The $150 million dollar Busan Cinema Center is an architectural oddity which opened to the public during the Busan Film Festival in October, 2011. Its cantilever roof is the world's largest and seems to break the laws of gravity. And at night, it lights up in spectacular color, adding a splash of beauty to Busan's most modern neighborhood.
Straight across from Busan Station, a traditional Chinese-style gate welcomes you into Shanghai Street -- the nexus of the city's Chinatown. We visited this hectic and very un-Korean neighborhood during its annual celebration.
The beginning of the summer has hit Busan, and the city seems to be celebrating with a raft of festivals. There's the International Car Show, a River Sports Festival, an International Dance Festival, a Port Festival, and a Traditional Folk Festival... and this all in the first week of June! We felt a little guilty skipping out on all of them, so decided to check out the Sand Festival at Haeundae Beach.
Though Christianity has recently become the dominant religion in South Korea, the country had been a primarily Buddhist land for nearly all of its history. Buddha's Birthday, which fell on May 28th in 2012, is a major celebration across the peninsula. And the week-long Lotus Lantern Festival which precedes it is an engaging reaffirmation of the country's traditional faith.
Manga is a Japanese phenomenon, but comics and animated TV shows are also big business in Korea, where they're known as manhwa. During our first weekend in Busan, a manhwa festival called Comic World was being held at the BEXCO convention hall. Wild Korean youth dressed in freaky cosplay? No way we were missing that.
