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| Main branch of the Shinsegae Department Store located in Chungmuro, central Seoul. By Park Sang-moon |
With the nearing holiday season, the streets of downtown Seoul have already been adorned with glowing lights and large ornaments.
Here is the list of streets and places where you can feel the holiday spirit just by strolling down the street.
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| From top: The outside of the Apgujeong-dong branch of the Hyundai Department Store. [JoongAng Ilbo], The 2014 Light Festival is ongoing in Myeong-dong, central Seoul. [NEWSIS], The street of lights in Gangnam District. By Park Sang-moon |
The main branch of Shinsegae Department Store, located in Chungmuro, central Seoul, looks outstanding around this time of the year. The beautiful old building, constructed in the 1930s, is decked with thousands of lights, making it look like something of a fairy tale.
“We change the theme every year. This year, the theme is ‘our happy home,’” said Seo Yu-ri, a public relations official at the department store. “Last year, we used a lot of blue lights in order to embody the image of snow, but the main colors for this year are gold and yellow, which give off a warm feeling. You can see the silhouette of a family gathering in front of a Christmas tree from the window of the main building.”
The store’s light display is going to stay up until the end of January.
“Outdoor lights may not necessarily contribute to sales, but if passers-by are happy to see them, that is enough for us,” said Seo.
Shinsegae Department Store is located at Hoehyeon Station on subway line No. 4, exit 7.
Lotte Department Store - Home of the cute lights
If the Shinsegae Department Store takes a classical approach to its holiday lights, the main branch of the Lotte Department Store, located just down the street in Sogong-dong, are more funky, cute and friendly.
“The main theme for this year is a Christmas party,” said Han Do-hun, a public relations official at the store. “We’ve realized people are fond of cute things, so we’ve added ornaments that look like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and Cupid.”
Of many illuminated installations, the most popular one is a gigantic tree with a tunnel underneath it. Visitors can pass through the tree through the tunnel and take a photo there.
As long as you are in the area, you can also cross the street and check out the Myeong-dong area, where the 2014 Light Festival is also being held.
The Sogong-dong branch of Lotte Department Store is located near the Euljiro 1-ga Station on subway line No. 2, exit 7.
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| Top: Sogong-dong branch of the Lotte Department Store, central Seoul. By Park Sang-moon, The dress tree at the IFC Mall in Yeouido. Provided by IFC Mall |
The Hyundai Department stores in Apgujeong-dong and at the World Trade Center, both in southeast Seoul, are completely covered with a special illuminating shell. This allows these outside walls of these stores to turn into giant screens every day from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Ten times each evening, both stores will be showing a 3-D video made by the American pop art team FriendsWithYou, displaying frolicking, cute characters inspired by fairy tales.
After each video, photos and short stories of ordinary people submitted on social networking sites are also screened on the walls.
To get to the Apgujeong-dong branch of Hyundai Department Store, go to Apgujeong Station on line No. 3. For the World Trade Center branch, go to Samseong Station on line No. 2.
The street of lights in Gangnam
The most illuminated street in Seoul around this time of the year is probably the 1.4-kiometer stretch (0.9 miles) between the Galleria Department in Apgujeong-dong to the Cheongdam-dong intersection.
The theme for this year is snowflakes. Walking down the street lined with so many luxury boutiques such as Louis Vuitton and Cartier, you can see clusters of snowflake-shaped lights hanging in the air.
The lights here are scheduled to stay up until late next month.
The nearest subway station for this street is Apgujeong Rodeo Station on the Bundang line, exit 2 or 3.
Dress tree at IFC Mall, Yeouido
Looking for something Christmas-like but different? Then visit the IFC Mall in Yeouido, western Seoul. Targeting female shoppers, the mall set up a 12-meter-tall (39-foot-tall) “tree” using about 20 elegant dresses, artfully arranged. Inside each dress, lights are installed so that visitors can see its textures and details, even though the entire installation is about the size of a house.
For the mall, go to Yeouido Station on line No. 5 and 9, exit 3 or 4.
By Sung So-young [so@joongang.co.kr]
