Monthly Archives: July 2011

Seoul Week: Bulgwang Station

We’re celebrating Seoul Week on ExploreMetro! We’ve teamed up with Seoul Sub→urban to bring you stories and pictures from around Seoul. Every day this week we’ll bring you one of their profiles of a Seoul Subway station, today it’s Bulgwang (불광역) .

Don’t forget you can download Explore Seoul for iPhone for just $0.99 this week!

Bulgwang (불광역)

Line 3 – Station #322, Line 6 – Station #612

Bulgwang1web
One of the first things you’ll probably notice when you exit Bulgwang Station is that the air is just a little bit more breathable here than in other parts of Seoul, and being so close to the edge of the city and to the mountains that makes sense.  The most dominating feature of the neighborhood is Bukhan Mountain (북한산), especially nearby Suri Peak (수리봉), rising up northeast of the station, though the hulking 2001 Outlet/Kim’s Club/CGV building attached to Exit 6 is trying its best to change that.

Bulgwang2web

Across the street from that building is what looks – with its gunmetal gray exterior, roof curved at just the right height and angle, and bare bulbs visible through the windows – like an old-fashioned passenger train.  What it actually is, is Jeil Market (제일시장) just steps from Exit 7.  We’ve gotten to the point in this project where our usual reaction is, ‘Oh.  Another market,’ because in all honesty there’s often not much that differentiates one neighborhood market from the next (and there are a lot more in the city than I ever expected), and after a while you start running out of new things to write/photograph.  But the Bulgwang market is, frankly, pretty unique.

Bulgwang3web

To begin with, it’s unavoidable.  Step out of the exit and just in front of you the sidewalk has been commandeered in a way that would give American zoning regulators fits.  Beneath that gray metal and plastic covering, businesses on the inside of the sidewalk extend displays out onto it, and on the sidewalk’s outside smaller vendors have set up stands and tarps.  Old women sell plastic bags of kimchi and butchers offer Styrofoam packs of coagulated blood.  There are eels, steamed corn, blocks of tofu, and crates of chicken feet on ice.  So if you want to walk south from this side of the station, you have to run the gauntlet a little bit, for about three blocks.

Bulgwang4web

After doing so, I turned right into a side street and wandered for a bit through a calm neighborhood of four- or five-story buildings.  The occasional breeze disturbed the hot heavy air, but otherwise it was so quiet that I could actually hear the low hum of a barber pole as it spun, and I thought of a guy in the market selling potatoes whose t-shirt just said ‘SLOWNESS.’

Read the full post on Seoul Sub→urban >>

Shanghai Metro station names in Pinyin

We need your help! We’re planning to add Pinyin names to our metro maps to help you pronounce metro station names more easily. We need your help to check the accuracy of the transliterations. Take a look over the list of Shanghai Metro stations below, and if you see any errors in the pinyin column, leave us a comment! In particular:

