Living in Hongseong - 20 Oct 2010

There is almost no information about Hongseong (홍성) on the internet and certainly not within travel books. I therefore arrived here knowing almost nothing about it. I hope to help start an internet trend towards rectifying this.

To a small town English girl like myself, I initially found Hongseong to be a fair sized city. The Koreans, on the other hand, practically consider it a village. The truth is that Hongseong has a population in the region of 100,000. This puts it somewhere in size between Taunton and Bournemouth or, if you prefer, pretty much on par with Cambridge.

You would expect that this would provide ample entertainment and shopping opportunities, however Hongseong operates with a very small town vibe. There is no nightclub and the cinema is pretty small however there are lots of bars, gyms, restaurants, PC bang (PC방) and karaoke rooms (노려방). There is no real park but there is a city wall which is currently being rebuilt and has parklike areas around it.

There is also a pretty large shopping district with a good array of unique shops but very few brands have made it into this part of the Chungcheong province. This means that a large foreigner will have great difficulties buying shoes and clothes without venturing further afield. There is also nowhere to buy 'foreign' foods so if you fancy some cheese, a curry or steak and chips then you've got to get away first.

There is a well connected train station which is just outside of the city centre and delivers you to Seoul within a couple of hours or to Busan in three in a half. There is a bus station which is currently being redeveloped but nevertheless allows you to catch a bus to Asan in an hour or to a beach in about twenty minutes.

For me, this is the main attraction of Hongseong. You can live the small town life with most conveniences that you need on your doorstep but without the continuous noise and hassle of a massive city like Seoul.