate 3

The Great Eastern Gate

The first time I went to Dongdaemun, I was with my Housetay-mates (and fellow SNU exchange students) Dan and Emily; the second time was with fellow UH Manoa student Julia. The first thing we saw after exiting the subway was a sidewalk full of street vendors, selling everything from cheap shoes to strawberries to rubberbands. Pretty much every non-food good sold on the streets were very cheap. I purchased a pair of running shoes for $10!

After walking straight for about 10 minutes, we encountered this place:

The Gates of KwangJang Market

KwangJang Market is one of the many traditional markets within Dongdaemun. The entrance that we took lead us to a food market, saturated with people, vendors, and the smell of Korean street food. Check it out:

Seafood Pot

Buchimgae

Different breeds of juk

The delicious street foods that were being sold include buchimgae, juk, pork rinds, chicken feet (so good!), sundae (ridiculously good), ddukbokki, and gimbap. During my second visit, Julia and I had three rounds of 'ono food: first was ddukbokki, gimbap, and kimchee buchimgae; second round was chicken feet and pork rinds; third round was some meat buchimgae-esque pancake-thing. Great eats.

Different things were sold in different parts of KwangJang Market. Each section had many stands and stores selling the exact same thing. Literally every ajumma in the food section was yelling, "Gimbap, Dukkbokki, Gimbaaaaaaap!"

The other sections of the market include the fabric section (which is right next to the clothing section), and the seafood market. Oh boy, Korean mini-mini-mini-Tsukiji market: 

I would eat it all...including the stingrays...

There were other traditional markets besides KwangJang Market; one of them being Chungbu Market. This market's product of choice is dried seafood. They had every dried seafood conceivably possible for sale, from dried squid to dried octopus to dried seaweed to dried fish (of many species) and dried Loch Ness Monster. Basically, the whole place smelled bad. Good times.

Dongdaemun not only has traditional markets, but also retail stores and department stores. The two I've been to are Maxtyle and Doosan Tower:

Maxtyle Department Store

Many retailers had small booths/slots and sold their goods, mostly clothes and accessories. Interestingly and annoyingly, every time my friends and I checked out a piece of clothing, the booth/slot owner would immediately come up to us, stood 2 inches away from us (as in they're literally breathing on our necks) and watch us check their clothes out. They also force you to try on their clothes. It made me feel really uncomfortable, as I wasn't able to take my time to sift through their one-size-fits-all (not joking) clothing.

Doosan Tower

Overall, Dongdaemun is a very interesting place. It has both traditional markets and modern stores; both selling cheap products that look good. It also has historical sites, including the Great Eastern Gate. Thus, you would be able to experience Korea's heritage, street food, modern shopping, and street food (yes, I say it twice because it was that good), all in the same district. As service, here are some pictures of horrible Korean-style parking, rooftop view of the department store section, and the day & night view of Chyeonggye Stream in Dongdaemun:

That's a ticket...

and another ticket...

On the roof of Maxtyle

Cheonggye Stream, Dongdaemun