  • Do all syllables have the correct pinyin, including tone mark?
  • Are the word boundaries correct?
English Chinese Pinyin
Xinzhuang 莘庄 Xīnzhuāng
Waihuanlu 外环路 Wàihuánlù
Lianhua Road 莲花路 Liánhuā Lù
Jinjiang Park 锦江乐园 Jǐnjiāng Lèyuán
Shanghai South Railway Station 上海南站 Shànghǎi Nánzhàn
Caobao Road 漕宝路 Cáobǎo Lù
Shanghai Indoor Stadium 上海体育馆 Shànghǎi Tǐyùguǎn
Xujiahui 徐家汇 Xújiāhuì
Hengshan Road 衡山路 Héngshān Lù
Changshu Road 常熟路 Chángshú Lù
South Shaanxi Road 陕西南路 Shǎnxī Nánlù
South Huangpi Road 黄陂南路 Huángpí Nánlù
People’s Square 人民广场 Rénmín Guǎngchǎng
Xinzha Road 新闸路 Xīnzhá Lù
Hanzhong Road 汉中路 Hànzhōng Lù
Shanghai Railway Station 上海火车站 Shànghǎi Huǒchē Zhàn
North Zhongshan Road 中山北路 Zhōngshān Běilù
Yanchang Road 延长路 Yáncháng Lù
Shanghai Circus World 上海马戏城 Shànghǎi Mǎxìchéng
Wenshui Road 汶水路 Wènshuǐ Lù
Penpu Xincun 彭浦新村 Péngpǔ Xīncūn
Gongkang Road 共康路 Gòngkāng Lù
Tonghe Xincun 通河新村 Tōnghé Xīncūn
Hulan Road 呼兰路 Hūlán Lù
Gongfu Xincun 共富新村 Gòngfù Xīncūn
Zhongshan Park 中山公园 Zhōngshān Gōngyuán
Jiangsu Road 江苏路 Jiāngsū Lù
Jing’an Temple 静安寺 Jìng’ān Sì
West Nanjing Road 南京西路 Nánjīng Xīlù
East Nanjing Road 南京东路 Nánjīng Dōnglù
Lujiazui 陆家嘴 Lùjiāzuǐ
Dongchang Road 东昌路 Dōngchāng Lù
Shanghai Science and Technology Museum 上海科技馆 Shànghǎi Kējì Guǎn
Century Park 世纪公园 Shìjì Gōngyuán
Longyang Road 龙阳路 Lóngyáng Lù
Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park 张江高科 Zhāngjiāng Gāokē
Shilong Road 石龙路 Shílóng Lù
Longcao Road 龙漕路 Lóngcáo Lù
Caoxi Road 漕溪路 Cáoxī Lù
Yishan Road 宜山路 Yíshān Lù
Hongqiao Road 虹桥路 Hóngqiáo Lù
West Yan’an Road 延安西路 Yán’ān Xīlù
Jinshajiang Road 金沙江路 Jīnshājiāng Lù
Caoyang Road 曹杨路 Cáoyáng Lù
Zhenping Road 镇坪路 Zhènpíng Lù
Zhongtan Road 中潭路 Zhōngtán Lù
Baoshan Road 宝山路 Bǎoshān Lù
Dongbaoxing Road 东宝兴路 Dōngbǎoxīng Lù
Hongkou Football Stadium 虹口足球场 Hóngkǒu Zúqiúchǎng
Chifeng Road 赤峰路 Chìfēng Lù
Dabaishu 大柏树 Dàbǎishù
Jiangwan Town 江湾镇 Jiāngwān Zhèn
Damuqiao Road 大木桥路 Dàmùqiáo Lù
Dong’an Road 东安路 Dōng’ān Lù
Shanghai Stadium 上海体育场 Shànghǎi Tǐyùchǎng
Hailun Road 海伦路 Hǎilún Lù
Linping Road 临平路 Línpíng Lù
Dalian Road 大连路 Dàlián Lù
Yangshupu Road 杨树浦路 Yángshùpǔ Lù
Pudong Avenue 浦东大道 Pǔdōng Dàdào
Pudian Road 浦电路 Pǔdiàn Lù
Lancun Road 蓝村路 Láncūn Lù
Chunshen Road 春申路 Chūnshēn Lù
Yindu Road 银都路 Yíndū Lù
Zhuanqiao 颛桥 Zhuānqiáo
Beiqiao 北桥 Běiqiáo
Jianchuan Road 剑川路 Jiànchuān Lù
Dongchuan Road 东川路 Dōngchuān Lù
Jinping Road 金平路 Jīnpíng Lù
Huaning Road 华宁路 Huáníng Lù
Wenjing Road 文井路 Wénjǐng Lù
Minhang Development Zone 闵行开发区 Mǐnháng Kāifāqū
Century Avenue 世纪大道 Shìjì Dàdào
Songhong Road 淞虹路 Sōnghóng Lù
Beixinjing 北新泾 Běixīnjīng
Weining Road 威宁路 Wēiníng Lù
Loushanguan Road 娄山关路 Lóushānguān Lù
West Yingao Road 殷高西路 Yīngāo Xīlù
