Changwon(창원) is a city in and the capital of Gyeongsangnam-do province. The city is approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Busan.
General information
It has approximately 545 000 people and is the only planned city in Korea. It was established in 1974 to be an industrial and residential centre, and also as the future provincial capital and has grown since this time.
Unlike most other Korean cities that often have large sections of urbal sprawl, Changwon has many parks and gardens throughout the city which gives it a much different feel. Changwon is similar in this way to Bundang, a planned satellite city close to Seoul.
- Number of households: 164126 (2004)
- Administrative divisions: 1읍, 2면, 12동
- Address of city hall: 1 Yongho-dong, Changwon-shi (창원시 용호동 1)
- City flower: 진달래
- City tree: pine (소나무)
To the east is the city of Gimhae, to the south is Jinhae, to the west is the city of Miryang and the county of Changnyeong, and to the west is the county of Haman and the city of Masan.
Principal mountains include Bulmosan (불모산, 802m), Jeongbyeongsan (정병산, 567m), and Jangboksan (장복산, 582m). Besides these are a number of mountains below 500 metres.
Climate
Changwon has relatively more rain than other areas, with an average yearly precipitation of 1,527 mm. The yearly average temperature is 12.9℃. There is an average of 116-130 or so days per year with clear weather.
Restaurants and Bars
Restaurants
As the average Korean, Japanese, and Chinese restaurants are in abundance throughout Korea and are easy for foreigners to find, the following restaurants reflect a sampling of restaurants considered to be either popular or are western-friendly choices and other ethnic foods.
Bars
Sexy bar
Other notes
It has 2 department stores (Lotte and Daedong), as well as E-Mart, and Homeplus which provide for most shopping needs of the community. There are also 20 cinema screens in the city (spread between 3 very recently built western-style cinemas - Lotte, CGV and Megabox)which caters for entertainment.
Perhaps the most well-known tourist site is the Junam Reservior which is an important bird migration site and the largest in Korea. During the peak season(winter) 30-40 000 birds a day on average can be seen there.
It is a hub of factories for many major companies including Samsung, GM-Daewoo and LG Electronics.
The city is also home to K-League soccer side Gyeongnam FC, and Korean Basketball League team Changwon LG Sakers. phone number lookup
External links
