Getting naked in the world’s largest department store

Busan, South Korea — In the US, a mall is a place to get a slice of pizza from Sbarro and buy some T-shirts at the Gap. But in South Korea, it’s a place where you can experience a jjimjilbang, an element of the country’s unique spa culture.

Premium spas can be found tucked inside the country’s many modern mega-malls, but none are quite as memorable as the one waiting in the southern coastal city of Busan. This brilliant silver and white structure could easily be mistaken for a high-end condo building or a design museum. But Shinsegae Centum City is actually the world’s largest department store, clocking in at 3.16 million square feet. Past the Chanel makeup counter and dizzying rows of designer handbags is a black glass door, where shoppers and locals alike pour into Spa Land.This isn’t a place to sit in a private room and get pampered. Jjimjilbangs – comprised of two Korean words, jjimjil (heated therapy) and bang (room) – are like a Japanese onsen crossed with a Finnish sauna. Guests go into gender-separated areas, then strip down and soak in one of the heated pools on offer. If you’ve seen the part in K-Pop Demon Hunters where the girls wrap towels around their hair and veg out in the heated bath together, then you’ve already gotten the idea of what a jjimjilbang is like. Soaking and relaxing in hot water is fun. However, the most special part comes after you’ve soaked – a full body scrubdown that makes you feel like you’ve been reborn with brand-new baby skin. Okay, so it might seem unusual to disrobe in front of strangers and be naked in the middle of a high-end mall. But it’s a special, uniquely Korean experience, and it’s especially appropriate since the country’s first-ever jjimjilbang opened right here in Busan.