If there is one thing I wish I can take home from Seoul as a souvenir, it would be Cheonggyecheon! I would willingly pay for excess baggage if I can bring this stream back home. I sure could use a nice peaceful waterway right outside my office to lighten up my mood in the middle of a torturously hectic work week.
Ahh, how I've fallen in love with this place the first time I visited Seoul. Whenever I return to Korea, I make sure to spend amazing afternoons walking along the stream, happily (and oh so carefully) crossing the stone steps or just sitting at some shaded spot and watching Seoulites and visitors alike go by. Oh and sounds corny but it also feels nice to watch some Kpop music videos which used Cheonggye as location while idling on this area. A few famous ones would be Super Junior's Happiness, Super Junior's and Girl's Generation's SEOUL, and Big Bang's Haru Haru.
I wonder if there is an ideal walking path or some recommended starting and ending point points along the stream? I guess I never looked for something like this. My experience has always been that my listless self would come find Cheonggyecheon from a tiring shopping spree at Myeongdong or Dongdaemun or sometimes from a historical tour of Gyeongbokgung or Gwanghwamun. Imagining myself resting at a serene spot on the stream steers my feet almost inevitably towards Cheonggyecheon. And so indeed, I've spent plenty remarkable afternoons of my Seoul vacation on this landmark.
At one time, my friend and I even walked the entire length of the stream from the Wall of Seokdong all the way to the Rhythm Wall Fountain. My favorite spot on this route would be the Wall of Hope. You can see a lot of these ceramic tile walls with personalized messages all over Korea, but this one near the Dongdaemun Stadium Station says a lot about South Korean's sentiments about the North and Japan. I just wouldn't recommend this on a summer day especially since you'll end up too far from the subway stop^^. Unfortunately for us, we walked too far and nature has beckoned too soon. So we had to use the squat restroom of a gas station since the subway was a couple more blocks away. So yeah, appropriate restroom spots would be good exit points from spending a day at the stream.
Of course, it might be more reasonable to exit from the Cheonggye Plaza. The candle fountain at this end will never be cliché for me. I specially love the red and blue spiral cone installation (행복!!). There is even a KTO outpost on the vicinity for any questions on where travelers might want to venture next.
Now I'm looking forward to returning to Cheonggyecheon and watching the display of lights on the upcoming Lantern Festival! I'm sure this would create yet another amazing Cheonggyecheon experience for me.
