Edae () is a neighborhood in

Seodaemun District Seodaemun District () is one of the 25 List of districts of Seoul, districts of Seoul, South Korea. It has a population of 313,814 (2010) and has a geographic area of 17.61 Square kilometre, km2 (6.8 sq mi), and is divided into 14 ''Dong (admi ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. It is a popular shopping district for tourists and students of

Ewha Womans University Ewha Womans University () is a private women's research university in Seoul, South Korea. It was originally founded as Ewha Haktang on May 31, 1886, by missionary Mary F. Scranton. Currently, Ewha Womans University is one of the world's largest f ...

. Like Hongdae, the nearby university serves as a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word "wikt:suit, suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such ...

for the area. Edae is full of budget-friendly shopping outlets and trendy clothing stores. The Edae area is accessed via the Ewha Womans University Station on the

Seoul Subway Line 2 Seoul Subway Line 2 (), also known as the Circle Line, is a orbital (metro), circular line of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. The line running clockwise is called the "inner circle line" and the counter-clockwise line is called the "outer circle ...

, also known as the green line. Many of the shops in the area cater to Ewha's female students specifically. The neighboring

Sinchon Sinchon () is a region of South Korea surrounding Sinchon-dong, Changcheon-dong, Nogosan-dong and Daeheung-dong. It is known for its numerous universities including Yonsei University, Ewha Womans University, Sogang University, Hongik Univ ...

is better known for nightlife.

Attractions

Edae's popularity as a shopping district began in the 1980s. In addition to affordable shopping, the area also had trendy cafes. Korea's first Starbucks was opened in 1999 on Ewhayeodae Street, which is the main street that leads from subway station to the entrance to the university. The Ewha campus draws tourists by the thousands daily for selfies in front of The Campus Valley, which was built in 2008 and designed by

Dominique Perrault Dominique Perrault (born 9 April 1953 in Clermont-Ferrand) is a French architect and urban planner. He became world known for the design of the French National Library, distinguished with the Silver medal for town planning in 1992 and the Mies v ...

. In addition to domestic tourism, Edae sees a number of international tourists, particularly women from China, "Japan, Taiwan, the United States, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, and Indonesia." Popular street food on Ewhayeodae Street includes

tteokbokki () or simmered rice cake, is a popular Korean food made from small-sized (long, white, cylinder-shaped rice cakes) called () or commonly (). * ''Eomuk'' (fish cakes), boiled eggs, and scallions are some common ingredients paired with ''tteo ...

, as well as Japanese snacks such as

takoyaki Takoyaki ( or ) is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter (cooking), batter and cooked in a special molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus as food, octopus (''tako''), tempura scraps (''tenkasu' ...

and

taiyaki is a Japanese fish-shaped cake, commonly sold as street food. It imitates the shape of , which it is named after. The most common filling is anko. Some shops even sell with , gyoza filling, or a sausage inside. Smaller, differently shaped ve ...

. In 2018, the city government cracked down on illegal street food vendors in Edae, mainly for operating without a license, but also citations of unsanitary conditions, cooking fuel hazards, boosting excessive foot-traffic, and as unfair competition to legal storefronts. Sinchon Boxquare was built as an alternate venue for street food vendors in the area.

References

{{Coord missing, South Korea Neighborhoods of Seodaemun District Tourist attractions in Seoul Ewha Womans University