Doesn’t Taidong have crappy winters too?[/quote]
I wasn’t aware of it. Maybe when I visited it was unseasonably nice for that time of year.
[quote=“maunaloa”]Tainan in the winter, Sapporo (Hokkaido) is the summer.
In the 'wan, HSR access is important to me, because, even in dottage, the need to be in the Big Bucket won’t go away, AND… summers in the 'wan are such that I would need to be at altitude, like our Man in Alishan, to escape the sauna in the the lower 'tudes.
Hokkaido does not get the summer sauna like the rest of Japan (yet, plums still grow… go figure). For a bonus, you could stay late in Sapporo and ski before migrating back to the Kingdom of Tungning.[/quote]
An excellent perspective…:bravo:
We’ll probably stay in Taichung. For a city of over 1 million is it a sucky disappointment, but after 20+ years it is home, after all. Most of our social connections are here – we know where to get things – have known postal employees and shopkeepers for decades, etc. etc. And the HSR is only a short drive away, so most of the island is more or less an easy day out.
If I had my druthers and was just picking on neutral terms, I’d go with Hualien.
In the end, it’s all samsara, so find your peace of mind above all else.
Shalom,
Taz
[quote=“fanglangzhe”][quote=“yuli”]Well, how about Hualian?
Generally mild weather, housing affordable last time i looked, two excellent hospitals, two universities, less than 3 hours to Taipei by rail or 40 min by air…[/quote]
That sounds good. Hey Yuli, your GPS coordinates suggest you live in Ishigaki islands? Is that so?[/quote]
Right… although i’ll be spending more time in Hualien from February onward…
I’ve thought about Hualian – the only thing is that it seems to be a major focus point for earthquakes and typhoons.
That’s Taiwan in general 
But you’re still right; Hualian is near at least one subduction zone that has mega-earthquake potential. But when one of those subduction zones out there bring on the big ~9.0 quake – which sub. zones do from time to time, correct? – I’m guessing all of Taiwan is going to get it bad.
Typhoons are a piece of cake as long as you’re in a flood-free/mud-slide-free zone.
My vote goes to 玉理 Yuli – the town in a valley between the eastern side of Yushan Guojia Gongyuan and a smaller set of mountains that push up against the Pacific on their eastern side.
Just remembered this post from 5 years ago. After many more visits to various places in Taiwan over the past few years, Taidong seems like a good place. Although who knows what Taidong (or the whole of Taiwan for that matter) will be like in 10, 20, 30 years.
My sister-in-law recently bought a 3.5 story house in Hualien City. They bought it for under 10 million. They are renting the rooms out on the third and fourth floors. It can’t be an official bed and breakfast because the local government now requires a minimum of seven rooms (they have five). But the place is set up for that kind of business (bathroom with a shower in every room). I would say making a bit of spending money after retirement and keeping busy would be a decent way to go about things.
If that’s not your thing, you can buy a decent apartment right in the city for half that or maybe even less. The new highway to Hualien is set to open soon. Everyone expects higher prices in the future. I have no idea if this will happen.
Everybody and their pet are buying houses in Hualien to do some kind of tourism biz now. Mostly semi retired people of course. I think it’s an okay lifestyle choice given the increase in tourist numbers and especially if one day they’ll have cruise boats coming in.
Taidong and Hualien are much cheaper for housing but too hot during the summer where retired people would be stuck inside all day avoiding the heat, there aren’t any malls and few climate controlled public spaces, few activity options, and minimal public transportation.
I hate Taipei weather and housing is expensive, but in terms of weather, climate-controlled public space, public transportation, and activities, it’s quite suitable for retired people if they want to be in Taiwan.
Taiwan pretty much sucks everywhere except the mountains during the summer…in my opinion.
You are right East coast is baking hot then. Taiwanese people deal with it by getting up early, then going for a nap midday I guess. I’ve been here for a long time now and still don’t like the summers, plus it gets dark too early. Hokkaido or back to Europe/NA would be best choice for summer alright.
The summer heat is definitely a concern. I thought that the east coast (Taidong & Hualien) don’t get as hot as Taipei in the summer, especially in the evenings. Is that wrong?
Its’ gets sooooo hot on the east coast that it is impossible to stand in the sun for more than a couple minutes but there are lots of places similar in Taiwan. Escaping the heat is necessary for retired people and just about anyone else.
I’d like to retire in Zhongli. I hear it’s the Taitung of the west. 
