My destination this weekend was a rainy Namdaemun Market (남 대 문, pronounced Nahm-day-moon). It’s widely visited by locals and foreigners for their deals and shopping for literally everything under the sun – or rain, as it were. When I went, the crowd of shoppers was a lot smaller thanks to the rain – but it actually made it easier to walk 🙂

Clothes, purses, shoes, belts, sunglasses, office supplies, souvenirs, and crafts – all this and much more is available at Namdaemun. Located just outside the (former) Namdaemun gate, this maze of street vendors, brick-and-mortar stores, and other sidewalk vendors offer an extremely wide variety of shopping in a fairly accesible fashion.

Warning: if you are claustrophobic, Namdaemun is NOT the place to shop! Very narrow aisles, walking ways, and the occasional close encounter of the vehicle-kind may be too much for you to handle. Do NOT take kids unless you like pulling your hair out.

Near one of the side entrances – notice the OPEN sign facing you as you enter.

Some public art – I’m sure there’s a symbolic meaning, but I didn’t see a plaque or anything explaining it.

Were this a typical day, these large wrapped-up carts would magically expand to encompass most of the street, leaving only a narrow sidewalk for passers-by.

Inside one of the larger buildings – the Mesa mall. When you and I hear ‘mall’ you probably think of the classic American mall, complete with franchise clothing stores and restaurants. A ‘mall’ in Namdaemun is usually a collection of booths. All of the booths selling, say, women’s clothes, are organized by floor or are otherwise grouped together. The result? Dozens or perhaps even hundreds of booths that all look like they’re selling the same thing. While it’s a great system that saves you some time, you’re hit with the same styles of shirts or pants over and over and over again…

Got china? Serona mall does – and there’s more to the left and behind where I stood (not pictured)

What time is it? Out of the nearly 100 clocks at this one booth, none of them matched my cell phone clock (3:02, by the way)

Within the maze of yet another mall, booths selling almost any type of fabric good. Sheets, blankets, pillowcases, hanbok (traditional Korean robe), or just about anything else. If you can’t speak Korean and want something customized, bring a Korean friend / translator – most of these women can’t speak a word of English.

Just around the corner was the sewing station for the ladies. I gathered it was a communal place without much competition – although not knowing the langugage or most of their local customs probably meant I missed a lot.

Ooooh, pretty… sparkly… Traditional Korean souvenirs, ranging from jewelry cases and jewelry to art.

Metal works, but mostly brass. Still in the souvenirs ‘section’, although this booth was near a few other booths offering metal merchandise.

Toys, souvenirs, and quite a few whimsical items.

Since the rain swung from light drizzle to heavy downpour – sometimes in a matter of minutes – I tended to stay inside or underneath one of the many tarps / shelters. It made sense that most of the places extended their tarps almost to the middle of the road – no one likes buying a wet whatchamacallit or doohickey.

One of several brass / bronze-looking plates permanently placed in the road. To the left is Namdaemunno (the ‘no’ at the end meaning ‘street’); straight ahead is Myeong-dong, another popular shopping area I’ve blogged about before.

Temptation at an ‘imported goods’ shop. While prices were decent for brand-name American food shipped to Korea, I didn’t want to have to carry a lot of stuff home… and it was still more expensive than the local equivalent…

Namdaemun has plenty to see and plenty to do – even people-watching is interesting. If you go to buy and shop, expect to negotiate and ask prices (ee-go all-may-ee-oh? asks how much, and ga-ga jew-say-yo asks ‘discount, please’) often. Prices are fairly consistent, and you can expect some people to stay firm with their prices. If that’s the case you can keep walking or pay what may end up being a fair price anyway. If you hang around and are friendly, you’re more likely to get a better price. Come with cash – some ‘mall’ stores can take plastic, but not all can.

Take the subway to the Hoehyeon subway station – one stop away from Seoul Station in the heart of downtown Seoul. Take exit 5 or 6 and you’ll find yourself in the area as soon as you climb the stairs to ground level.