Chapter 1 of 13
산과 강Mountains, valleys, and one river
Seoul makes sense once it stops being a collection of subway stations and becomes a 600-year-old walled capital that grew into a metropolis, absorbing villages, farmland, river ports, factory districts, and satellite towns.
The Han River runs east to west and splits the city in two. Gangbuk, north of the river, holds the historic capital, the palaces, and the older neighborhoods. Gangnam, south of the river, was mostly built from the 1970s on.
Gangnam means two things: everything south of the river, or the one district called Gangnam-gu. Locals use both.