Busan's Chinatown only consists of a long street in front of Busan Station (where you can take the KTX). This place is very... special I would say. The reason being that this Chinatown is actually a RussiaChinaTown. Indeed, there is a HUGE Russian/Uzbek community in Busan. This surprised me a lot when I first arrived here but yes. There are Russian people everywhere, Russian schools, and those folks (who are really nice) can speak perfect Korean ! It's awesome. So Busan's Chinatown is a mix of China and Russia. You can see a lot of Russian/Uzbek people there, and Russian writing on every building. Red lanterns lighten the street during the night and a huge red door marks the entrance of the street. It's very pretty ! |
You can find Chinese restaurant there (like "real" Chinese food, not the "jjajangmyeon" style of Chinese food), but also Russian and Uzbek restaurants. There are also some massage salon and small lingerie/pajama shops.
Now... I've been to Chinatown two times since I am living in Busan and I've always been there during the night. And the thing is, this place has a very strange atmosphere. Strange in a creepy way, to be honest. I would never wander there alone.
One of the taxi ahjussi we encountered some month ago actually told us that Busan's Chinatown is crawling with Russian mafia but is it true ? I don't know (but that would explain all those Russian women waiting along the street), and I don't really want to find out ! But the thing is, it might be better to visit that place during the day if you are a woman traveling alone.
One of the taxi ahjussi we encountered some month ago actually told us that Busan's Chinatown is crawling with Russian mafia but is it true ? I don't know (but that would explain all those Russian women waiting along the street), and I don't really want to find out ! But the thing is, it might be better to visit that place during the day if you are a woman traveling alone.
Now is it interesting to go there ? Well, if you want to eat in a good Russian, Chinese or Uzbek restaurant, this is the place to go (and we actually did an article about it here). If not, I don't thing Chinatown is actually worth the visit. It's very small and there aren't a lot of funny activities to do. For me, it's only interesting for this mix of Russian and Chinese and to experience a different atmosphere for Busan's other district. Address : 558 Choryang 2(i)-dong Dong-gu, Station : Busan Station (red line) exit 3 Website : VisitKorea |