Changwon



Changwon  (창원시) is the capital city of South Gyeongsang in South Korea, and incorporates the known harbor town of Masan. Changwon is the first of South Korea's few planned cities.

Understand
Developed in the 1970s, it was designed to be the new capital for Gyeongsangnam-do and an alternative capital for the country should Seoul be invaded. The city is surrounded by mountains which provides protection. A missile defense station sits on top of the southern mountain range. Changwon boasts of the longest straight road in the nation (Changwon Main Road - Changwondae-no) which is over 12 km long. If necessary the road can be used as a landing runway.

The city is home to many high-technology and machine industries, including LG, Samsung, GM Daewoo, and their employees in a high-quality urban space. Changwon Main Road divides the town with the industries mostly being on the western side and the urban environment mostly being on the eastern side.

The neighboring cities Jinhae and Masan have since 2010 administratively been parts of Changwon.

Changwon is a planned city based on public works and a center of South Gyeongsangnam-do. Among non-capital areas, Changwon has the largest population including capital areas, Changwon followed by Suwon, Goyang and Yongin.

The climate of Changwon has a very similar climate to Busan nearby Changwon. Changwon is very hot in the summer and is also the place where tropical nights are observed very frequently in Korea. On the other hand, it is not very cold in winter and it snows rarely. There is not much snow in Changwon generally, so traffic is often paralyzed if it barely snows in Changwon.

Get in
Changwon is to the west of Busan, and most travel to Changwon is via this international hub. Located in the southeastern part of Gyeongsangnam-do, it is located in Gangseo-gu in Busan and Gimhae to the east, bordering Miryang and Changnyeong-gun on the Nakdong River to the north, Haman-gun, Jinju, Goseong-gun to the west, and Geoje City to the south. There is Masan Bay in the center of the city and Jinhae Bay in the south.

The existing three cities of Masan, Changwon, and Jinhae integrated and operated city buses, and today, they have deeply linked and cooperated in transportation, culture, and infrastructure, including Dongmasan IC, the main gateway of Changwon.

By plane
The nearest airport is Gimhae International Airport. in Busan, the neighboring town to the east.

By train
The Mugunghwa, Saemaeul and KTX (Korea Train Express) trains arrive at the Changwon Train Station in the north part of the urban area of town. There are KTX stops at Changwon Train station, Changwonjungang Train station, and Masan Train station. You can travel directly to Changwon from Seoul Station without any transfers or connections.



By bus
Buses connect Changwon to most of the other cities in Gyeongsangnam-do via the Express bus terminal. Some buses connect with Changwon at the Namsan terminal in the south part of town, including buses for Busan. Express buses connect directly to Seoul several times a day.

Buses from Busan mainly depart from the Seobu bus station in Sasang-gu. It's a short walk from the Sasang subway station to Seobu. The fare is about ₩3500.

Masan's intercity bus terminal serves destinations in the vicinity. There are frequent buses to Busan and Jinju (₩4,000 and one hour), as well as longer routes serving Tongyeong and far southern Geoje.

Get around
There are two types of city buses; express and normal. The express bus costs a little more but have fewer stops. The normal bus stops at every stop and most routes run into neighboring towns Jinhae and Masan. Current cash price is ₩1,300 for a normal bus and ₩1,800 for an express. When using a transportation card (T-money card) for payment, price is ₩1,250 for a normal bus and ₩1,750 for an express. Taxis are also a very common mode of transportation. Taxis can almost always be flagged down within a couple minutes on any semi-major to major road. All taxis (including black) start at ₩3,300 during the day but the starting rate goes up to ₩3,960‬ after midnight. And you can use the bike rental service. One of the best places to ride bicycles in Korea is the old Changwon city area. This is due to bicycle lanes installed on all major roads in the city. Nubiza is a combination of Nubida and Bicycle, which is a public bicycle service that is loaned from Changwon City. It is also South Korea's first public bike that began on October 22, 2004. Nubiza's terminals are located in many places in the city like bus stops, each with kiosks. If you pay a reasonable price, you can rent a bicycle, but if you rent it and don't return it for an hour and a half, you'll get a call to return it quickly. In this case, you can return it and rent it again. The Nubiza bike has a speedometer so you can check the mileage, time, etc. And it has headlights and rear lights, so there's no problem with night driving.

See

 * dott Island the nation's first marine amusement park. It is operated as a small recreation park.

Work
Most foreign workers hold positions as either engineers or English teachers.

Buy
Changwon is known for its watermelons and persimmons. If you're cooking for more than one person, check out the traditional markets for fresh fruits and veggies at great prices.

For the shoppers out there, Changwon has a Lotte Mart, Lotte Dept Store, and an Emart all centrally located by the Rotary across from City Hall. Daedong Dept Store's not too far from the Rotary as well. There's also a Home Plus and New Core Outlet near the bus terminal, and City 7 beside Changwon's Pullman Hotel.

Eat

 * Various kinds of seafood Because there is a huge fish market, the quality of seafood, including fish, is as good as that of high-end department stores.

Stay safe
There are no special considerations beyond those described in the South Korea article.

Connect
There are no special connection considerations beyond those described in the South Korea article.

Cope
For media, see South Korea.

Go next

 * Busan is the main regional city