Chinese tourists in Seoul are turning tourist trips into shopping sprees, as a softer won makes luxury and lifestyle services more affordable

Published: 4:00pm, 4 Jul 2026

When Chelsea Wang travelled to Seoul with two friends in late April, they barely visited any of the city’s palaces or tourist attractions.

Wang arrived with a shopping list of her own: a backpack she estimated would cost at least 500 yuan ($70) less than in China, and a bottle of perfume at a similar discount.

One of her friends, Wu, a 28-year-old white-collar worker from China who was preparing for marriage, had an even bigger purchase planned. After comparing prices, she bought a Chaumet wedding ring at Lotte Duty Free in Seoul’s Myeong-dong neighbourhood for about 37,000 yuan (US$5,456) after discounts, tax refunds and favourable exchange rates were figured in – about 11,000 yuan less than she would have paid in China.

“It was really quite a good deal,” Wu said.

Their purchases came as the Korean won has remained weak against major currencies over the past year. One yuan was worth an average of about 226 won (14 US cents) in June, compared with about 209 won in January, according to exchange-rate data, increasing the purchasing power of Chinese consumers in Korea.