Have my passport and visa and valuables ready for the big move in July . Would I be better off in Taipei or Taichung in terms of:
1- tolerance of foreigners
2- water (water system still horrible?)
3- renting prices and chance of not being ripped off
4- Privacy
5- Younger crowd (Iām only 22 and Iām moving alone)
6- insects (random, but those humongous spiders everywhere scare the living crap out of me)
7- weather (I know winters in taipei suck, but are summers at least tolerable?)
Iād really rather move to taipei, but many people have told me not to. Heard taichung isnāt as bad as taipei but still has itās downsides.
any output is greatly appreciated. that is all. thanks in advance.
See comments inline:[quote=ājazumin.AVENGERā]Have my passport and visa and valuables ready for the big move in July . Would I be better off in Taipei or Taichung in terms of:
1- tolerance of foreigners
[color=#0000BF]Tolerance isnāt generally a problem. But foreigners stand out less in Taipei. Not sure whether you see that as an advantage. I remember being a bit miffed when another foreigner started living on āmy turfā in Taichung . But now Iām quite happy blending in a bit more in Taipei.[/color]
2- water (water system still horrible?)
[color=#0000BF]Not sure what you mean. You probably shouldnāt drink the water straight from the tap in either Taichung or Taipei. But itās not āhorribleā.[/color]
3- renting prices and chance of not being ripped off
[color=#0000BF]Much cheaper in Taichung. Quite unlikely to be really ripped off, but be careful as anywhere.[/color]
4- Privacy
[color=#0000BF]In what sense?[/color]
5- Younger crowd (Iām only 22 and Iām moving alone)
[color=#0000BF]Maybe Taipei because more clubs, some more foreign students, etc. Depends what youāre into I suppose.[/color]
6- insects (random, but those humongous spiders everywhere scare the living crap out of me)
[color=#0000BF]About the same in Taichung City and Taipei City. Havenāt seen humongous spiders in the city as such, just in the hills. There are big cockroaches in the cities, though.[/color]
7- weather (I know winters in taipei suck, but are summers at least tolerable?)
[color=#0000BF]I donāt think winters in Taipei are that bad. But Iām from England, so YMMV. Summer temperatures in Taipei might be a couple of degrees below Taichung, but thereās not much in it. Winters are definitely milder in Taichung. Air pollutionās slightly worse in Taichung, though.
[/color]
Iād really rather move to taipei, but many people have told me not to. Heard Taichung isnāt as bad as taipei but still has itās downsides.
[color=#0000BF]Why do people say Taipeiās bad? There are lots of good things about it. Overall, I prefer living in Taipei.[/color]
any output is greatly appreciated. that is all. thanks in advance.[/quote]
In Taipei it rains in summer and in winter. Taichung getās its share of rain in late spring, but the rest of the year is comparably dry. Wonderful.
Taipei certainly offers a lot more choice and diversity when it comes to nightlife, culture, etc. Taichung is nowhere near as metropolitan as Taipei, public transport is virtually non-existing.
If youāre a ācity girlā you will prefer Taipei, hands down. No contest. If you thrive on access to the hills without slogging through hours of traffic to get there, Taichung is better. Since you ask mostly about the club scene etc. Iām going to suggest Taipei.
How do you figure that? The mountains surround us in Taipei. You can take the MRT to them.[/quote]
Those are hills. You canāt take the MRT to the mountains.
To the OP: If you are thinking about traveling from downtown Taipei to the countryside by car or motorcycle then youād face a struggle through traffic to get there at the sort of hours where everyone else is doing the same thing. While Taichung has no MRT and a rather dysfunctional bus network, itās pretty easy to get out of town on your own wheels.
Taipei on the other hand is easy to get around by public transport but the MRT lines stop in the suburbs. Itās possible to get to some small hills like this but not much further. It sounds like you are more interested in nightlife than wildlife however, so Taipei should be more interesting to you. The bar / club scene in Taichung is small and much less interesting / attractive than in Taipei. In most ways, Taichung can be considered provincial. Taipei is not Seoul, Bangkok or Tokyo but itās as good as it gets in Taiwan in terms of urban sophistication.
