Seoul’s Cheonggyecheon stream
Cheonggyecheon is a public and modern 8.4 Km long horizontal park that goes along a stream. It is actually considered the lonngest horizontal urban park in the planet, which water cross the city centre and flows in Han River.
Until 1406 it was in its natural state. When strong rain hit the place, the stream would overflow. So around 1441, works would be done to control the floods.
In the XX century, around 1940, the stream started to get filled with a huge ammount of trash and sewage effluents. It was a comercial area, where second hand goods could be found.
Around 1960, it was fully covered with concrete, which made the level of air polution and sound polution increase. In 1968, a bridge was built in order to solve traffic problems. The economic pressure, with the rapid growth of South Korea, made finally possible in 2003, the restoration project of the stream.
There was a huge union movement of society to reproduce the nature in the urban environment.
Since 2005, the area gets many visits from locals and tourists. You can just take a walk along the stream or (if not too cold) chill for a while at the staircase – some made of concrete, some made of stones.
In the summer, many people go around the stream and enjoy the breeze and fresh water. You can also find some fish swimming around.
Along the year, it is held some interesting events in the stream. The Lantern Festival and the Digital Garden, for instance.
There are many ways to get there, since it is a very long horizontal park. If you want to start walking from where it starts, around Gwanghwamun, you can either go to City Hall Station (Exit 4) or Gwanghwamun Station (Exit 5). If you feel like catching any point of it, you can also get off at different areas:
Line 1: Jonggak, Jongno 3-ga(Line 1,3,5), Jongno 5-ga, Dongdaemun , Sinseol-dong Station.
Line 2: Eujiro 1-ga, Eujiro 3-ga, Eujiro 4-ga, Sindang, Sangwangsimni Station.
Line 4: Dongdaemun History & Culture Park