South Changjiang Road 长江南路 Chángjiāng Nánlù
Songfa Road 淞发路 Sōngfā Lù
Zhanghuabang 张华浜 Zhānghuábāng
Songbin Road 淞滨路 Sōngbīn Lù
Shuichan Road 水产路 Shuǐchǎn Lù
Baoyang Road 宝杨路 Bǎoyáng Lù
Youyi Road 友谊路 Yǒuyì Lù
Tieli Road 铁力路 Tiělì Lù
North Jiangyang Road 江杨北路 Jiāngyáng Běilù
Songjiang Xincheng 松江新城 Sōngjiāng Xīnchéng
Songjiang University Town 松江大学城 Sōngjiāng Dàxuéchéng
Dongjing 洞泾 Dòngjīng
Sheshan 佘山 Shéshān
Sijing 泗泾 Sìjīng
Jiuting 九亭 Jiǔtíng
Zhongchun Road 中春路 Zhōngchūn Lù
Qibao 七宝 Qībǎo
Xingzhong Road 星中路 Xīngzhōng Lù
Hechuan Road 合川路 Héchuān Lù
Caohejing Hi-Tech Park 漕河泾开发区 Cáohéjīng Kāifāqū
Guilin Road 桂林路 Guìlín Lù
Luban Road 鲁班路 Lǔbān Lù
South Xizang Road 西藏南路 Xīzàng Nánlù
Nanpu Bridge 南浦大桥 Nánpǔ Dàqiáo
Tangqiao 塘桥 Tángqiáo
Fujin Road 富锦路 Fùjǐn Lù
West Youyi Road 友谊西路 Yǒuyì Xīlù
Bao’an Highway 宝安公路 Bǎo’ān Gōnglù
Shiguang Road 市光路 Shìguāng Lù
Nenjiang Road 嫩江路 Nènjiāng Lù
Xiangyin Road 翔殷路 Xiángyīn Lù
Huangxing Park 黄兴公园 Huángxīng Gōngyuán
Middle Yanji Road 延吉中路 Yánjí Zhōnglù
Huangxing Road 黄兴路 Huángxīng Lù
Jiangpu Road 江浦路 Jiāngpǔ Lù
Anshan Xincun 鞍山新村 Ānshān Xīncūn
Siping Road 四平路 Sìpíng Lù
Quyang Road 曲阳路 Qūyáng Lù
North Xizang Road 西藏北路 Xīzàng Běilù
Zhongxing Road 中兴路 Zhōngxìng Lù
Qufu Road 曲阜路 Qūfù Lù
Dashijie 大世界 Dàshìjiè
Laoximen 老西门 Lǎoxīmén
Lujiabang Road 陆家浜路 Lùjiābāng lù
Yaohua Road 耀华路 Yàohuá Lù
Gangcheng Road 港城路 Gǎngchéng Lù
North Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone 外高桥保税区北 Wàigāoqiáo Bǎoshuìqū Běi
Hangjin Road 航津路 Hángjīn Lù
South Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone 外高桥保税区南 Wàigāoqiáo Bǎoshuìqū Nán
Zhouhai Road 洲海路 Zhōuhǎi Lù
Wuzhou Avenue 五洲大道 Wǔzhōu Dàdào
Dongjing Road 东靖路 Dōngjìng Lù
Jufeng Road 巨峰路 Jùfēng Lù
Wulian Road 五莲路 Wǔlián Lù
Boxing Road 博兴路 Bóxìng Lù
Jinqiao Road 金桥路 Jīnqiáo Lù
Yunshan Road 云山路 Yúnshān Lù
Deping Road 德平路 Dépíng Lù
Beiyangjing Road 北洋泾路 Běiyángjīng Lù
Minsheng Road 民生路 Mínshēng Lù
Yuanshen Stadium 源深体育中心 Yuánshēn Tǐyù Zhōngxīn
Shanghai Children’s Medical Center 上海儿童医学中心 Shànghǎi Értóng Yīxué Zhōngxīn
Linyi Xincun 临沂新村 Línyí Xīncūn
West Gaoke Road 高科西路 Gāokē Xīlù
Dongming Road 东明路 Dōngmíng Lù
Gaoqing Road 高青路 Gāoqīng Lù
West Huaxia Road 华夏西路 Huáxià Xīlù
Shangnan Road 上南路 Shàngnán lù
South Lingyan Road 灵岩南路 Língyán Nánlù
Chengshan Road 成山路 Chéngshān Lù
Yangsi 杨思 Yángsī
Lingzhao Xincun 凌兆新村 Língzhào Xīncūn
Luheng Road 芦恒路 Lúhéng Lù
Pujiang Town 浦江镇 Pǔjiāng Zhèn
Jiangyue Road 江月路 Jiāngyuè Lù
Lianhang Road 联航路 Liánháng Lù
Aerospace Museum 航天博物馆 Hángtiān Bówùguǎn
Huamu Road 花木路 Huāmù Lù
Fanghua Road 芳华路 Fānghuá Lù
Jinxiu Road 锦绣路 Jǐnxiù Lù
South Yanggao Road 杨高南路 Yánggāo Nánlù
Yuntai Road 云台路 Yúntái Lù
Changqing Road 长清路 Chángqīng Lù
