Ever Heard of Baojian Street? These Days It's Called Nuwemaru Street

If you're landing at Jeju Airport or starting your trip from downtown Jeju City, you'll likely pass through the Yeon-dong area, often called Sinjeju, or new Jeju City. Right in the middle of Yeon-dong is a car-free street called Nuwemaru Street, or so it's said. It's not a place with dramatic natural scenery like Hallasan or an oreum, but this street, lined tightly with cosmetics shops and clothing stores, is said to have long been known as a top shopping spot among foreign tourists visiting Jeju. Today GYULI wants to walk you through what kind of place this street is said to be, why its name is said to have changed to what it is now, and also share a few things said to be worth knowing about shopping here a bit more wisely, whether you're a foreign visitor or a local traveler.

Why a car-free street sits at the heart of Yeon-dong, Jeju City

Nuwemaru Street is said to be a pedestrian-only street located in Yeon-dong, Jeju City. Because vehicle traffic is restricted, people are said to be able to walk freely right down the middle of the road while browsing the shops lining both sides, which is said to be the street's biggest feature. Walking along it, you'll find cosmetics shops and clothing stores packed tightly together, and many of the signs are said to carry several languages alongside Korean. These multilingual signs are said to be a trace of how this street has long drawn foreign tourists, particularly Chinese tourists. It feels careful to point to any specific shop or brand, but the idea that the entire street is shaped around a shopping-focused atmosphere is something consistently mentioned across various sources.

During the day, you're said to see travelers wheeling their luggage as they move between shops, and by evening, the signs light up one after another, said to give the whole street a brighter feel. It's said to be less about food, unlike the old-town markets, and more focused purely on shopping, which is said to give it a different character from many other Jeju destinations. It's often described as a good place to stop by when you want a taste of a downtown shopping street after spending your Jeju trip mostly around nature and the sea.

Once Baojian Street, now Nuwemaru Street

The street now called Nuwemaru Street is said to have been better known before under the name Baojian Street. The name Baojian is said to have come from a Chinese cosmetics brand, a trace suggesting this street once had a time when it was known as a shopping course for Chinese tourists. The street's name is later said to have changed to today's Nuwemaru Street, with 'nuwe' said to derive from the Jeju dialect word for silkworm cocoon. Rather than keeping a name borrowed directly from a brand, GYULI thinks the shift to a name carrying a word unique to Jeju says something about the time this street has passed through.

A change in name doesn't seem to have meant a major change in the street's character, or so it's said. Shops selling cosmetics and clothing are still said to line both sides of the street, and it's said to keep drawing steady foot traffic from both domestic travelers and tourists from abroad. That said, the nationalities and volume of tourists passing through are said to shift depending on the season and circumstances compared to before, so it feels careful to state exactly what the current atmosphere is like. Instead, GYULI would rather introduce it simply as a good street to stop by while traveling near Jeju City's old town or the airport, where you can stroll without worrying about traffic and browse the shops at ease.

Unlike a Duty-Free Store: A Street Where You Pay and Take Your Item Right Away

One thing that's often mentioned alongside Nuwemaru Street is how different it's said to be from a downtown duty-free store. A downtown duty-free store is said to typically work on an after-the-fact pickup system, where you present your passport and outbound flight details, pay, and then collect the actual item at an airport pickup counter on your day of departure. The cosmetics and clothing shops along Nuwemaru Street, by contrast, are said to be ordinary road shops where anyone can walk in without showing a passport or flight ticket, buy something, and walk out with it right away. For travelers on a tight schedule, or those with no plan to stop by a pickup counter, this said-to-be immediate handover is often described as a welcome difference.

That said, there's a related point worth keeping in mind. Because these are ordinary shops offering immediate handover, the listed prices are said to generally include VAT. So if you compare only the number on the price tag, items here can look more expensive than duty-free prices, which typically exclude VAT. Rather than comparing the sticker price alone, it's said to make more sense to weigh the convenience of taking your item home right away against whether VAT is included, which GYULI thinks is the more reasonable way to compare value here.

Given how densely this street is packed with cosmetics and clothing shops, keeping an eye on regular sales or seasonal discount events is said to be a way to shop a bit more wisely here. Exactly when those sales happen or how deep the discounts run is said to vary by shop and season, so GYULI can't pin that down with confidence. Checking recent updates before you visit is said to occasionally turn up a chance to pick up the same item for less.

A Few Notes for Foreign Visitors, and a Few for Locals

If you're a foreign visitor, there's one more thing worth watching for. Some shops on Nuwemaru Street are said to offer a tax refund service for international customers. Checking with the shop before you pay whether they offer this is said to be a way to spend a bit more wisely on the same purchase. That said, the exact refund rate or procedure is said to vary by shop and situation, so it's hard to state precise numbers here with confidence.

For locals or domestic travelers, the street is said to offer a different kind of appeal. Unlike a duty-free store, you don't need an upcoming departure to stop by without hesitation, and rather than being tied to one shop, you're said to be free to wander between several road shops comparing prices, something often described as an advantage from a local's point of view. Being a car-free street also makes it easy to move around, so it's said to be a good place to take your time and pick out something you like at your own pace.

Given how long this street is said to have drawn foreign tourists, it's said that, much like its multilingual signage, quite a few shops here are used to serving international customers. So communicating in a foreign language may not feel like much of a hurdle, or so it's said, though this is said to vary from shop to shop, so take it as a general reference rather than a guarantee.

Why Nuwemaru Street is said to be easy to walk

Being a car-free street is said to be the biggest reason this street is easy to walk. Without worrying about traffic noise or exhaust, you can walk right down the middle of the road and take your time browsing the shop windows on either side, something travelers are said to rate highly. The street is said to be fairly wide, so even during busier hours, it doesn't reportedly feel overly crowded to walk through. It's said to be not far from Jeju Airport or the Jeju City intercity bus terminal, so it's often introduced as a convenient stop while waiting for a flight or filling a short gap between other plans. Being able to move between shops this freely is also said to tie back into the price-comparison approach mentioned earlier, part of what's said to make this a street suited to shopping a bit more wisely.

That said, the exact shop lineup, business hours, or the most current atmosphere aren't something GYULI can confidently pin down. Which shops are open can be said to vary by season, and the flow of tourists is also said to shift depending on the time and circumstances, so please keep that in mind. Rather than pointing you to any specific shop, what GYULI wanted to share today is simply that this street has long been known as a shopping spot for foreign tourists in the heart of Yeon-dong, Jeju City, that its name is said to have shifted from a brand name to a Jeju dialect word, and that it's said to be a place where anyone can stop by and shop a bit more wisely, in a way that's different from a duty-free store. Walking it while thinking about the time held in that one name might make a street you'd otherwise just pass by look a little different.

🍊 Real Photos, via GYULI