What are the BEST souvenirs to buy and places to shop in Taiwan and S.Korea?

Question

What are the BEST souvenirs to buy and places to shop in Taiwan and S.Korea?

I'm going to be traveling to Taiwan and S.Korea soon, and I want to know what are some "things" that Taiwan and S.Korea are known for? I would like to come home with some really cool souvenirs!! I would like some suggestions from people who have traveled to those places and found some cool items ALONG WITH cool places to shop!! PLMK :]

Answer 1

I am not sure about Taiwan but in Korea you should visit Itaewon in Seoul. It's the best place to buy souvenirs in Korea for both Koreans and foreigners. You'll find fake LV bags to Korean "soju" shot glass and more. But make sure to bargain and haggle with the store clerks because they are well trained to rip you off and you are expected to ask for discount.

Answer 2

Well... my favourite places to shop in South Korea (Seoul) are Myeong Dong and Dong Dae Mun (after midnight... less people, and it's open till 5am). If you are wanting souvenirs they are best bought at Nam Dae Mun, and you can bargain your prices a bit there, and you can get anything under the sun!
For more arty, and better made gifts head to Insadong, which is an arty traditional street in Seoul, magical place with some great little tea shops hiding off the main strip. However the gifts here come with a price, possibly some pieces also hold guarantees or authenticity certificates.

Souvenirs in Korea can vary, depending on how much mney you want to spend. Some nice gifts are hand made lamps and lanterns made out of paper, yet they look wooden. Or some handmade pottery tea sets... otherwise for cheaper options you can get a million gazillion mobile phone accessories, or key rings for a great price.
My friends always ask for noodles as souvenirs haha and kimchi.
Hand crafted masks are great too, they come in various sizes, and are fairly easy to cart around, more often than not they are wooden and carved.

For Taiwan, the best places in Taipei to shop are XiMen (West gate??) and XiLen (im not sure if thats the correct spelling, but it's a night market...)
XiMen is the 'young' peoples area, really cool, and some unique little stores, you can get pretty cheap tattoos and peircings there too... as for souviners, I guess you could find stuff there... my friends just wanted socks and stuff, so im not very clued up on the 'traditional' souvenirs. Shopping in Taipei is very fun!!!!

Taiwan is handy too, because if you have a cellphone with a SIM card, you can use it in Taiwan, just go into one of their phone stores, and its about $13 but includes that much in call time too.

Korea you would need to rent a phone, if you felt you needed one, or if you have friends, im sure they will have one lying around that they could give you for your stay. We have many in our house, not sure how many actually work.

Hope this was of some help to you!
I love both places, so great! The people, the food and the shopping! Enjoy your trip!!!

Answer 3

I would suggest a Harubang for one possible cool item. It is a statue carved out of volcanic rock from Jeju Island. You could also get a hanbok if you want to invest the money in something like that, but you can always go to Gyonbokgong palace and pay 15,000 won to have your picture taken in one. As for Taiwan I have never been there so don't know what to get or where to buy it.

Answer 4

for korea, you should go to myoung dong, leetaewon,or namdaemoon. they are all bazzar-like places with all different cool things to buy. namdaemoon is a little less clean than myoungdong (like NYC as opposed to Boston; Boston is cleaner) but has much more cultural things and more korean- type stuff, from chopsticks to mini gold statues. myoungdong is better for clothes and acsessories and stuff. it has better resurants, too, MD has from korean stores to stands on the road to Guess and tommy hilfinger.

Answer 5

the most famous place to buy souveniers is Insadog in South Korea. you can find every souvenier there is to be find. take your pick. maybe can bargain a little bit at some stores.

Answer 6

jade