Gwangju

What is Gwangju like? My girlfriend is moving there to teach and im planning a visit in july/august for 4/5weeks. Im definetely gonna be exploring but just starting to get curious what kind of place Gwangju is?

Gwangju

Gwangju is the sixth largest city in Korea and the largest in Jeolla Province. Its population is 1.5 million.

Gwangju is renowned as the city of art. It holds Gwangju Biennale(Asia%26#39;s first biennale for contemporary art). There is Art street in downtown. It is decorated nicely and full of galleries.

Gwangju is famous for Gwanju massacre of May 1980. At that time, many people were killed by Korean Army suppressing demonstration against military dictator. So, Gwanju is thought as a symbol of doemcracy of Korea. You can visit the massacre place, museums and the Semetry for victims.

Jeolla province including Gwanju is famous for cuisine. Koreans think Jeolla cuisine as the best in Korea. Jeolla province also has many tourist attractions like mountains, sea and beautiful islands.

Gwangju

My son teaches English in Gwangju and I just returned from a visit there. It will be very hot and humid in July and August.

I am sure since you will be spending time with your girlfriend you will enjoy your visit but if all you do is stay in Gwangju you may be bored. It is easy to go into Seoul via the KTX train and there is much more to do and see there. Take a trip to Jeju island which is a beach resort type of area. I have heard Busan also has nice beaches.

Consider that I am a 50 something American female and I am used to staying in fairly nice places. My son tried to put us up in a love motel and it was pretty dumpy. We wound up staying in a resort type hotel on the outskirts of town, the Shin Park Hotel which was okay but compared to US hotels, pretty run down.

Make sure you visit the Boseong Tea plantation about an hours ride from Gwangju. It was beautiful, very tranquil.

I have been to Japan several times and it was hard not to compare the two countries. Japan is much cleaner and architecture is much nicer.

Have a nice visit!

Do not go. I spent my first year there, and Gwangju is the absolute epicenter of Korean racism. We were taunted by strangers on the street, harassed, attacked, raped...yes, raped (not me, but one of the expat community girls). Western men are considered immoral lechers, and western women whores. I imagine only living in Pakistan or Saudi would be worse for a western woman than living in Gwangju.

A white or black person moving to Gwangju will get to know for real what is was like to be black in 1950 Alabama. We were treated like dogs, honestly, and I am leaving out scores of stories, all the same in essence, that I experienced or my mates experienced there that year.

Tell your gf to rip up her contract and go to Seoul.

Bizarre: I didn%26#39;t experience racism in Gwangju. Perhaps I was lucky.

It%26#39;s a big city of recent build (i.e. since the Korean war like most of Korea). It%26#39;s not very attractive generally but it has a buzz about it.

Hotels in the city are ok-ish.

Great places nearby, though, so I%26#39;d happily go there for a vacation.

Not much English spoken, so prepare for a struggle.

Oh my this place must have changed a lot in 14 years!

I didn%26#39;t get any of these vibes anywhere in Korea when I first visited.

I am planning a trip back now and will diffinately be going to Gwanju.

I was there in November. It%26#39;s not changed so op must have been very unlucky.

People were courteous, if a little surprised at a westerner in a nno-toursit location.