Seoul & Busan: On Par with Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Beijing?

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greekness2007
greekness2007

Hello,

I posted a thread a couple of days ago asking why South Korea gets overlooked by most Asia-bound tourists. The feedback helped me understand why. Moving on with my queries, how do South Korea’s big cities-Seoul and Busan-compare (sightseeing, energy/buzz, architecturally) to Asian urban hotspot/‘must-see’ destinations like Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo? Do you think Seoul and Busan are similar in caliber or do you think they are simply ordinary developed Asian urban centers?
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dababa
dababa

Are you high?
NFW.
Seoul is OK, but nowhere near the caliber of city that the others are.

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greekness2007
greekness2007

DaBaba,

And what about Busan?

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dababa
dababa

What about it? I've never been there? Are you implying that it is a world-class city like Shanghai or Hong Kong or Tokyo?

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greekness2007
greekness2007

No, I am not implying. I am asking...

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ichyfeet1234
ichyfeet1234

Busan is small - about 4 to 5 million people, it is not in the same catagory as Shanghi or Tokyo. Perssoally i prefer Seoul to Shanghi, have not being to Beijing or Tokyo yet.

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drumbrake
drumbrake

Hong Kong - Asia's World Class City...

Signatures are back!
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rob_the_pom
rob_the_pom

Well Seoul has 2 World Heritage Sites, 3 if you count the suburb of Suwon. Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai do not.

So, for history Seoul is in 2nd place after Beijing.
I've just moved to Seoul and have been to all the other cities (except Busan), and it seems to me to be massively under-rated.

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chrisj
chrisj

I've been to all of those cities. Several times. Yes, both Seoul & Busan are under rated. I loved Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Beijing too, btw.

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doc_ido
doc_ido

It's hard to pin down the differences between the places, and in my opinion they're not directly comparable anyway. I'd say Tokyo has the modernity, cleanliness, modern architecture and craziness edge; Seoul has the balance between cost and comfort and China has the grand scale.

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