Seoul really comes to life at night, the streets are packed with people, locals and tourists alike, out shopping, eating and drinking. Most of the shopping centers and markets are open until 5am, it really is a night city, but there are some nice quiet areas to escape it all at night.
Cheonggye stream which runs from the Dongdaemun shopping area in the North of the city down towards the financial and political districts in the center of town is a good spot for a stroll of an evening and is very popular with couples. At night the stream is lit up, it has some light and sounds shows and its worth wandering along to get a decent night view of down town Seoul whilst avoiding traffic at street level. At the end of the stream is a rather odd shaped sculpture named “spring” which looks a bit like an icecream. Just a few blocks away on either side you get to see ancient belfries and palace grounds sitting in amongst the modern buildings. It easy to spend a few hours just walking around, taking in the stark architectural contrasts and seeing what you find.
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Mixture of light and color in a fantastic city.
Warm greetings
Wow miniskirt when it`s minus 10 or less! Impressed with Korean women.
Damon
More great night shots.
Paule
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Damon, the ladies here wear less in the winter than women in Japan wear in the summer, The mind boggles as to the summer wear…
Here image is big, not just clothes but faces and bodies, most women have surgery of some sort, eyes, nose, jaw line and boobs seem to be the standard ones. A girl I know here got a boob job ad a gift for her 21st birthday from her dad. Can’t imagine that happening back in Scotland.
Nice shots Will! I was here last year during the Spring. It definitely looks much different at night.
Had heard about the plastic surgery and experienced it myself when Korean women I knew here in Japan would disappear for a week or so to get their eyes done or their nose altered or some such thing. When I visited South Korea a few years ago I remember reading a magazine article about the worrying realization many Koreans were having about the fact that all the people were starting to look the same suddenly. And it`s true. The most amazing thing for me was the Clive James TV selection of strange behavior impression that many people have of Japan is actually more true of Korea these days.
If you have the chance to visit Busan (Pusan) though, like Osaka in Japan you`ll find a rough edged reality to the people that is really refreshing. Seoul is just too centreless for me to get much of a handle on it though the life at street level is great and the food is spicy and unignorable. Your images, as always, however are beautiful and very full of feeling and give this large, messy city some hard to experience in person character. Good work.
Damon
Thanks for the comments everyone. Fil, if you do go back to Seoul I recommend the stream at night. Other than the palaces which are good to visit during the day, I really think Seoul comes to life at night.
Damon, I went to Busan for a few days last year. Really loved it down there, very rough and ready people, quite different from Seoul. Some great temples down there and I loved the biggest fish market in South Korea they have down there. This time just in Seoul and visiting family in Wonju.
Incredible shots! That stream looks like something quite special. All the lights and design makes me think people would want to spend a lot of time walking around. really nice work