Daehangno, the Heart of Performing Culture in Korea
Daehangno is an area, which comprises Jongno-gu, Dongsung-dong, Hyehwa-dong rotary, and Ihwa-dong intersection. This area is called, "the heart of performing culture" because more than half of the small performing theaters (about 30 theaters) in Seoul is crowded here.
Also, a number of plays, which represents the controversy in Korean society, has been shown here in Daehangno, and this is the place where lots of original, experimental plays flourish. As to prove its popularity, new plays come out everyday, and a theater festival is held here in June every year. So, if you are interested in any performances, you should go to the red ticket booth near Marronnier Park. Tickets are sponsored by the government to create a sound performing culture, and they are on first come first served basis. Average ticket for performance costs about 8,000won.
The center of Daehangno is Marronnier Park. In fact, there used to be a liberal arts and sciences department of Seoul National University, and the word "Daehangno" was named to commemorate its move in 1980. Currently, there are Seoul National University medical school and Sungkyunkwan University, and the memory of the past continues through an existence of a coffee shop called, "Hangnim".
Daehangno is usually called, "street of youth". There are numerous street performances and people play street ball on weekends. Also, people who want to become singer, dancer, or comedian, can show off their talents here and feel comfortable with audiences as well. Around ginkgo trees, which are more than several hundred years old, there are many portrait artists and fortunetellers. They are not professional, but it is interesting enough to attract foreign tourists.
More than 200,000 people come and go daily, and even more people visit here on weekends for a drink because most bars and motels are quite inexpensive. However, there are not many motels and disco-theques, which might impair the establishment of a sound youth culture.
The main street is crowded with teenagers and young people, who look for clubs, while the place behind the parking lot of Batang-gol Small Theater is for people in their thirties. For these "older" customers, there are many neat restaurants, which include Italian, Mexican, French, Indian, and Korean traditional restaurants. You can also try Pajeon(Korean traditional pancake) and Makgeolli (Korean traditional liquor) here. In addition, you can see art works at gallery cafes, and listen to your favorite jazz tune at live cafes.
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