Follow the Smell of Herbs and You'll Find the Greens Alley — Autumn at Gyeongdong Market

Climb the stairs out of Jegi-dong Station on Subway Line 1 and a smell hits you immediately — sweet yet bitter, the distinct scent of dried medicinal herbs. Follow it from the entrance of Gyeongdong Market in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, said to be the country's largest market for traditional herbal medicine and dried goods, and it leads into narrow alleys piled high with autumn vegetables and wild greens.

At a glance: Location around Gyeongdong Market, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul (near Jegi-dong Station, Subway Line 1) · What to see market alleys lined with wild-greens and dried-goods stalls that flow straight into a traditional herbal-medicine district.

Step into the alley and green wild greens sit bagged up at every stall. Autumn varieties like ssukgat (crown daisy), chwinamul (aster greens) and gotdeulppegi (Korean lettuce) are stacked in layers, each a slightly different shade of green, while beside them sit boxes of dried jujubes, chestnuts, and persimmons prepped for drying into gotgam. The rustle of a vendor scooping greens into a black plastic bag, the click of a scale's needle settling, and calls of "come pick, come pick" blend into the market's own particular rhythm.

A few steps further, the mood shifts. This is the herbal-medicine alley, where bundles of dried herbs hang from the ceiling and bags of ginseng, jujube and licorice root are piled shoulder-high. Known as a center of herbal-medicine trade dating back to the Joseon dynasty, it carries a low, earthy, faintly bitter scent from herbs dried root and all. Take a cup of jujube tea from a stall along the row, and steam rises carrying a sweet, faintly spicy aroma; the first swallow leaves a warm trail down your throat.

Among the people moving through the alleys are local residents pulling shopping carts alongside travelers holding cameras. It isn't a polished tourist attraction — it's a working market still feeding someone's kitchen today, and that's exactly what makes it worth walking through. If you're curious about an unfamiliar ingredient, try asking a vendor directly; English may be limited, so gestures or a translation app will likely serve you better.