Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cdninkorea]

I wish someone had told me earlier that Cheongnyangni fruit and vegetable market was the greatest place in Korea for produce, but it took me almost 4 years to discover it on my own. The thought that someone else may never find it sends shivers down my spine, so, as a public service, let me tell you about it (you can thank me with a ticker tape parade and a harem of Korean beauty pageant contestants).

Walk outside of exit 1 of Cheongnyangni station, line 1 between Jegi-dong and Hoegi stations. Walk a few short steps and you'll see a big arch over a street advertising the market. It is there, my dear fellow expats, that you will find what may be the cheapest, freshest fruits and vegetables in Seoul.

I should note that the area is the ugliest place I've ever seen, in Korea and elsewhere: it's incredibly dirty, the buildings look ready to be condemned, and it's not exactly where you'd go to meet your future spouse or for eye candy, if you know what I mean. However, as someone who goes through a lot of vegetables, nuts, and a decent amount of fruit, I love the place; six heads of broccoli for a few thousand won. Several kilograms of spinach for 2,000 won. Big Asian pears, right now around 2,500 won at E-Mart, for 1,000 each. And the freshest almonds I've ever had. Wash vigorously, for the area, as previously stated, isn't exactly surgery sterile.

I've never felt that any of my threads should be made into a sticky, but perhaps this one should? I can't be the only one to want cheaper produce.

[eamo]

That's where I changed buses on my way to work for two years.

Granted, there may be fresh fruit at good prices, but the area is dominated by the chinese medicine market (Gyoungdong) and is real old school Korea....i.e. smelly and dirty.

It was there (Jegi Station to be precise) that I saw a salesman attracting customers by looping a video of animal fights. Like, fights between wild boar and bear. Or lions and leopards. Really. Videotaped wild animal fights. Not related at all to what this ajeossi was selling. Just to attract customers. Sure enough there would be 4-5 old guys sitting on the chairs provided watching a bear rip apart a boar. While the sales guy does his patter about water filters or something. Bizzare. Only in Asia.

[nosmallplans]

There's a huge red light district and an amazing sohl-lung-tang restaurant there.

[saw6436]

But the real question is; can you buy Artichokes there?

[Vancouver]

dude, its artichokes. I'd be amazed if they sold chokes anywhere in Korea

[cdninkorea]

I did see avacados last week, but not artichokes.

[ciccone_youth]

ugh, wish i knew that info when i used to live in that crappy neighborhood! i was too scared to go anywhere near it.