Cheonggyecheon Stream

Cheonggyecheon ran through the old city, was covered over in the 1950s and 60s as Seoul industrialised, and by the 1970s carried an elevated motorway on top of the culvert. In 2003 the city tore both down. The stream that reopened in 2005 runs about eleven kilometres from near Gwanghwamun eastwards, sunk below street level with walkways on both banks, twenty-odd bridges over it, planting, stepping stones and a wall of tiles at the start. The water is pumped: the natural flow was not sufficient, so it is supplied from the Han and from groundwater, which critics point out and the city does not deny. The effect on the district is real all the same - the corridor is several degrees cooler than the streets above in summer, and it is used constantly, by office workers at lunch and by families in the evening. It is free, lit at night, and the lantern festival is held along it in autumn.

What you actually see

• The sunken walkway - eleven kilometres below street level.
• The bridges overhead - twenty-odd crossings, each different.
• The evening lighting - the corridor lit and busy after dark.
• The cooling effect - noticeably cooler than the street in summer.

When to go

April to June and September to November; evenings in summer, when the temperature difference is the point. The lantern festival runs in autumn.

Honest expectations

The water is pumped in, not natural flow. It is a landscaped corridor in a city centre, not a wild stream. Sections close in heavy rain when the level rises.

Nearby

Gwanghwamun, Jongno, Gwangjang market and Dongdaemun all sit along its length.