Chinese Restaurants Abound, But Opposition to Chinatown Remains

Around seven in the morning of October 7, many buses filled with Chinese tourists stopped by the side of a restaurant at “Yeonhui Gourmet Street” called Jinbukkyung and located in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. They came early on a Sunday to have a traditional Chinese meal.

As soon as they sat down, they were served Chinese style breakfast dish.

On this Sunday morning alone, about 700 Chinese tourists came to the restaurant, and that does not count the other customers. Won Min, the manager of the restaurant and an ethnic Chinese, said, “On weekdays, about over 500 Chinese come here, and about 60 percent of them are from mainland China. The rest come from Taiwan or are ethnic Chinese from Singapore and Malaysia.” The place that even the Chinese come to visit is located in Yeonhui and Yeonnam-dong’s Chinatown.

Ethnic Chinese centered around Chinese school-

The reason why ethnic Chinese are concentrated in this neighborhood is because of schooling. As of the end of 2006, 3,820 out of 8,937 ethnic Chinese residing in Seoul live in this area. Many mainland Chinese who come to Korea for business choose to live in this part of the city because of language advantages. The number of students at Hansung Middle and High School for Chinese located in Yeonhui 1-dong is 628. Statues of Sun Yat Sen and Chang Kai Shek can be seen on school grounds.

Their academic curriculum is exactly the same as in Taiwan, and the Taiwanese government provides textbooks and teaching materials. The Chinese CCTV channel and Taiwanese entertainment channels can be watched on TVs installed in every classroom.

Some time ago the graduates of the school would usually go to work in Chinese restaurants, but currently, about half of the school’s graduates find jobs at Korean companies or start their own businesses.

Upscale restaurants in Yeonhui, dumpling stalls in Yeonnam-

Both sides of Yeonhui Gourmet Street are bustling with upscale luxurious Chinese restaurants managed by ethnic Chinese.

Jinbukkyung is famous for Beijing kao ya, or Peking duck. The Chinese chef that cooks the duck learned his skills at the Quanjude, the restaurant known as the originator of the dish itself. One can taste steamed duck, duck skin dish, hot fried duck and even duck stew when ordering Beijing kao ya, and it costs 50,000 won per a duck. There are also other upscale restaurants run by ethnic Chinese, such as Jinbo, Yihwawon, and Gulliboo, and they offer a variety of course menus with a price range of 30,000 to 50,000 won per person.

Chinese cuisine is usually categorized as Shandong, Guangdong, Sichuan, or Beijing cuisine, but Chinese restaurants in this area do not quite fit these categorizations. One of the Chinese chefs explained, “The menus of all the restaurants have become similar in order to accommodate the tastes of Korean customers. Since there are so many restaurants preparing similar dishes, even the slightest drop in taste could result in customers not coming back.”

Unlike Yeonhee-dong, in Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu, many stores such as Hongbok and Hyangmi specialize in dumplings. In particular in Honbguk, famous for large dumplings bigger than a male adult’s fist, one can also taste Mongolian-style lamb barbeque.

Opposition of locals is obstacle to creation of Chinatown-

Although many Chinese live in the area, it is not yet an officially certified Chinatown. Korea is the only country in the entire world that does not have a Chinatown in any of its large cities, and Korea has been very exclusive of ethnic Chinese. In the mid-1970s many of them could not bear the discrimination meted out to them and returned to Taiwan or emigrated to the U.S.

Some Koreans pushed for the creation of a Chinatown after the 2002 World Cup. In addition, the Mapo-gu office also announced a plan to create a Chinatown in the vicinity of Yeonnam-dong but its feasibility has yet to be determined. There have been five meetings with local residents, but most are opposed to it. In particulars, residents of expensive houses in Yeonhui-dong are very much against the creation of a Chinatown. An official of the Seodaemun-gu office commented, “There are nine bank branches in Yeonhui 1-dong, which reflects the high economic status of ethnic Chinese, but if the other local residents do not actively consent, it will be difficult to go ahead with the project.”

uni@donga.com