Ulsan: A Bamboo Forest in the City, a Whale Town, and Korea's Industrial Heart

Ulsan is where Korea's economic miracle is physically located. Hyundai's shipyard here is among the largest in the world, the car plant beside it is the largest single automobile factory anywhere, and the petrochemical complex runs for kilometers along the coast. It has the highest average income of any Korean city and almost no tourists at all.

It's 2h20m from Seoul on the KTX, and there are three genuinely good reasons to get off the train.

What to see

• Taehwagang National Garden. The river through the middle of the city was so polluted in the 1990s that nothing lived in it. The clean-up is now a case study taught internationally, and the riverbank is a national garden — including Simni Daesup, a ten-ri grove of bamboo you walk through on a path, lit at night along the "Milky Way Trail." It is the single most surprising thing in Ulsan.
• Jangsaengpo Whale Culture Village. Ulsan was Korea's whaling port until the 1986 moratorium, and the old village has been rebuilt as a museum quarter about that history — a whale museum, a recreated 1960s–70s whaling village, and a boat that takes you out into the bay to look for the real thing.
• Bangudae Petroglyphs. Carvings on a river cliff from around 5,000 BC showing whales, whale hunts, and animals — the oldest known depictions of whaling anywhere in the world, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The rock is often underwater behind a dam, so check conditions; the adjacent museum is open regardless.
• Daewangam Park. A headland of red rock, pine forest and a suspension bridge out to an island, on the eastern coast.

What to eat

Ulsan's wealth shows up on the table. This is a city where industrial workers with real money eat beef.

• Eonyang bulgogi. Ulsan's own style: thin-sliced marinated beef grilled over charcoal on a fine wire mesh, from the Eonyang district. It's one of the three classic regional bulgogi styles in Korea and Ulsan defends it fiercely.
• Beef, generally. Charcoal grills and butcher-shop restaurants across the city, at prices that reflect local competition rather than tourist demand.
• Gomjangeo (hagfish). Grilled at the table with a lot of salt and sesame oil, and strongly associated with this stretch of coast. Not for everyone; absolutely the local thing.
• Whale meat. It's on some menus here, sold from bycatch under a licensing system. It is legal, it is contentious, and you are under no obligation.
• Mul-hoe and seafood from the eastern coastal villages.
• Jjajangmyeon and mandu. A solid Chinese-Korean scene serving the industrial districts.

Practical tips

• Getting there: KTX to Ulsan Station (about 2h20m from Seoul), then a bus or taxi into the city — the station is well outside the center. Buses from Busan take about an hour.
• Taehwagang's bamboo grove is lit after dark and is much better then.
• The whale-watching boat runs seasonally and sightings are not guaranteed.
• Bangudae is often submerged. Check the water level before making a special trip.
• Ulsan is a weekday city. Restaurants near the industrial districts can be quiet on Sunday.

Each restaurant below has a video on its EatHub page, which helps in a city where the good rooms are plain and built for regulars.