First impressions of Bucheon

I've been here a week and done a bit of exploring.

So far, Bucheon seems like a good city to live in. There are plenty of shops, restaurants, bars and coffee shops. My apartment is 2 minutes walk from school and is right in the city centre (although not as noisy as St Mary Street!). Across the road from my block is a pedestrianised area and also the Hyundai department store (they don’t just make cars you know), the shopping mall (including a branch of the Body Shop) and an Emart (supermarket). Across the road from the Hyundai store is Bucheon City Hall and Bucheon’s very own Central Park.

The nearest subway station is called Songnae and is about 10 minutes away by bus (or a half hour walk) which gets you into the centre of Seoul in about 35 minutes. They’re also building an extension to subway line 7 which will go through the centre of Bucheon and will link Seoul with the Incheon City (I don’t know why they don’t just build a direct line from Seoul to the airport).

Bucheon looks pretty cool at night time, lots of neon everywhere (very Lost in Translation). Here, businesses and shops aren’t just limited to the ground floor of buildings. There are often several floors of businesses in one building, each with their own neon sign. I’ll take some photos to try and illustrate…

Bucheon city centre

Signage

Pedestrianised area opposite my apartment

City Hall

Hyundai Department Store