Dongdaemun Gate & Market

Dongdaemun (Seoul's East Gate)

We ventured out in search of classic movie DVDs today--so we wandered over to the Dongdaemun Market. This market is well-known for its clothing and fashion wares but we weren't really in the market for clothing--just classic movies with Korean subtitles. :D We perused the aisles within the 'stadium' for a bit but no luck in the DVD arena--I presume this stadium was built for the 1988 Summer Olympics perhaps for 'football' or one of the other 'field sport' competitions? No DVD salesman--anywhere! Instead we happen upon 'antique' dealers whose wares 'pique' our curiosity and a bunch of other vendors we'd rather forget about. Most items seem a bit 'over-priced' with no proof of 'true' antiquity--many pieces strike me as being fairly new objects--damaged intentionally to make them feel like lost heirlooms. Who knows? Perhaps, we'll learn the truth on our upcoming trip to China in a few weeks.

Dongdaemun Gate is about a block away from this stadium. It's another gorgeous city gate that somehow has managed to survive the 'future' that has built up around its midst. In fact, this gate has become a traffic circle! Seoul--the mighty fortress of a town was once encircled with a large wall, guarded by four gates at each 'compass' point. During this particular trip to Seoul we've already visited two of the four gates--we'll attempt to visit all four if possible!