By Baek Byung-yeul
Traditionally, Chinese tourists have been regular visitors to northern Seoul with its historic remains and famous shopping districts. Nowadays, however, more and more Chinese people are visiting the southern Seoul district of Gangnam.
The affluent area, which became famous for Psy’s hit song “Gangnam Style”, is known as a shopping mecca and home to the hottest restaurants and cozy coffee shops in Seoul. Among the many popular tourist spots there, Garosu-gil is a new favorite among Chinese visitors. The 700-meter-long street (Garosu-gil means tree-lined avenue) is located near Sinsa Station, subway line 3.
When The Korea Times visited there Saturday, the street was overflowing with tourists speaking Chinese. “This is my second visit to Seoul; my friend and I came here because we didn’t want to repeat previous routes like Myeong-dong or Mt. Nam where we’ve already taken a tour,” said a female tourist at the Garosu-gil district.
There, she bought a cardigan and ate tteokbokki (rice cake in hot sauce) at a Korean restaurant selling the popular local snack food. She revealed that every place they visited was introduced through the Internet. "I already know quite a lot about this street through Korean dramas; I also learnt about lots of hot places here through Chinese Internet websites. They were very helpful,” she said.
A real estate agent based in Garosu-gil said the increasing number of Chinese tourists in Gangnam was not temporary, adding that the monthly rent fee in Garosu-gil has almost tripled compared to five years ago.
“Almost every big name fashion chain has opened branches here over the past few years, and the monthly rent fee has almost tripled. Businesses pay almost 10 million won ($9.500) now for renting a 33-square-meter space,” the agent surnamed Kang said.
“Noticing how popular a destination for Chinese tourists Garosu-gil had become, big fashion and cosmetics brands flocked here and now it is hard to find an empty space. This is the most likely cause of the rapid hike in rents,” the agent added.
Korea has witnessed exponential growth in the number of Chinese tourists visiting the country. Last year, about 4.32 million Chinese visited here and it seems certain that about 5 million people will visit this year, according to the Korea Tourism (KTO).
The KTO estimated that about 164,000 Chinese tourists came to Korea during their Golden Week public holiday from Oct. 1 to 7, some 40,000 more people than the same period last year.