In the 31st year of King Gojong, 150 years ago, ‘Gupo Market’ was introduced in a document for the first time. ‘Gupo’ means a turtle shaped port. From old times, every ship go up and down Nakdonggang river always dropped by Gupo. With the large amount of distribution coming in and going out, the market was naturally created, a kind of a central terminal. It was a strategic point of the Japanese military during Jeongyu Jaeran, as they built a castle on the hill where they could look down the port at a look. It was also the place the first railway and banks were established in Busan, as the center of trading and distribution for a long time.

Gumyeong station is standing in a straight line with Gunam station. You can see Gunam station across Gumyeong station when you stick your head out of the platform. You’re mistaken if you think it isn’t worthy coming this far to see a forest. Gupo Beombangsan mountain woodland path is the first trail trough a forest made for the disabled in Busan. You can reach the no-disability trail when walking for about 10 minutes from Gumyeong station. This trail is literally a woodland path where disability amounts to nothing. It is not easy at all to climb a mountain with a wheelchair or aids, but Buk-gu has made a 1.2km-long wooden deck trail through the center of Beombangsan mountain for everyone to enjoy the forest. Everyone can go for a walk without an electronic wheelchair as it observed the law and removed all of the stairs. Thanks to the space to stand aside in every 30m, you don’t need to send a signal to a front person to walk faster. Taking a walk is to slowly walk at a comfortable pace and enjoy the smell of woods.

Thanks to the no-disability woodland path, many mothers with a child carriage visit here. Usually, there is not much chance to show the natural forest to their children because all of the sidewalks available for the child carriage are near roads. In fact, I think this is the right way to make a woodland path through a forest. In Busan, where there are not many buildings considering the convenience of the disabled, this woodland path has a beautiful significance as well as the views. You can see Gimhae Airport and Nakdonggang river weltering at a look from the observatory.

Getting out of the forest, head to Gupo Market. When asking anybody, everyone points at the same place. There’s no one who does not know this market with at 150 years or 400 years of history in the minimum and maximum. It was moved to the place it is now from a ferry in 1933. Every place has an arcade roof, and there is also a nearby public parking lot. Blending the characteristics of traditional market and 5-day market, Gupo market is dealing with as much items as the major super markets. You don’t even need to wander around the streets, because the streets are well-organized by their items such as vegetables, seafood, herb, or street food. Since it is a huge market, keep it in your mind that you may see what you ‘don’t really want to see.’ If your girlfriend loves animals, you’d better not go to the livestock market.

There is all kind of food from alpha to omega, but the main food at the market is noodles. Especially, Gupo noodles. Since after the war, Gupo was full of noodle factories. They stood noodle drying racks that looked like a clothes dryer outside and dried fresh noodles there. This was the beginning of the legend of Gupo noodles. Because of the salty wind from the river near the sea, the dried noodles slightly tasted salty. Nowadays the noodles are dried by the artificial heat indoors, but the noodles then would have had better taste and chewy texture with the natural salty wind. Order a bowl of noodles at any restaurant you like. You can choose whether to hunker down or take a seat at a broad and clean restaurant to enjoy your meal. The large-eyed herring-brewed soup and simple garnish. Slurp the white soup. Perfect. You are drinking the friendly sea. This is the taste of Gupo.