Chuanchang Road 船厂路 Chuánchǎng Lù
Zhaojiabang Road 肇嘉浜路 Zhàojiābāng Lù
Changping Road 昌平路 Chāngpíng Lù
Changshou Road 长寿路 Chángshòu Lù
Langao Road 岚皋路 Lángāo Lù
Xincun Road 新村路 Xīncūn Lù
Dahuasan Road 大华三路 Dàhuásān Lù
Xingzhi Road 行知路 Xíngzhī Lù
Dachang Town 大场镇 Dàchǎng Zhèn
Changzhong Road 场中路 Chǎngzhōng Lù
Shangda Road 上大路 Shàngdà Lù
Nanchen Road 南陈路 Nánchén Lù
Shanghai University 上海大学 Shànghǎi Dàxué
Jiashan Road 嘉善路 Jiāshàn Lù
Dapuqiao 打浦桥 Dǎpǔqiáo
Madang Road 马当路 Mǎdāng Lù
Shanghai Zoo 上海动物园 Shànghǎi Dòngwùyuán
Xiaonanmen 小南门 Xiǎonánmén
Shangcheng Road 商城路 Shāngchéng Lù
Longde Road 隆德路 Lóngdé Lù
Fengqiao Road 枫桥路 Fēngqiáo Lù
Zhenru 真如 Zhēnrú
Shanghai West Railway Station 上海西站 Shànghǎi Xīzhàn
Liziyuan 李子园 Lǐzǐyuán
Qilianshan Road 祁连山路 Qíliánshān Lù
Wuwei Road 武威路 Wǔwēi Lù
Taopu Xincun 桃浦新村 Táopǔ Xīncūn
Nanxiang 南翔 Nánxiáng
Malu 马陆 Mǎlù
Jiading Xincheng 嘉定新城 Jiādìng Xīnchéng
Baiyin Road 白银路 Báiyín Lù
West Jiading 嘉定西 Jiādìng Xī
North Jiading 嘉定北 Jiādìng Běi
Jinke Road 金科路 Jīnkē Lù
Guanglan Road 广兰路 Guǎnglán Lù
East Xujing 徐泾东 Xújīng Dōng
Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2 虹桥2号航站楼 Hóngqiáo Èrhào Hángzhàn Lóu
Shanghai Circuit 上海赛车场 Shànghǎi Sàichēchǎng
East Changji Road 昌吉东路 Chāngjí Dōnglù
Shanghai Automobile City 上海汽车城 Shànghǎi Qìchēchéng
Anting 安亭 Āntíng
Middle Yanggao Road 杨高中路 Yánggāo Zhōnglù
Tangzhen 唐镇 Tángzhèn
Middle Chuangxin Road 创新中路 Chuàngxīn Zhōnglù
East Huaxia Road 华夏东路 Huáxià Dōnglù
Chuansha 川沙 Chuānshā
Lingkong Road 凌空路 Língkōng Lù
Yuandong Avenue 远东大道 Yuǎndōng Dàdào
Haitiansan Road 海天三路 Hǎitiānsān Lù
Pudong International Airport 浦东国际机场 Pǔdōng Guójì Jīchǎng
Hangzhong Road 航中路 Hángzhōng Lù
Ziteng Road 紫藤路 Zǐténg Lù
Longbai Xincun 龙柏新村 Lóngbǎi Xīncūn
Longxi Road 龙溪路 Lóngxī Lù
Shuicheng Road 水城路 Shuǐchéng Lù
Yili Road 伊犁路 Yīlí Lù
Songyuan Road 宋园路 Sòngyuán Lù
Jiaotong University 交通大学 Jiāotōng Dàxué
Shanghai Library 上海图书馆 Shànghǎi Túshūguǎn
Xintiandi 新天地 Xīntiāndì
Yuyuan Garden 豫园 Yùyuán
Tiantong Road 天潼路 Tiāntóng Lù
North Sichuan Road 四川北路 Sìchuān Běilù
Youdian Xincun 邮电新村 Yóudiàn Xīncūn
Tongji University 同济大学 Tóngjì Dàxué
Guoquan Road 国权路 Guóquán Lù
Wujiaochang 五角场 Wǔjiǎochǎng
Jiangwan Stadium 江湾体育场 Jiāngwān Tǐyùchǎng
Sanmen Road 三门路 Sānmén Lù
East Yingao Road 殷高东路 Yīngāodōng Lù
Xinjiangwancheng 新江湾城 Xīnjiāngwānchéng
Houtan 后滩 Hòutān
Hongqiao Airport Terminal 1 虹桥1号航站楼 Hóngqiáo Yīhào Hángzhàn Lóu
Hongqiao Railway Station 虹桥火车站 Hóngqiáo Huǒchē Zhàn
Qihua Road 祁华路 Qíhuá Lù
Gucun Park 顾村公园 Gùcūn Gōngyuán
Liuhang 刘行 Liúháng
Panguang Road 潘广路 Pānguǎng Lù
Luonan Xincun 罗南新村 Luōnán Xīncūn
Meilan Lake 美兰湖 Měilán Hú
Oriental Sports Center 东方体育中心 Dōngfāng Tǐyù Zhōngxīn
Pudian Road 浦电路 Pǔdiàn Lù

