The Cheonggyeecheon River

One of the great places in Seoul is the Cheonggyecheon River. The story about it is worth reading, and I hope you can look at the link here. It is a great place to run or walk, and at night the water falls and fountains have made it a new tourist attraction. These waterfalls are not just beautiful; they contribute greatly to the cleaning of the water. The Chicago Water Reclamation Board has done some similar things, but Seoul's example is so evident to everyone that it has become know throughout the world.

The concern for the environment is very evident here. When I visited the Center for Green Technology in Chicago last year, I learned about how sidewalks can be made "porous". Rather than having asphalt or concrete, walkways can be made of bricks with spaces between them where water can seep through rather than run off. The problem of excessive run-off is a truly important one. I would be interested to find out if that is the purpose of the bricks here are in order to make the walk ways more porous. I suspect it is, but I can't say for sure. Although Seoul and other urban areas seem to be one high rise after another, it is clear from the numbers of hikers I see that many Koreans really love nature and the environment.

One of the other things which is really evident in Seoul is that there are many street vendors. People set up shop on the main streets, in the subway, and in the small winding streets like the one where Jocelyn and Tom live. There are also in general far more shops here, and while there are some big places to shop there seem to be far more snall shops for eating, selling clothes and computer games. Seoul, by the way, is the computer gaming capital of the world. The streets here, like in the Philippines, seem much more alive with activity than in the United Startes.