Korea Expat BLog

BanPo Bus Terminal

long~ time ago in the ’70s a real-estate boom was in the making, purchasing grasslands South of the Han River (which would eventually be largely called KangNam and to spread even more in every direction) and this BanPo area was the first of a long~ series of apartment complexes that will come to comprise most of higher-class Korean modern living .

terminus for outer-city express buses, then scattered across the Capital, was bunched together and started operating from this spot in 1975 then its main bus terminal building built in 1981 (still operating today among other terminus). soon after apparel boutiques (so cluttered they were more like exhibition booths, but this was how underground shopping areas were in the Capital of SEOUL as well as the Port City of Busan formerly Pusan) formed under the large road in front of it, then in the same huge block : new businesses opened from the year 2000 to form Central City comprising of Marriott Hotel, ShinSaeGae Department Store and MegaBox Movie Theatre formed around its Mall in the center .

[ INDEX ]

  1. BanPo Bus Terminal Market .
  2. BanPo UnderGround Shopping Center .
  3. Central City Mall .

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BanPo Bus Terminal Building

is the beige-color rectangular-piramid shaped long 6-story building next to the newer Central City Shopping Complex and has quite a history as a witness to the development of modern South Korea . it used to be the shining symbol of mobile modernism when the whole nation was linked by outer-city express buses, when different bus companies connecting the Capital all gathered here using the whole lower 3 floors . Korean transportation conglomerate Keumho, who also runs Korean Airlines eventually operated this but sold over to the shopping conglomerate ShinSeGae who also owns the newer department store next to it . and now as alternate transportation have florished over the Millennium : only the ground floor is used as a bus terminal and upper floors more whole-sale markets with each floor dedicated to specific industry sectors . there-fore each upper floors have their own website ?!

  • 4th Floor selling interior fabrics and Korean traditional costume
  • 3rd Floor is flower whole-sale market open 1am ~ 5pm only -_- a small portion of under-ground shopping row in front of the building sells flowers as well as plants to consumers during regular business hours . larger plants have a larger market district at YangJae at the Southern tip of the Capital .
  • 2nd Floor similar to 4th floor plus china dishes and paintings

 

BanPo UnderGround Shopping Center (my English pseudonym)

was generally called Express Bus Terminal UnderGround Market (in Korean) stretching underground from North-West end of Central City (SEOUL Subway Line 9 Express Bus Terminal Station) East-ward for a large block until just short of the next subway station : Line 7 BanPo Exits 3 & 4. it has been re-vamped to a much cleaner shopping alley almost like Las Vegas (ofcourse but much smaller) June 2012 to be re-born as Go To Mall .

women’s apparel boutiques cover West-side and central blocks, while smaller interior decoration take East, and plants and florist are gathered at block’s-end further East – the main difference from flower whole-sale atop Bus Terminal Building is that they open regular business hours here . their official opening hours for the whole under-ground are 10am ~ 6pm with their On-Line Shopping Mall 10am ~ 10pm, but so many small stores are gathered here so actual hours vary, while most florists open 7am ~ 9pm ≫ store map

 

 

– First of May 2014, Korea Expat BLog –

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