New Year’s Eve Travel Notes | Four Days and Three Nights Free Tour in Busan, South Korea

I went to Busan at the end of the year. Two girls spent four days and three nights in South Korea to celebrate New Year's Eve. Planning for this trip began around mid-October when she suggested whether to go to South Korea for New Year's Eve. My friend is a resolute woman. A few days after she decided to go, all the air tickets and accommodation were booked. Ctrip's visa link was sent to remind me of some details. They managed the exchange in spite of their busy schedule and gave me a simple itinerary, which really made me full of energy. My general preparation work is basically limited to making travel strategies, applying for visas and transferring money.

The temperature during the four days in Busan was about -4°C~9°C. The actual temperature was not very low, but it still felt very cold. Fortunately, the weather was very good. When I got up every day, the sun shone brightly through the gaps in the striped curtains. The light came in, and it was a bright winter day with blue sky and white clouds most of the time while walking on the road.

DAY 1 Shanghai-Busan Nampo-dong-Jagalchi Market-Busan Tower

It takes less than an hour and a half to fly from Shanghai Pudong to Busan. The local time is one hour earlier than Beijing time, and we arrive in the afternoon. Dragging luggage from the airport to a B&B near Central Station required two transfers, which took about an hour. Due to time constraints, the original plan for the day included a visit to Taejongdae Park (Taejongdae Park). ) part of . The ticket machines at subway stations have Chinese-language buttons and only accept thousand-yuan bills and coins. Convenience stores marked "T-money" sell rechargeable transportation cards. Use rechargeable transportation cards to get discounts on travel fares.

A B&B room is a small room of less than 30 square meters. It is equipped with air conditioning, kitchen, cooking utensils, tableware, refrigerator, wardrobe, clothes hangers, shampoo, shower gel and other daily necessities. We all brought our own equipment, so we basically used our own supplies. The landlord informs you of the access code and check-in instructions in advance, and the entire check-in and check-out process is completely self-service.

There is a 7-11 convenience store downstairs in the B&B community, which is very convenient for purchasing emergency daily necessities. However, the store staff basically cannot speak English at all. The entire trip in Busan mostly relies on words and body language. Everyone I met spoke Korean enthusiastically, and most of the time I couldn’t understand what they were talking about, so I had to guess. But overall it didn't have a big impact on the itinerary. For example, South Korea has strict garbage classification, but we couldn't find the corresponding place to put the garbage. The administrator uncle showed us his tricks, and the cleaning lady in the apartment enthusiastically helped. Basically, communication was completed through body language, and there was a sense of connection with local life. It's so close yet mysteriously strange.

Opposite the B&B community is Yongdusan Park (Yongdusan Park) , and you can directly see the Busan Tower (Busan Tower) . Not far away, Nampodong-BIFF (Nampodong-BIFF) is a lively and bustling business district, similar to a pedestrian street, but you can also see cars driving in. Street performers sang enthusiastically or affectionately and performed hard under the flashing neon lights in the night. On both sides of the main road were rows of small shops, including restaurants, clothing stores, and vendors pushing carts selling snacks and CDs. kind. The girl in the Banilan store is from the Korean ethnic group in Northeast China. She is fairly fluent in Chinese and has a strong Korean accent. She said she spent one year in Minhang, Shanghai, and has lived in South Korea for eight years. According to her, the minimum per capita income in Busan is about 8,000 yuan.

Nampodong (Nampodong-BIFF) is very close to Jagalchi Market (Jagalchi Market) . It takes a few minutes to walk and just cross two or three streets. arrive. Jagalchi Market refers to the area from the dried fish market under Yeongdo Bridge to the Chungmudong breakfast area. It is the largest seafood market in South Korea. Based on a serving of 2 people, it will cost around 20,000 to 60,000 won. The market is very lively, and the layout is exactly the same as the seafood market in Hainan. Seafood is purchased downstairs and processed and eaten upstairs. I couldn’t understand Korean, and they didn’t speak English, so they had to give instructions throughout the whole process. There are many people in the dining area on the second floor. You can sit cross-legged on the couch, or you can choose a normal table and chairs. My companions chose to try raw octopus, which was very brave.

After dinner, we went to Yongdusan Park and climbed the Busan Tower. Yongdusan Park is famous for the night view of Busan that can be seen from the Busan Tower. It combines the symbols of Busan: the sea of ​​Busan, mackerel, camellia, Oryuk Island, humpback whale, Busan Tower, and the night view of Busan. The whole body of the tower is Different color transformations. The Busan Tower is open from 9:00 to 23:00, and the cost to climb the observatory is about 8,000 won per person.

The observatory offers a 360-degree view of Busan’s night view. The glass itself is a curtain, and there will be virtual images combined with the night view. The observatory is not big, with two floors. There are surrounding souvenirs for sale. You can use Alipay directly. You can accidentally scan overseas payments here. The red envelope of 35 yuan was the largest amount collected in 2018. It was cleared at the end of the year and good luck broke out.

