Destination: Choryang Street for Foreigners (Busan)

Welcome to the 'Choryang Street for Foreigners' - also known as Texas Street or Choryang Arcade. Whatever you call it, it's located across the street from the Busan Station - a central hub of traveling throughout South Korea whether you're arriving or leaving from Busan.

What makes this area interesting isn't what it is today - it's what it's been. During the Korean war, this area was known as Texas Street, a red-light / entertainment district described as "a hive of activity, a hybrid of Korea and the west" by the Moon guidebook I've come to depend on. Since then, it's essentially been taken over by Russians - notice the Cyrillic on the right side of the sign above. 'Foreigners' in this area are just as likely to speak Russian or Chinese as they are English - in fact there's a small Chinatown around, although I didn't find it through random wandering. Whatever language they speak, Busan has tried to bring some respectability to the area and renamed it the Choryang Street for Foreigners. It's now considered a tourist destination by the city, an area that will continue to draw foreigners in from all around the world.






The streets of the area. Like Itaewon in Seoul, there's plenty of imported-stuff stores, bars, a few clubs, and restaurants to keep the place busy.



Need a place to stay for the night? This one alley alone has several places. Notice the symbol at the top of each sign - it's commonly used as a symbol of a cheap (but clean) motel, or sometimes at a jimjilbang / public bath. The context can help you determine which is which, as can having a look around.

Walking through another part of the street provides you with more than enough food and drink to buy. No telling if you'll want to carry that bag of plums / steamed corn back to your hotel room, but at least you know where to get it!

Choryang Street for Foreigners is worth a quick visit, and since it's so conveniant to the rest of town (again, across the street from Busan Station), it's easy to pop in and peek around for a couple of hours. My only suggestion is to be aware of it's past reputation as a red-light district - while the area is being cleaned slowly, it's not as cleaned up as you might like. Be prepared to smile and nod through some of the more questionable looking types during the evening hours; during the daytime they're not out, however.

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