4 April 2026
Medium vibrance
Sangnam market area
Changwon is not all planned city and wide streets and brand new buildings. Either side of the main streets there are night life areas, one side is more bars and nightclubs, the other is beauty products, photo booths, claw machines and restaurants. I prefer the latter and to hang out with the children. I make them uneasy.
So I know Changwon is a small city, but it is very dense, and so there is still a lot of bright lights and shops. It is also a confusing 'city', because I think it might be 3 cities that are not even connected, except by bus. The part of the multi-city planned city I am staying in is officially, Korea's first planned industrial city, whatever that means. Wikipedia explains it as - "As Korea's first planned city, modelled after Canberra, Australia, Changwon uses accessible urban planning including many parks and separate residential and industrial areas".
Bragging about being like Canberra is an interesting choice.
There are no buildings that tall in Canberra.
This is a couple of streets west of my hotel, and I think it is a bar and nightclub area.
You can refuel with hydrogen here and zeppelin yourself.
I found the drain! I found the drain!
This is one of the main central streets, with department stores, wide streets with wide footpaths. Very clean and sterile.
However one street over is the Sangnam market. Closing at this time, but large and chaotic.
The busy area. With less wide footpaths.
For my dinner, a very filling tofu and udon stew, with fried tofu inari, but with a Korean twist of being filled with Kimchi (of course) and bean sprouts. I think this is a specialist tofu restaurant, but word of warning to vegetarians, tofu restaurants in Korea does not mean it will all be vegetarian.
Note that there are no footpaths.
I hung around for it get dark so I could bathe in the fluro glow of neon.
Tomorrow is a hiking day. I have not chosen the hike yet, I have 3 to choose from, and only time in Changwon to do two.