After returning to the house, they washed up, put on pajamas, and applied facial masks. The two began to sit opposite each other by the window and chat, drank a bottle of sake, and fell asleep.

DAY 2 Municipal Museum of Art-Dongbaek Island-Haeundae-Youngwol-ro-Gwangalli Beach-Seomyeon Business District

Because I had plenty of time, I basically slept until about 9:00 in the morning, got up to wash up, and went out leisurely after 10:00. Local stores also opened very late, and many stores were still not open at 10:30 am. The brunch of the day was a seaweed soup set meal at a nearby restaurant, with rich side dishes. The Busan Museum of Art (Busan Museum of Art) that I originally planned to visit was closed on holidays, so I moved to the next stop on the trip - Dongbaek Island.

Dongbeak Park, also known as Dongbeak Island, is known as the Kingdom of Red Dongbeak Flowers. The nearly 2.5-meter-high mermaid statue on the island is the symbol of Dongbaek Park. It is made of discarded plastic products (people with trypophobia may not be able to stand it). It has the significance of calling everyone to pay attention to environmental protection and marine protection.

On the top of the island, there is a bronze statue and monument of Mr. Choi Ji-won (a scholar and writer in the Silla period). We did not take the route to the top of the mountain, but took the tree-lined path along the coast. The entire park is very small and quiet, with very few people. There are also people running in shorts in winter.

When the APEC summit was held in 2005, Dongbaek Park was praised as “the most beautiful venue”. Nurimaru APEC House, which means "a conference house where world leaders gather", is designed to imitate the traditional Korean pavilion architecture. It is small and located at the end of the park, facing the sea, with beautiful and quiet scenery. Nurimaru APEC House is open to the public free of charge. You can see the indoor layout, equipment, video materials and surrounding landscape of the APEC meeting at that time.

A beach not far from Dongbaek Park is Busan's famous Haeundae Beach (Haeundae Beach), which is a bit like Hong Kong's Repulse Bay. There were relatively more people, but it was winter after all, so the overall crowd density was not large. Mostly couples and families come with their children to play. Due to the high-rise buildings on the back of the beach, there is no strong wind on the beach. If the sun shines, your body will be warm. It was cloudy that day, and the sun appeared and disappeared. After the sun hid behind the clouds, the temperature would drop. In order to ward off the cold, we drank hot chocolate at a nearby Starbucks and took a short break.

In the evening, we walked along the slope to Haeundae Dalmaji-gil Road. Haeundae Youngwol Route consists of five themed walking trails: "Love Road", "Romantic Road", "Friendship Road", "Thinking Road" and "Memory Trail". It starts from the entrance of Yeongwolyeong and passes through Yeongwoldongsan Trail. , Yingyue Theater to Haiyue Pavilion, the total length is about 2.2 kilometers. Yingyue Road is the most charming at night. The soft lighting like moonlight makes the forest path look romantic and warm at night. It is one of the most popular date spots for local lovers.

There are cherry blossom trees along the way. If it is spring, it should be beautiful. Here you can view Haeundae Beach from a distance and watch the setting sun cast its sparkling waves onto the sea. On the way, we passed by a niche art gallery that sold some creative products, including Yoshitomo Nara’s Weird Girls. My companions who were traveling with me loved painting and watching exhibitions, which unexpectedly made up for not going to Chengdu Art Museum. On the way back from the trip, she showed me the photos she took and said that the sunset view taken on the balcony of this small hotel was her favorite of all the photos taken during the trip.

Therefore, life requires some unplanned surprises, and often these adventures are more precious and unforgettable.

We walked through unknown streets, guessing the uses of the buildings on both sides of the streets, passing by beautifully decorated kindergartens, and visiting unknown clothing stores. When we arrived at Guang'anli Beach, it was completely dark.

To Gwanganli Beach, take Subway Line 2 and get off at Gwangan Station, Exit 5, turn right and walk straight to the end. The beach is facing Busan Gwangan Bridge. The lights are on at 6:00 in the evening. The surrounding business district is more lively than Haeundae, and there are many restaurants to choose from. We relied on Dianping to choose a highly rated grandma restaurant nearby. I have to say that Dianping and Baidu Maps are still very useful in Korea. In my mind, Baidu Maps surpasses Google Maps in terms of convenience and practicality.

I arrived in Seomyeon in the evening. I originally planned to go shopping, but I found that I arrived too late and the department store had already closed. The Lotte Duty Free Shop is located on the 7th to 8th floors of the main store and closes at 8:30 every day.

To the west is the transfer station for local Line 1 and Line 2, surrounded by a bustling and lively business district, similar to Shanghai's People's Square. In the restroom of the Seomyeon subway station, there is a corner with eight makeup mirrors. Many girls are dressing up there. In domestic restrooms, they only apply powder and touch up their makeup. Here, there are hair stylists with curling irons. For the makeup, I felt that the tools for the entire procedure were complete, and the scene was amazing and impressive.