Seoul Week: Jamwon Station

We’re celebrating Seoul Week on ExploreMetro! We’ve teamed up with Seoul Sub→urban to bring you stories and pictures from around Seoul. Every day this week we’ll bring you one of their profiles of a Seoul Subway station, today it’s Jamwon (잠원역) .

Don’t forget you can download Explore Seoul for iPhone for just $0.99 this week!

Jamwon (잠원역)

Line 3 – Station #338

Jamwon8web

Expectations for Jamwon were pretty low.  A pre-trip look at the map didn’t show anything of distinction except the local section of the Hangang Park.  A Google search turned up precisely nothing.  And you know those signs they have in the subway stations, the ones with a neighborhood map that list what’s outside each exit?  Well, the Jamwon sign went something like: apartment, apartment, apartment, school, apartment, apartment, apartment.

Jamwon3web

And to be frank, that’s pretty much what we found there.  But it also doesn’t give any sort of indication of how pleasant the neighborhood is or of how much I enjoyed the visit.  Granted, things were influenced a bit by the absolutely perfect Indian summer day Seoul was getting when we went, but Jamwon would still have been an unexpected surprise regardless.

Jamwon4web

To begin with, if there is a subway station with a nicer setting in Seoul I am unaware of it.  After three years of riding the train here, the notion that I could exit a station and come out on anything but a major street surrounded by convenience stores and crowds no longer even occurred to me.

Read the full post on Seoul Sub→urban >>

Seoul Week: Nambu Bus Terminal Station

We’re celebrating Seoul Week on ExploreMetro! We’ve teamed up with Seoul Sub→urban to bring you stories and pictures from around Seoul. Every day this week we’ll bring you one of their profiles of a Seoul Subway station, today it’s Nambu Bus Terminal (남부터미널역) .

Don’t forget you can download Explore Seoul for iPhone for just $0.99 this week!

Nambu Bus Terminal (남부터미널역)

Line 3 – Station #341

Nambu13web

Originally called the Cargo Truck Terminal, Nambu Bus Terminal in Seocho-gu will be well familiar with anyone who’s used the metro to get to the Seoul Arts Center (예술의전당) complex at the foot ofUmyeon Mountain (우면산).  And we’ll get to that shortly (or, rather, Liz will) but first, a brief tour of the neighborhood.

