Three distinct things to do within walking distance of each other? This is the sort of thing you can’t plan for – they just sort of happen while you’re on vacation 🙂 Nampo-dong, Gukje Market, and the PIFF Square made my night in Busan two nights in a row. The pictures above and below is some of the holiday lights that decorate Gwanghak street – the main drag through Nampo-dong. Camera stores, clothing stores, convenience stores, and more clothing stores take up most of the street.
Home to a little bit of everything, Gwanghak street displayed some beautiful holiday lights – and like most other holiday lights, they’ll be up for quite some time after Christmas / Boxing Day / Hanukkah / Kwanzaa ends (but I’d bet most Koreans have never heard of the last three).
Some artists doing portraits (charcoal or pencil) along the street. I didn’t ask how much, but most of the seats were filled both nights I passed by.
As you get a few blocks in and look down some of the side streets, you see any number of small booths, selling everything from socks to underwear to snacks to jewelry. Let the row of light bulbs guide you, but hopefully not too far from the main road.
After walking Gwanghak street for 6-7 blocks (guessing about 800-900 meters), the area gradually transforms into an area called PIFF square. PIFF stands for the Pusan International Film Festival – according to Wikipedia, one of the most significant Asian film festivals. In September 2008, the festival showed 315 films from 60 different countries, according to a Korean tourist website. Imagine Cannes in Asia, and that’s how big a deal it is to Busan.
Even when there is no film festival, the area is active – street vendors, movie theaters, bars, arcades, movie theaters, restaurants, and did I mention movie theaters? In a three-block span there are perhaps seven LARGE movie theaters – presumably all filled to capacity during the film festival. They all advertise quite a few types of movies – Korean and English movies (the ads use Korean but the actual movies usually have Korean subtitles or audio) appeared to be just the tip of the iceberg.
Even during the off-season the area is nicely lit up. Not a lot worth taking pictures of, but there’s more than enough to experience for yourself. If you’re already in Seoul, imagine a Myeongdong with more movies than you can shake a stick at.
Not quite the Walk of Fame, but several Korean moviemakers and people known in the scene have been honored with their handprint immortalized.
Gukje Market is in the neighborhood, essentially blended in with the buildings surrounding it. It’s hard to know you’ve gone from one to the other until you notice the roof three stories over your head. There’s so many booths and places to buy stuff that it’s hard to keep track of it all, though each place usually has one or two products – and infinite varieties.
Mirrors and photo frames, for example – almost any size or style.
Flowers, anyone? Fake flowers, that is – for your decorative purposes.
Hats. Lots. and. lots. of. hats.
Even though you’re sheltered from the weather, it still retains the feel of an open-air market since the roof is a few floors up. In fact, the building appeared to have even more on the second and third floor levels. By this point, I was about shopped out and didn’t have the energy to investigate.
A side entrance / exit of PIFF square I came across as I made my way back to a hotel room.
These three areas are all close enough together to make walking easier than the subway or bus system, and are big enough to keep you occupied for multiple nights. During the day more of the brick-and-mortar shops are open, so come during the day if you want the regular / normal shopping. During the night, the street vendors set up and it becomes a more interesting place to walk around. Check it out the next time you’re in Busan.