I expect Mucha Man is going to disagree with me on all of the above, as is his habit.
Why so sensitive?[/quote]
It doesnāt bother me in particular but I want the OP to know that you are likely to disagree with my comments for the sake of it. She is new here.
Don;t you love it when 2 long term expats spat, like old hens.
Anyway:
[quote]1- tolerance of foreigners
2- water (water system still horrible?)
3- renting prices and chance of not being ripped off
4- Privacy
5- Younger crowd (Iām only 22 and Iām moving alone)
6- insects (random, but those humongous spiders everywhere scare the living crap out of me)
7- weather (I know winters in taipei suck, but are summers at least tolerable?)[/quote]
No worries in either
Taipei water is considered cleaner and you can flush your toilet paper. You canāt od that in Taichung IIRC.
Taichung is probably a lot cheaper and it is easier to get places. I remember my last apartement search in Taipei and everything we called was taken and expensive. We ended up taking the only place that was available, though it wasnāt bad.
Privacy in Taiwan? No such thing. Your neighbors will talk no matter what and make it up if necessary.
Taipei has a younger crowd.
Everywhere has the large cockroaches and every house has itās own very large wolf spider which you will only see when they are about to die.
Taipei weather sucks. I lived there for 8 years and hated the weather everyday. In Taipei it rains for no less than a week at a time and sometimes 2. Taichung is suppose to have the best weather in Taiwan and Iād have to agree.
At your age I would recommend Taipei. The mountains are great but you are too new, not settled and inexperienced to live in the mountains just yet. Taichung just doesnāt have the public transportation infrastructure for those without a scooter.
[quote]How do you figure that? The mountains surround us in Taipei. You can take the MRT to them.[/quote] As someone who spent a lot of time in the Xindian, Tucheng and Sanxia mountains I would love to know where the MRT stop in the mountains is. Maybe if you were taking a bike to ride in the mountains, then I could understand, but if you want to see the mountains I recommend a car or scooter. The MRT isnāt going to help you with that.
[quote=āOkamiā]Don;t you love it when 2 long term expats spat, like old hens.
You mind your own business.
[quote=āOkamiā]
Anyway:
2. Taipei water is considered cleaner and you can flush your toilet paper. You canāt od that in Taichung IIRC.
3. Taichung is probably a lot cheaper and it is easier to get places. I remember my last apartement search in Taipei and everything we called was taken and expensive. We ended up taking the only place that was available, though it wasnāt bad.
4. Privacy in Taiwan? No such thing. Your neighbors will talk no matter what and make it up if necessary.[/quote][/quote]
Plumbing in Taichung for the most part can take all kinds of paper. Some older buildings have piping thatās intolerant to facial tissues and others that donāt dissolve easily.
Taichung is overbuilt and there are lots of units open, but it varies by area. Of course there are even more development underway now than is already empty, so by the time the OP gets here there will be even more choice.
Taipei residents seem to me a little busier to make ends meet and a lot less fazed by foreigners than elsewhere. I like Taipei for not getting stared at or commented upon. Nice feeling of anonymity.
Weather in Taipei has been rotten since weāve been here (got here late August last year). After the first month, itās been raining almost constantly, as the former post rightly said. Odd thing is, I lived here 12 years ago and it was NOT like this at all! The weather was nice and sunny from when I got here in late August until going home for 3 weeks in January. When I got back, it was cold for a couple of weeks, but then warmed up and stayed good, with the exception of the afternoon plum rains in May or so, until I left in late June. The current weather is NOT what I was expecting!
Today weāve just got back, very sunburned, from Hualien only to find the Taipei weather forecast to drop to 6C next week! SIX! I find myself rather wanting to go homeā¦ Sigh! No wonder so many people have colds and so on with such wildly varying weather! So, for the original poster (sorry Iāve been rude enough to not note your name!), if you donāt mind rain, unstable weather and so on, then you might want to try Taipei.
EArly March is often very cold. Late March it starts to feel like it wont get cold again and then April Showers. This year they forecast MAJOR showers during the plum blossoms. I hope the south gets their fair share. They need it down there.
