When visiting South Korea, most people tend to think about places like Seoul, Jeju Island, and Busan. But have you heard about Incheon? I’m sure you know one of the largest airports in South Korea is in Incheon, but have you thought about Incheon as a place for sightseeing? Incheon is a great place to visit, during both summer and winter. Either for its varied options of things to do, either for the very beautiful landscapes that you can see by just walking. I visited Incheon with some friends during summer and in this post, I would like to introduce that beautiful place to you. Today I will be introducing the Incheon Chinatown!
First off, getting to Incheon is very easy, once you can just go by subway (the last station of line blue). Most of the sightseeing spots in Incheon are close to each other, so you can just walk around from one spot to another. To get to the small islands around Incheon you will need to take a bus, but don’t worry too much! It’s easy, safe, and cheap to get wherever you want. Besides, locals are very warm-hearted and will help you with whatever information you need: even if you don’t speak Korean, you can be sure that they will try their best to communicate with you. This was one of the very best things about Incheon!
Coming back to Incheon’s Chinatown, it’s the only official Chinatown in Korea, and it’s one of the largest in the whole country! It features an 11 meter high Chinese styled gateway. It was formed in 1883, with the opening of Incheon Port in the same year. It was designated as an extraterritoriality of the Ching Dynasty in the following year. Back in the day, this area was full of stores that treated goods imported from Chine, but nowadays most of Chinese businesses in the area actually restaurants. But besides the restaurants, you can find a lot of souvenir shops.
As you can imagine, the whole area was built with Chinese style ornaments and architectural styles. It’s really close to the subway, you can see it from the exit of the station. It’s amazing how it feels like you are actually in a different country, as you see all of the red dragon ornaments all over the area of Incheon’s Chinatown. With a lot of beautiful areas to take pictures of your trip, I’m sure you will enjoy Incheon’s Chinatown just as much as I did.
for travelers by travelers(@koreabyme.official)님의 공유 게시물As you start walking, you will see a lot of stores with souvenirs and an arcade! The arcades in Korea are usually very cheap, so with around 5,000 won you can have a lot of fun at arcades! Either at claw machines or other arcade games. I recommend the Pump it up machines, they are very to use and very fun, and you can go dance up to three songs. If you are kinda lazy for jumping around, you can play on other rhythm games machines while sitting comfortably. The important thing is to have a good time, either alone or with your friends.
The specialty of Incheon’s Chinatown is the food! You will find a lot – I repeat, A LOT! – of jjajangmyeon noodles, which is a Chinese-style Korean noodle dish topped with a thick sauce made of chunjang, diced pork, and vegetables. You can eat for around 6,000 won, and it’s totally worth it! Not only the portions size are very generous, but the taste is also very good and unique, really tastes like homemade. Definitely the best jjajangmyeon I have tried in Korea! The only negative side of this is that jjajangmyeon is a heavy dish, it makes you feel full very fast, so it might be hard to eat it when it’s too hot. Try choosing a fresh day to try Incheon’s delicious jjajangmyeon! The jjajangmyeon is so famous they even have the jjajangmyeon museum, which as also very worth visiting. Be careful to not go to Incheon on Thursdays, it’s usually the local stores day off, so you won’t find many things opened.
As you walk by Incheon’s Chinatown, you will also be able to find the beautiful Samgukji Murals. The murals portray significant moments from the Three Kingdoms Period in a 150-meter-long stretch of road. They are painted in porcelain tiles and are are very beautiful to look at even though you can’t quite understand what’s written. But it’s actually easy to get the story behind the painting, because they are very clear when it comes to delivering a message.
You can learn a lot about Korean culture and history when visiting Incheon’s Chinatown, and also enjoy a day doing fun things and eating delicious food. So don’t waste any more time, plan your one day trip to Incheon and enjoy yourself in this beautiful city!
