Sometimes you really wish that you can just go to one place for all of your needs. This is because it would be a complete pain to have to go to several places for what you need. It would be tiring and it would cost you quite a bit of money. Luckily for you if you live in Seoul, you have the Bangsan market for your convenience. This place is just amazing since you have 550 shops all in one place!
But this might pose a problem for some critical thinkers. They might be wondering, is this place worth visiting then? This is because they want to know what product this place is known for. For example, you might just come for food but why? It would be really hard to find a good restaurant from the 550 stores, so you might be better off going to a place that is smaller. But that all changes if they are known for a specific restaurant, because this makes it easier to find.
I got you covered though. This Bangsan market is known for its wrapping paper. You get so much convenience in this one place and you get some amazing wrapping paper for any gift you want. I know this might sound boring but I will go into great detail. You will become an expert once you are done reading!
History Of Bangsan Market
This market is a little special since it symbolizes korean hard work. They had to overcome some “difficulties due to an economic slowdown”(koreaherald). It wasn’t an easy task though! In fact it wasn’t looking good for the people who were trying to use this market to make a living. But thanks to korean hard work, this trial was surpassed and now it became a thriving business. A lot of Koreans open up small businesses to sell anything you can think of.
This also creates a cycle because other “small businesses come here to make their business better” (koreaherald). The cycle brings money to the businesses in the market and outside, so everyone becomes happy! Definitely worth visiting for this one reason alone!
Bangsan Market Specialty
Is the wrapping paper worth coming to this place to visit though? I would say yes definitely because of the visual value. This is actually quite important if you are trying to give a gift or if you are trying to run a business. A gift wrapped in a high quality packaging paper amps up the gratitude that the recipients will feel towards you. For example, would you feel more excited for the gift with good wrapping paper or the other gift with bad wrapping paper.
This is also true for people who are trying to run a business as well. You are able to use the wrapping paper for your products once they are purchased by a customer. They then become impressed with what they get and it might encourage them to come back more. This then leads to an increase in revenue! Also who knows, you might find something you like in the Bangsan Market while looking for that quality wrapping paper!
Sweets
Bangsan market is also known for a very specific street. This street is called “bakery street” (trazy) and it is definitely deserving of its name. This is because you can find a lot of stores that provide you with the necessary ingredients for making sweets. You can find equipment to help you with baking sweets, chocolate, and tools to shape your sweet delights. Useful for people who are trying to be a baker or for small bakery shops.
Why? Well the reason is simple. You will literally find anything that you could possibly need for your baking. It could be the most obscure thing that you might need and chances are that you will definitely find it here. Also since this is such a specialized street, then it is likely you will find someone who is an expert on sweets. They may be more than willing to help teach you how to make good sweets which will satisfy your customers if you owned a business or as a gift for your loved ones.
Food at Bangsan Market
I am dedicating a section to this part because I think it is important for the experience. There are a lot of stores in Bangsan Market, so a first timer can get really tired depending on how they approach things. So how would we deal with this problem? You can deal with this problem by going to the food stalls in the Bangsan Market! The food there will be able to recharge you and give you the energy you need to visit the remaining 550 stores!
But what if you are in a hurry? Well you can always just find a food stall that gives you portable food. You can then just chow down on what you have while visiting the different stores. If you want real food, then there are some fantastic restaurants nearby as well. You’ll find that the Bangsan Market is not lacking!
Places to stay near the market
This section is especially important for the tourists in Korea. It is important because you might be tight on money when coming to Korea. So what if you want a place that can provide you with all of your needs and at a cheap price? Well then you would obviously want to stay near there right? It would save you on money for a cab, since all you need to do is walk by. That sounds great right?
So luckily for you, there are some great hotels nearby. For example there is the hotel Skypark Kingstown which is rated quite highly. The prices are also quite affordable as well. But I know that the prices can quickly add up if you stay there for too long. But since you’re a tourist, then you don’t have to worry about that issue since you would stay for a week or two at most! There are other great hotels nearby as well if you don’t like my recommendation, just choose the one that you feel most comfortable with.
How to get to Bangsan Market
This section is for the people who actually live in Korea and can’t afford to spend money at a hotel. Getting to Bangsan Market isn’t actually tough at all. You can get to Bangsan Market by car or by a cab. But what if you can’t afford to buy a car or constantly spend money on a cab? Well then you can just spend money on a subway ticket at a really affordable price. There are many different ways to get to Bangsan market and you can just look it up.
But I will give you one example of a way to get to Bangsan Market. You can take the “subway from city hall station to Euljiro 4-ga station” (rome2rio). From there you can walk a short distance to the Bangsan Market and you will be fine. As you can see, there are many ways to get to Bangsan market without the hassle. So there is no excuse to not go unless you are really tired of the place which I highly doubt!
Dongdaemun Market
Now hold on, why am I talking about another market when I should be talking about the Bangsan market? Well that is because this market is actually very close by. It wouldn’t be a lot of trouble to visit this place, so you can just consider it as another place of interest. You can find toys, textiles, and electronics here. So this makes this place a little more special since it has things that the Bangsan market might not have.
So if you somehow couldn’t find anything that you wanted in Bangsan market, then you would certainly find something in the Dongdaemun market. Furthermore you can think of it as a competition for your benefit. Let us say that there is a place that sells food at Bangsan market and you think it is just okay. You might find another place at Dongdaemun market and it might be a lot better and vice versa. Do you see my point here? You are going to get the best quality products, but as long as you spend the effort to get it.
Final thoughts
I hope you completely understand as to why the Bangsan market is such a special place. It holds historical, financial, and cultural value. You can find everything that you could possibly need in the Bangsan market or the Dongdaemun market. Granted you might just end up finding it all boring. But even the most introverted person should be interested in a place that has 550 stores all packed in one place.
The only other thing I want to mention is that you obviously don’t want to visit this place right now. This is due to the fact that we are currently in a pandemic and this would be a terrible place to visit if you are trying to avoid the virus. A lot of the stores are packed into a small area, so it could be problematic if there are a sufficient number of people. But definitely give this place a visit once the pandemic is over!