Summers in Hokkaido are gorgeous. Cool at night. Even on a hot day in August it’s only hot from 13:00 to 16:00, then it cools down again. I have a small farm there and ofren have to build a fire in the fireplace on a summer evening because it gets a little nippy.
I’m looking at spending winters in Tainan, except for the Christmas/New Year holiday.
Seems like Dulan is the place to retire in Taiwan… At least it seems to be for those who want to retire early. But it seems like a good place to retire even if you’re older too.
I retired and moved to Hualien. Note I live in a small town outside Hualien but I still provide the following assessment. If you come to Hualien you need to like a small town pace and forget about the various activities available in a big city. I have a piece of land to keep me busy…I am not sure if I would enjoy living in an apartment in Hualien. 
GOOD:
-natural scenery and great air (usually)
-easy access to coast and mountains
-generally friendly people, easy to make friends
-cheaper than Taipei but prices skyrocketed in last few years for housing, seems to have tapered off but not expecting prices to drop much until a few years after new highway finished
BAD
-must use car
-most restaurants on average are so-so with bad service
-one shopping mall (if you like shopping)
-terrible driving habits
-very hot in summer. winter not bad. Very wet for long stretches.
-way too many small, black mosquitoes (in some parts of town and countryside they make short pants and short sleeves almost impossible)
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I don’t know bout you guys, but I grew up in Taipei and i LIVED for the HOT HOT HOT summers. Never too hot for me. Because that means going to the BEACH, kicking back and knocking some beers . I have never been in the ocean even once since I left the rock.
I only liked winters in Taipei for bout a month then it was OLD.
[quote=“Flakman”]I retired and moved to Hualian. Note I live in a small town outside Hualian but I still provide the following assessment. If you come to Hualian you need to like a small town pace and forget about the various activities available in a big city. I have a piece of land to keep me busy…I am not sure if I would enjoy living in an apartment in Hualian.
GOOD:
-natural scenery and great air (usually)
-easy access to coast and mountains
-generally friendly people, easy to make friends
-cheaper than Taipei but prices skyrocketed in last few years for housing, seems to have tapered off but not expecting prices to drop much until a few years after new highway finished
BAD
-must use car
-most restaurants on average are so-so with bad service
-one shopping mall (if you like shopping)
-terrible driving habits
-very hot in summer. winter not bad. Very wet for long stretches.
-way too many small, black mosquitoes (in some parts of town and countryside they make short pants and short sleeves almost impossible)[/quote]
I’ve always liked Ji-an. A plot of land there would be perfect. And you’d be close enough to Hualien City for shopping, restaurants, etc. My wife’s relatives have a bed and breakfast in Guangfu (or is it Tabalong?). I think that would be too far from the city for me.
1 Like
[quote=“Flakman”]I retired and moved to Hualian. Note I live in a small town outside Hualian but I still provide the following assessment. If you come to Hualian you need to like a small town pace and forget about the various activities available in a big city. I have a piece of land to keep me busy…I am not sure if I would enjoy living in an apartment in Hualian.
GOOD:
-natural scenery and great air (usually)
-easy access to coast and mountains
-generally friendly people, easy to make friends
-cheaper than Taipei but prices skyrocketed in last few years for housing, seems to have tapered off but not expecting prices to drop much until a few years after new highway finished
BAD
-must use car
-most restaurants on average are so-so with bad service
-one shopping mall (if you like shopping)
-terrible driving habits
-very hot in summer. winter not bad. Very wet for long stretches.
-way too many small, black mosquitoes (in some parts of town and countryside they make short pants and short sleeves almost impossible)[/quote]
Your comments are interesting. Can’t speak for Hualien but I recently visited Taidong and have the following observations:
-While restaurant choice is certainly limited compared to much bigger cities, what we did find was very good. I suppose it could get repetitive after some time.
-Found driving to be relatively stress free and had no problems with other drivers.
-Mosquitoes certainly appeared but limited to specific times of day.
-Weather: can’t be any worse than Taipei, probably better. So for someone who got used to Taipei weather, east coast weather shouldn’t be a problem.
Another thing I didn’t realize before is that apparently most residences in Taidong are not connected to a wider area sewer system but to septic tanks which of course have to be emptied out regularly. In fact, plumbing in general is something I find very strange about Taiwan. Such as the fact that many people refuse to flush dirty toilet paper down the toilet and instead throw it in a bin. But that’s another subject matter.