Best of Busan: What to do in Korea's 'second city'

Often called "the summer capital of South Korea," the port city of Busan is just a two-and-a-half-hour train ride from Seoul.

The country's two largest cities, however, are remarkably different places.

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In the more low-key Busan, a night out usually means drinking soju with friends on the beach while watching kids play with firecrackers.

Or eating hoe (Korean sashimi) -- again with soju -- at the shiny new fish market.

Or watching burly, tattooed local men (widely considered more manly than their Seoul counterparts) play a popular street game, driving nails with a single blow into a thick wooden beam, for prizes of cigarettes and whiskey.

Even apart from the prevalence of seafood, the cuisine in Busan is also different from that found in the rest of the country.

Here's what to do in Korea's second city.

Beaches

Haeundae

During the summer swim season -- it runs from July 1 to August 31 each year -- millions of Koreans, and increasingly more foreign visitors, descend on this strip of beach and revel in the water before heading out to party on weekend nights.

Just in front of the beach is the Haeundae "Sea Village" Pojangmacha street, a strip of identical, tented seafood stalls selling everything from live octopus to lobster.

Customers pick their own meal from a tank and minutes later have it cooked and served to them alongside their favorite Busan soju.

Gwangalli

Lit by 100,000 lights that change colors, Korea's longest suspension bridge is particularly beautiful from the beach at night.

While Haeundae is a family friendly beach, Gwangalli is popular with younger crowds who come in single-sex groups and eye members of the opposite sex and occasionally party together.