Did you realize that the biggest department store in the world is in Busan? No? Well it is and I went there, because why not? It’s the biggest in the world.
I’ve eaten some pretty awful stuff at McDonald’s over the last few months; McDonald’s in South Korea has single-handedly made up for all of it. It was actually kind of bizarre how good everything was.
The Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan is definitely one of the more striking sights I’ve seen on my trip so far.
One of the specialties in Busan is a soup called dwaeji gukbap — pork and rice soup. There’s a whole stretch of road in the Seomyeon area of town that features nothing but one restaurant after another that specializes in the dish, so yeah, it’s a big deal here.
Many of the toilets in this part of the world, particularly in China — even the ones in touristy places like museums or the airport — are of the squat variety. If you’ve never encountered one of these things, it’s basically a porcelain hole in the ground.
After visiting the Jagalchi Market, I was walking along the nearby vendor-festooned alley looking for something seafoody to eat. When you visit a country’s largest fish market, you’ve pretty much gotta eat some seafood. It would be weird if you didn’t.
You know as soon as you climb up the stairs of the subway station that you’re in the right place — the smell of seafood is everywhere around Jagalchi Market, South Korea’s largest seafood market.
You know how I know I like Busan? I hadn’t even checked into my hotel yet, and I had already seen several street food vendors dispensing tasty treats.
Well, that’s that for China. Here’s a few photos, then it’s time to move on.
Built in the early 1400s, the Forbidden City is a really impressive palace compound (consisting of 980 buildings over 180 acres) right in the middle of Beijing.