I live in one of those alleyway community things away from the subway that’s really quiet and peaceful. Except, starting around 10pm every night, traditional music can be heard coming from the building next to mine. It is loud (those crazy instruments and annoying voice modulations can be heard even with closed windows and earplugs in). And it lasts all literally all night, sometimes until 11am the next day.
It sounds like it’s just a radio station, because sometimes a host-like voice can be heard and it seems like they’re talking about news topics. Which is also annoying loud. I think someone is using it to help them sleep, but rudely at the expense of others around them.
It’s affecting my sleep, as I now have to close my windows and turn on the AC fan just to try to tune out the noise. The building is so close to mine that I hear echoes and can’t tell where exactly the noise is coming from, so I don’t know which neighbor to talk to. I’m wondering why no one else has complained. I don’t want to be the foreigner in the neighborhood acting like he’s better than the locals, but this is really ridiculous.
If you don’t have 24/7 building management/guard, call the cops.
As you stated above, you probably don’t want that attention, just make sure your call is anonymous and they don’t come knocking on your door afterwards to take a statement.
If your concerned about drawing attention or your Chinese isn’t the greatest, have a friend call on your behalf. All the dispatch needs to know is the reason for your call and a ball park of your address. If they actually ask you for your address, just tell them the building number you’re in no need to give floor (and number).
It would be interesting though to find out what exactly it is the sourcce of the noise. An annoying neighbor with the TV/radio set way too loud? As you mentioned, how come you are the only one aware of it?
Are you sure there is not a friendly neighbor you could ask? The lizhang maybe? No accussation, just a curious: I heard to this music/noise coming over the waves, do you know what it is? Play dummy. In case…it is someone with “connections”.
Yeah there’s no building management or anything that I’m aware of. I’ll ask my Taiwanese roommates to help call the police. The roommates are on the other side of the building and it isn’t as loud to them, but they still hear it.
He’s not; he’s just the only one who cares. The Taiwanese don’t seem to care about ridiculous and obnoxious noises in the neighborhood, and the most you’ll get out of them is the usual 沒辦法 / bô-hoat-tō͘ bullshit. My wife thought I was crazy for going nuts about the 30 dogs one crazy neighbor had on her rooftop that barked all night long.
Usually, there is a reason to ignore. Temples are known to be mafia affiliated. That rooftop neighbor might be missing a few screws or be the lizhang’s brother. It is more of a they don’t dare to.
Yeah, I think people care, they just don’t dare to say or do anything. Right now there’s a small kid two floors down from me (who’s being taken care of by his grandparents) who screams and cries like a brat at near-inhuman volume almost every day while I’m away at work. It drives my Taiwanese GF nuts, but what can you do?
A month ago, someone was wacking the strings of their ukelele with the windows open; not playing it, but just loudly hitting the same out-of-tune string over and over. It was ridiculous, so I opened the window and yelled at them to shut up. The girl in the place across from mine saw this and was shocked. People just don’t take matters into their own hands here very much.
If nothing else works, earplugs are a cheap and effective solution. Probably nothing has improved my quality of life in Taiwan as much as earplugs. I usually buy a tub of them on trips back to the U.S. Or double-glazed windows if you can afford them.
Yeah I have to agree with spaint on this. After almost half a year in Taiwan, I’ve learned that even though it’s one of the noisiest places I’ve ever lived, locals are definitely less sensitive/more used to loud/annoying noises that tend to drive some foreigners (and a minority of locals) crazy.
How about the extremely loud, screeching brakes on old bicycles here? Until I mentioned it, my GF had never noticed in her life. A friend of mine mentioned it to his GF, and she had also never noticed.
TBH, it is another self-protection device. Imagine if you start noticing ALL sounds around you. Like forgetting most info your memory recorded every night when you fall asleep, not noticing the noise in this noisy place is a survival strategy that keeps you sane!
For sure, I actually envy them. It’s like when they eat American food with me and say it’s too salty or dry; I don’t even notice. We’re just numb to different things. XD
Yeah I can def agree with that. Seen a lot of it in China and in Taiwan with people surrounded by repetitive noises/jingles at all hours. I used to think they were highly trained in some sort of Zen focus, but now I realize most are just used to it and don’t notice it.
