Shopping paradise

Dotta in Dongdaemun Market, the center for local fashion design products, is undoubtedly the first choice for a foreign fashion lover. The 24-hour service means flexible shopping hours for customers.

In the seven-story building, fashionable clothing and accessories are available at a favorable price.

You can speak Chinese when asking for discounts as many vendors in Seoul understand Chinese numbers. If you can, take a calculator for bargaining. But bargaining in Seoul seems to be limited to under 10,000 won (about 60 to 70 yuan). If you want a bigger discount, the vendor may become angry.

Myungdong (明洞) is a shopping and entertainment area in downtown Seoul containing some of the city's top stores and fashion boutiques. Here, fashion shops and skincare shops abound.

Don't forget side vendors. You can buy fashionable and comfortable leather shoes for about 20,000 won (about 130 yuan) a pair.

The Lotte Department Store is another place worth visiting in Myungdong. High-quality chinaware and steel chopsticks with printed designs can be found on the top floor but they are expensive.

Nearby is the Nandaemun Market which is similar to the Yiwu International Trade City in China, a wholesale market. Here you can find almost anything you can think of at pretty good prices. Local people usually go there to buy daily necessities.

Medical tour set to open for tourists

According to a city government report, there are more than 500 plastic surgery clinics in Seoul.

For Koreans, plastic surgery is not rare as about 40 percent of the people have had some form of plastic surgery. To attract more Chinese tourists, the city government recently loosened the visa threshold for "medical tour" visitors from China, which means Chinese tourists can go to a travel agency to apply for a South Korea visa in the name of medical tour. The city government has also appointed some 18 well-known clinics to receive "medical tour" visitors. ANACLI is one of them.

Located in Gangamgu in Seoul, ANACLI focuses on skincare treatment.

According to the clinic CEO Sang Jun-lee, ANACLI has seven branches, including two in Beijing. It has also developed its own brand of skincare products which helped to build its leading status in this field.

In Lee's clinic, a double eyelid surgery (1 to 1.2 million won) takes only 30 minutes and a nose procedure (1.5 to 2 million won) just 10 minutes. AANACLI also performs face remodeling, breast augmentation, laser treatment, eyelash and other plastic surgeries. (To be continued)

(Shenzhen Daily October 13, 2008)