After returning to the residence, I finished washing up and the last day of 2018 came to an end. From the window of the residence, I looked down at the surrounding area of ​​Busan Tower, which was a little busier than the first night. We turned on the TV and saw Chinese online dramas on many Korean channels, including "Martial Arts" which seemed to be starring Yang Yang and Yiwei Yiwei, and there were all Chinese channels, There are also channels that are broadcasting super old Korean dramas and " Blue Life and Death Love " , which are simply a memory-killer.

During the New Year's Eve, I captured a small wave of New Year's Eve fireworks outside the window, accompanying me to the end of 2018.

DAY 3 Songdo Skywalk-Gamcheon Culture Village-Lotte Duty Free Shop

Songdo is located 4.8 kilometers away from Yongdusan Park. We need to go south through Nampo-dong and Jagalchi Market, so we chose to walk. On the first day of 2019, the temperature dropped significantly and the wind was blowing. I was looking for a restroom on the way there. I thought I had entered a coffee shop, but it turned out to be an Internet cafe. I thought of looking for a restroom on the way back to the park in the summer and also found an Internet cafe. It felt like a repetition across time and regions. The Internet cafe is clean and there is no smell of smoke. The aunt is very warm and friendly, but she can't understand English until she says " Dressing room " .

Busan Songdo Beach is located at 129-4 Amnam-dong, Seo-gu, Busan City. The skywalk is a section of the walkway extending toward the sea for tourists to walk and watch the sea. There are many seagulls that can be fed. You can also choose the cable car (tickets can be purchased with Alipay) to overlook the Songdo landscape from the air.

The weather was really too cold and the wind was very strong. It was freezing after a while after I raised my phone to take pictures. We stayed for less than half an hour and took a taxi to Gamcheon Cultural Village. The taxi fare was about 5,800 won.

Gamcheon Culture Village is known as the "Santorini of Busan". The village is famous for its unique scenery and culture. It was once a run-down slum, but later became a well-known cultural attraction under the promotion of Busan's "Hutong Art Project". The entire village is covered with colorful graffiti, and there is a large sock shop at the entrance with a lot of patterns to choose from.

There is a sculpture of a little prince and a little fox. There are so many tourists lining up here to take photos. It is difficult to take a separate picture of the little prince and the little fox. After observing for a while, most of the people were clinging to the little prince, taking pictures from various angles. The little fox looked even more lonely next to him. In the story of the little prince, what moved me more was the cute little fox. ~

Maybe it was because I didn’t adapt to the diet, or maybe I caught a cold, and my body started to rebel. I couldn’t stand browsing half of it, and I felt nauseated and vomited. Then I found a small shop, drank a cup of hot tea, and rested. I originally planned to go to White Ford Cultural Village (White ford Cultural Village, " Defender" and " The War on Crime "’s filming location) directly decided to give up. After the sightseeing and lunch, we took a taxi to the subway station and went directly to Lotte Duty Free Shop for shopping.

There are very few people in the duty-free shop overall. Local brands can be taken away, while international brands need to be picked up at the airport. After scanning the goods, the two of them returned to their residence with almost their last breath. They were completely exhausted. They were so tired that they just wanted to sit still and didn't want to talk, so they were silent for a long time. I finally worked up the energy to go have dinner and found a restaurant where Running Man had filmed, but it wasn't delicious. Maybe we ordered the wrong meal. The pork ribs set meal was too sweet and difficult to swallow.

On the first day of 2019, although I didn’t walk much, I was exhausted and my whole body ached. However, I have a Chinese stomach. When my stomach feels uncomfortable, I miss my motherland even more, even if it’s steamed buns and porridge. That night, in order to regain my strength as soon as possible, I frantically applied 7 warm baby patches all over my body and went to sleep.

DAY 4 Return

There are no tours planned on the last day. After cleaning up, as agreed with the landlord, sort the garbage by category and leave it at the door. The last meal in Korea was the pig's trotters set meal. The small portions were so large that the two of them couldn't finish it.

Finally, I checked Facebook and Ins again, used up all the Korean won in my hand at the airport duty-free shop, and started my journey back to my motherland. I took a beautiful sunset scene on the plane.

When chatting with friends about my trip experience, I first felt that a large proportion of boys in Busan are actually good-looking, tall, with straight noses and delicate faces. In contrast, the proportion of pretty girls seen on the streets is relatively small. Friends say that most Korean beauties may have entered the entertainment industry.

Secondly, I found that the locals really love black down jackets/cotton jackets. On the subway and on the street, men and women are basically all in black.

Also, the local English penetration rate is really not high. For the convenience of travel, I think it will be much more convenient to know the necessary Korean words.

Finally, Busan is also beautiful in winter, but it’s still too cold to walk outside for a long time. When visiting Busan, I still think it’s better to choose the warm season, so that you can better experience the style of the coastal city and enjoy the aquatic products better.