Nambu2web

Because it seemed to offer the least possibility in terms of things of interest we started the afternoon going east down Hyoryeong-ro (효령로) from Exit 3.  This turned out to be a fairly accurate presupposition, not just for Hyoryeong-ro east of Nambu Terminal Station, but for the majority of the surrounding neighborhood as well, which displayed quite plainly the bluntness of the south side’s development.  Both Hyoryreong-ro and Umyeon-ro (우면로), running north-south, were lined with 10 to 20 story office and apartment towers, about which even their residents would be hard-pressed to say something.  We strolled through the back streets north and south of Hyoryreong-ro for a bit, and although there looked to be some nice brick homes just north of the avenue, the neighborhood felt perfectly perfunctory.

Nambu3web

The best evaluation came when, not five minutes after we’d stepped into the actual Bus Terminal, Liz walked up to me and said, ‘This place is already more interesting than the entire neighborhood.’

Read the full post on Seoul Sub→urban >>

Seoul Week: Yeouinaru Station

We’re celebrating Seoul Week on ExploreMetro! We’ve teamed up with Seoul Sub→urban to bring you stories and pictures from around Seoul. Every day this week we’ll bring you one of their profiles of a Seoul Subway station, today it’s Yeouinaru (여의나루역) .

Don’t forget you can download Explore Seoul for iPhone for just $0.99 this week!

Yeouinaru (여의나루역)

Line 5 – Station #527

Yeouinaru7web

Because the western side of the number 5 line crosses the Han River by a deep tunnel and not a bridge, Yeouinaru Station, at 27.5 meters below sea level, is the lowest subway station in Korea.  Liz and I visited with our friend Casey this past Saturday, and the area was absolutely buzzing with people out to see Yeouido’s cherry blossom festival.  Families and couples crowded the station, and a long line stretched out the door of the women’s bathroom, mirrored by a bored-looking queue of waiting husbands and boyfriends.

Yeouinaru4web

Outside, enterprising ajummas and ajeosshis were set up all around the station hawking beondaeggi, corndogs, and tteok to the seasonal tourists.  One grandmother hawked kimbap with a rolling pitch that had the cadence and panache of a ballpark hot dog vendor.

Yeouinaru2web

All along Yeouisa-ro (여의사로) the trees were in full bloom, a soft emergence of pink and white.

Read the full post on Seoul Sub→urban >>

Seoul Week: Dapsimni Station

We’re celebrating Seoul Week on ExploreMetro! We’ve teamed up with Seoul Sub→urban to bring you stories and pictures from around Seoul. Every day this week we’ll bring you one of their profiles of a Seoul Subway station, today it’s Dapsimni (답십리역) .

Don’t forget you can download Explore Seoul for iPhone for just $0.99 this week!

Dapsimni (답십리역)

Line 5 – Station #542

Dapsimnilocksweb

Tucked between Cheonhodae-ro (천호대로) and Cheonggyecheon (청계천) on the southwest side of Dapsimni Station is the little neighborhood of Yongdapdong (용답동).  Before getting to the moderately well-known antique markets on the opposite side of the avenue, Liz and I decided to pop in to this area for a look-see.  It was pleasantly busy on a Saturday afternoon, people out and about doing weekend neighborhood things: buying groceries, doing a bit of shopping, or just strolling about.

dapsimni3web

Down one street outside Exit 5 a modified truck was delivering live seafood to a restaurant.  A man in gumboots was standing in the bed, scooping fish out of large coolers and depositing them in the display aquariums outside the eatery.  His partner was running hoses built in to the truck to the curbside storm drain, getting rid of unnecessary water now that their merchandise had been unloaded.  Neither Liz nor I had seen this draining process before and both thought it was pretty neat – one of those little bits of ingenuity that you never think of but that when you see it seems both obvious and modestly remarkable.

Dapsimni1web

Read the full post on Seoul Sub→urban >>

 

 

 

Seoul Week: Nonhyeon Station

We’re celebrating Seoul Week on ExploreMetro! We’ve teamed up with Seoul Sub→urban to bring you stories and pictures from around Seoul. Every day this week we’ll bring you one of their profiles of a Seoul Subway station, today it’s Nonhyeon (논현역) .

Don’t forget you can download Explore Seoul for iPhone for just $0.99 this week!