In Taipei (especially Keelung) it can rain for months at a time, as you residents know.
p.s. I see that you have up to 30c forcast for Friday (and bright sunshine). hard to go from that back down to 6c again huh?
Well to rub it in, it seems to be pretty much sunny all the time in Taichung, even in winter it hardly rains, just a bit cold and windy.
Taipei is easier to get around due to the MRT, has more things going on (for Taiwan that is), more shops and restaurants. bookstore (there is no real English bookstore in Taichung) Taipei has Tamshui, Yangmingshan, Wulia, Fulong all very enjoyable in the spring and summer.
Taichung has a lot of cool places nearby too if you drive a carā¦this weekend I was in Yunlin at a honey factory, very tropical around there, banana trees, sugar cane, smell of fruit trees everwhereā¦pretty damn nice! Then youāve got Miaoli, Nanzhuang, Houli, Nantou, Puli, Sun Moon Lake and the central cross island highway all within 1-2 hours drive. Taichung is a lot smaller than Taipei in area too. Itās obviously not as convenient for visiting Hualien although you can drive the central cross island highway (this area has some very nice hot springs too), last time I went half way but it was in a bad state of repair. Of course from Taichung you can also go for trips down to Tainan, Pingdong and Kaoshiung when you feel like it.
There has been a big apartment building spree here so you can rent/buy a real nice brand new place for half the price of Taipei. For a family itās definitely a much cheaper place to live. There are few new office or shopping developments however so some things feel a bit dated compared to Taipei. Getting to Taoyuan airport is an 1.5 hr journey by high speed rail and taxisā¦so not too bad but still not as convenient as Taipei iespecially f you include the city airport there.
Donāt worry the weather will pick up (after the spring rains mind you!), then you will enjoy yourself moreā¦until you hit mid Summer and the 30C+ and 100 humidity/smog of Taipeiā¦Taipeiās winters are unpredictable, itās just your bad luck that it rained even more than usual this year.
Taichung will be boring for young people (even a bit boring for me), recommend Taipei for fun! The other thing Iām after realising is that Taipei has better variety and quality of Chinese and Asian food, even Xindian where I lived is superior to most areas of Taichung in this regard, donāt know why but it doesn.
I canāt speak for Taichung, but I can tell you my experience in Taipei!
My advice for you would be to seek the best of both worlds, like I did. I wanted to have the Taipei experience, but I also wanted to live outside of the city to save money. I ended up living in Danshui (which is a coastal town right outside of Taipei). It was close enough to Taipei that I didnāt feel out of the loop, yet far enough away that I didnāt feel the ill effects of city living. Also, the rent was a LOT cheaper
Whatever you decide, I hope you have a great time in Taiwan! I know I did.
In the past Iād agree that Taichungās public tranport was dsyfunctional, but things have changed.
Taichungās public transport isnāt half as good as Taipeiās but they are improving things around here. The MRT is supposed to be built here in a few years, but in the meantime the City has a new bus system called TTJ. Its been free for a year now to use because the city wants to see more drivers get off the streets. The TTJ buses are frequent (every 15 minutes), and can get you all over the city on most major streets. So in terms of price, Taichung does have its advantages in public tranport. And of course the free shuttle bus to the HSR train station is relatively convenient to use.
I just moved to Taiwan in November and I would recommend moving to Taiwan and then visiting Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung and see which place you want to live in. I stayed in Taipei for a week and I couldnāt convince myself that I would like it there (and it wasnāt raining at the time). I visited Kaohsiung and loved it. It feels a lot more relaxed but yet has all of the foreign stuff that I want. In 5-10 minutes I can be out of the city on my bicycle or motorcycle. There are several different options for studying Chinese. I could go on but this isnāt about Kaohsiung but iām guessing that Taichung is similar to kaohsiung but I havenāt visited it yet.
. Would I be better off in Taipei or Taichung in terms of:
No wonder so many people have colds and so on with such wildly varying weather! So, for the original poster (sorry Iāve been rude enough to not note your name!), if you donāt mind rain, unstable weather and so on, then you might want to try Taipei. 