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1913 송정역시장 (1913 Songjeongyeok-sijang)
Songjeong Station Market has stood next to Songjeong Railway Station since 1913. Visitors can enjoy a variety of food options, such as sugar-filled griddlecake, fish cake, and croquette with the sights of red ginseng yogurt, egg fried rice, and skewers. The hot-selling item in the alley is a calendar or a notebook marked with the Jeolla-do provincial dialect.
The 1913 Songjeong Station Market became very famous thanks to the praise of experts who selected Songjeong Station Market as the best for the perfect taste, market modernization, and most exemplary urban regeneration and market modernization projects.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Take the subway west and get off at Songjeong-ri station. From there, exit south and east and walk down past the row of Chinese markets. Songjeong has a large population of Chinese ex-pats, along with other Southeast Asians like Filipinos, Cambodians, Vietnamese, and Indonesians.
Ice skating is available at the Pungam World Cup Stadium athletics center for approximately ₩6500. In the front of Gwangju city hall, temporary outdoor ice skating rink will be open in winter, with the price only ₩1000.
5.18 기념공원 (O-il-pal Gi-nyeom-gongwon)
Gwangju's claim to fame is for its own Gwangju uprising, May 18, 1980. There are two memorials for this moment in its history. The main one is found in the beautiful 5.18 Park, in central Sangmu district. There is an exhibition hall there that enlightens visitors to the events that exemplify South Koreans' struggle against authoritarian regimes and their fight for democracy. While there, follow the walking path to the top of the hill where you can then climb a three-story pagoda and take in a nice view of the more modern part of Gwangju. The other memorial to this occasion is the 5.18 Cemetery, located in the northeast of the city, about 50 minutes from the bus terminal. Again, more monuments and dedications to this moment in history - but make sure the museum is actually opened because the long travel is not really worth it otherwise. The cemetery is open year-round. The operating hour of the museum is from 08:00 to 18:00.
수완지구
Suwan is a very new district boarding Cheomdan. It has one of the only Toys "R" Us stores outside of Seoul, located in the Suwan Lotte Mart Complex.
광주학생독립운동기념관
This monument is in the geographical middle of the city. Not widely known, and requires a taxi ride to get to, this monument is rather large and situated in a very quiet park atop a hill. The monument commemorates the student uprising against Japanese Imperialism in the early 1900s. The Park includes an impressive museum with detailed representations of the time. At times English tours are available.
포충사
A shrine honoring the loyalty of five righteous army soldiers during the Imjin War, including Go Gyeong-myeong in Wonsan-dong, Nam-gu, Gwangju. It was designated as a monument of Gwangju Metropolitan City on May 22, 1974.