Busan

Introduction

.. view of Haeundae beach at noon

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Busan (부산) with a population of 3.8 million is South Korea's second largest city and principal port. It's also the primary port for ferries to Japan and a gateway to the Hallyeo Maritime National Park and surrounding islands. The famous Jagalchi fish markets is one of Busan's top attractions and an excellent place to sample some of the multitude of marine products for sale.

Neighbourhoods

Sights and Activities

• Jagalchi Fish Markets
• Haeundae Beach

Events and Festivals

• Busan Jagalchi Festival - This popular festival is held at the famous Jagalchi fish market in Busan every October. This festival celebrates the Sea god and host many fish-related activities. Visitors can play fish-themed carnival-style games, or catch fish in a big pool for prizes. There are fish-eating contests, fish-cooking contests, and even a fish and octopus relay race! A "memorial service" is held for all of the fish that die throughout the year for our enjoyment. Both the opening and closing ceremonies of this festival include a magnificent fireworks display.
• Busan International Film Festival - One of the largest film festivals in Korea, the Busan International Film Festival shows over 300 films from over 70 countries. Even though the festival's inception is as recent as 1996, it has gained significant popularity over the years, and it draws a large international audience annually. Tickets for this event can be purchased online. This event is held every year in October.
• Busan Sea Festival - The Busan Beach Festival is held at Busan’s most popular beach, Haeundae, where approximately 12 million vacationers visit every summer. This festival includes musical performances, fashion shows, and a variety of contents and entertainment. During this festival, visitors can also view quality water sports programs, including: windsurfing, beach volleyball tournaments, a pin-swimming tournament, and many more. Those attending the festival can also take advantage of free lessons offered in ocean rafting, canoeing, kayaking, scuba diving, and banana boat rides. This festival takes place in August every year.
• Sand and Fun Haeundae Festival - Haeundae Beach hosts this popular festival every June in Busan. Visitors can expect to see a beach volleyball tournament, a sand sculpture challenge (often recognized by the Guiness World Records), sand-boarding competition, beach soccer, a Korean wrestling match, and beach treasure hunt. Guests can also receive a "hot sand bath", where they can get buried in sand up to their necks. During the evening, the festival puts on a beautiful fireworks display and offers other great entertainment, like music concerts and magic shows.
• Busan International Magic Festival - Busan hosts the largest magic festival in Asia. During this event, visitors can view performances from over 100 magicians from over 14 different countries. Magic supplies can be purchased, and for those guests aspiring to become magicians themselves, some magic trick lessons will be offered.

Weather

Busan has mild winters compared to much of the country, averaging between 6 and 9 degrees Celsius during the day and slightly below zero at night, but dropping as low as -14 degrees sometimes. Winters are relatively dry. Summers are tropical with hot and humid conditions. Temperatures average between 24 and 29 degrees from June to September with nights around or above 20 degrees. This is also the wet season with July topping at almost 300 mm of rain. The best times obviously are spring and autumn with much less rain and agreeable temperatures.

Getting There

By Plane

By Train

KTX to Seoul takes 2 hours 40 minutes.
Saemaul to Seoul takes 4 hours 20 minutes.

By Car

By Bus

Buses to Seoul take 5 hours 20 minutes.

By Boat

There are dozens of sailings on an almost daily or twice daily basis between Japan and Busan:

• Korea Ferry to and from Busan.
• Mirajet has high speed ferries between Busan and Fukuoka, taking only 3 hours.
• JR Beetle, a Japanese based company, offers the same service.
• The Camellia-line ferry service is much slower (15 hours) but almost twice as cheap.

The most popular and cheapest route is between Busan and Shimonoseki.

• The Kampur Ferry Service's vessels Kampu or Pukwan leave Busan at 6pm and arrive in Shimonoseki at 8.30am the next morning on a daily basis.

Musung has boats between Busan and Yantai in China. Dalian, Shanghai, Tianjin (City), Yingkou and Weihai have connections to and from Busan.

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

By Foot

By Bike

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Work

Learn

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet is widely available in South Korea. The country is the sixth highest user of Internet in the world and there are internet cafes around the country in public places such as airports, train stations and bus terminals in South Korea. ‘PC bangs’ are rooms full of computers, predominantly started for people to play games. They are cheap and many open 24-hours with snacks available.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

Korea Post is the national postal service and has fast, reliable and well-priced services. Standard letters and postcards start at 400 Won for domestically send ones. On their website you can find more about pricing details, as there are many different rates, depending on the zone (which country) you want to send it to, how much it weighs, wether it is air or ground service etc. Generally, post office hours are from Monday to Friday 9:00am to 6:00pm, though the larger central post offices tend to be open until 8:00pm and sometimes also on Saturday or even Sunday, usually only mornings.

External Links

• Official Governmental Website
• Busan at Visit Korea Tourism Website