Nonhyeon (논현역)

Line 7 – Station #732

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Arriving at Nonhyeon at noon, we emerged from the station to find the morning’s rains stopped and a bright midday sun glinting off puddles and still-wet street signs.  What had looked like it would be a gloomy, damp outing an hour ago had been transformed into the perfect weather for Nonhyeon-dong’s signature sport: armoire hunting.

From Exit 1 or Exit 8, all the way down Hakdong-ro to Hakdong Station runs Nonhyeon Furniture Street.  For several blocks both sides of the avenue are lined with almost nothing but furniture stores.  Most are of the high-end variety, which you would expect just south of the Sinsa-Apgujeong-Cheongdam golden triangle.

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A number of stores carry domestically made products or furniture whose style reflects Asian influence.  The most eye-catching of these was Tongyeongchilgi (통영칠기) where enormous lacquered chests, wardrobes, and armoires with mother-of-pearl inlay were on display in the front window.

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Most shops, though, seem to supply imported pieces or work that is heavily cued by European design.  This predilection is reflected in a quick scan of a number of the stores’ names: F. Angelico, Maison Francaise, Italiano, Leicht, Giotto.  Most of these places had classy, elegant furniture in classy, elegant buildings, but we also came across the occasional Old World mistake.

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Seoul Week: Dongdaemun Station

We’re celebrating Seoul Week on ExploreMetro! We’ve teamed up with Seoul Sub→urban to bring you stories and pictures from around Seoul. Every day this week we’ll bring you one of their profiles of a Seoul Subway station, today it’s Dongdaemun (동대문역) .

Don’t forget you can download Explore Seoul for iPhone for just $0.99 this week!

Dongdaemun Station (동대문역)

Line 1 – Station #128, Line 4 – Station #421

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It begins the moment you step off the subway.  There, on the platform, a man calls out to passengers, hawking the belts laid out in compartmentalized boxes at his feet.  Before you exit the station you’ll pass more people doing the same – with bags, with clothes, with battery-operated toys that flash and clatter – and then you go up the steps and you’re in Dongdaemun, where all this (and seemingly everything else) is happening, all the time.

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Acres of wholesale markets pull in old-timers in search of bargains, while the malls that are the wellspring of Korean fashion summon the young and style-conscious.  Sleek stores and developments coexist amicably with the gritty shops and restaurants that have occupied the innumerable back alleys for decades.  Dongdaemun combines the crusty insouciance of the dockyards with the pulsing strut of the catwalk.  Nowhere else in Seoul is quite like it.

The neighborhood is anchored by the eponymous Dongdaemun (동대문(Great East Gate) (Exit 6) or, more formally, Heunginjimun (흥인지문(Gate of Rising Benevolence).  One of Joseon-era Seoul’s four main gates, it was originally built in 1396, though the current structure dates from an 1869 reconstruction.  Besides being a beautiful example of traditional Korean architecture it serves as a useful reference point amid the often hectic surroundings.

Read the full post on Seoul Sub→urban >>

Seoul Week on ExploreMetro

This week we’re celebrating all things Korean! ExploreMetro’s newest iPhone/iPad app is Explore Seoul, which helps you navigate the complex metro system in one of Asia’s most vibrant cities. We’ve teamed up with Seoul Sub→urban, an awesome blog which covers things to do and see around Seoul’s subway stations. Every day this week we’ll be featuring a Seoul subway station, with stories and pictures from Seoul Sub->urban.

What’s more, all this week Explore Seoul for iPhone will be available for just $0.99, 50% off the usual price!

To follow along with Seoul Week, subscribe to our blog, or follow our Facebook, Twitter or Weibo feeds! We’ll have other giveaways and surprises throughout the week!

Seoul Week. Like Shark Week, but with more kimchi.

Shanghai Metro adds two more stations (242 and counting)

The Shanghai Metro has opened two more stations, bringing the total to 242. The new stations, Panguang Road (潘广路) and Liuhang (刘行) are towards the northern end of Line 7, in Baoshan District. The first/last train times on the rest of Line 7 are unaffected. Only one station on Line 7 (Qihua Road) now remains closed.

We’ve updated our online metro map, an update to our Shanghai Metro iPhone app will be available soon!