Something About Cheonggyecheon

On Saturday I went with my Korean school (I've started taking Korean classes) on a trip to Seoul. We went to Gyeongbokgung Palace, Cheonggycheon Stream, and Insadong. I can talk about Gyeonbokgung and Insadong another time. Cheonggycheon Stream is a 6 km waterway that runs through the heart of Seoul. After the Korean War, Seoul went through a major facelift: the place had been "leveled" by the North. As part of it's re-development it was decided to pave over the stream to make way for an elevated highway. The highway took 4 years to build and was finished in 1971. They literally dried up the stream and filled it with asphalt. It took the city until 2004 to realize that it probably wasn't the best idea. They took down the highway and dug up the asphalt. The city then reconstructed the Cheonggyecheon Stream and made it flow once more. The shores are concrete and the basin has been lined with professionally cut stones. All the same, it looks better than an elevated highway.