Have a look on Google maps. They’re basically the same place. You can drive from Toufen centre to ZhuNan centre in ~10 mins. I have walked from the Toufen interchange to ZhuNan station just to see how long it would take (well over an hour!).
I don’t really understand this obsession with living in cities. 99% of the stuff that cities have - the art gallery, the famous brain surgeon, the IMAX cinema - you will use once a year, at most. Possibly never, in the case of the brain surgeon. For the privilege of knowing those things are somewhere nearby, you pay double or triple the rent and breathe four times the fumes. The only thing that Taipei has that Toufen doesn’t, and is worth having (IMO) is the MRT system.
Apart from that, you wouldn’t know the difference, if you were standing in the street, between Toufen and (say) Yonghe, Taipei.
But yeah - ZhuNan is a bit more interesting. It has a night market, for example, and a proper train station.
I can understand expats might want to hang out with other expats, but in the absence of that possibility … well, the internet was invented by nerdy US Army employees to to improve their chances of meeting girls. Little-known fact. And it’s still working well.[/quote]
That’s pretty close to how I think, but having a social life is important, and it’s very easy to get isolated in a place like Zhunan.
Well it’s not far from Hsinchu so you can also go there for a bit of variation every now and then. Ride a scooter and you will have more options and see more of the countryside.
Actually there is a bit of a scene at the beach next to Longfeng harbor. I was there on Sunday avo and there was around 20 foreigners there doing the kite-surfing. Not sure if they were from Zhunan itself.
Yeah, I was at the beach all the time. The people kite surfing are a mixed bunch, some from Taizhong, some from Hsinchu, and are always people coming from abroad.
I’m a little nervous about the scooter scene. I’ve heard it’s a bit crazy, not looking to sustain any serious injuries while in Taiwan. I would like to be able to travel easily though…
I’m a little nervous about the scooter scene. I’ve heard it’s a bit crazy, not looking to sustain any serious injuries while in Taiwan. I would like to be able to travel easily though…[/quote]
If you’ve had any experience riding motorcycles/dirtbikes before, it shouldn’t be bad. Even if you haven’t and are pretty good with that kind of stuff, you should be fine.
I first came to Taiwan to visit when I was 17 and I rode scooters around. As long as you have some good agility and aren’t a panic driver you should be good.
Personally I feel people overreact about the dangers but that’s maybe me just not valuing my body parts enough.
More relevant experience would be herding pirhanas, active service in a war zone, or night duty in an insane asylum.
It’s not enough to be “good”. You have to have eyes in the back of your fingernails.
To be fair, I find small towns a lot less stressful than big cities. You know other drivers are going to be as bad, if not worse, but at least there are few enough of them that you can watch them all and GTFO of their way. The road from Toufen to Hsinchu is wide and rarely has much traffic on it.
Yes probably 
. The OP is right to be concerned. Underestimating the situation is a sure-fire way to end up in the ER, and I personally know three people (and have heard of many more) who did. Fortunately they got patched up and it doesn’t show, but in each case there were consequences beyond the immediate unpleasantness (one lost a dream job because she couldn’t physically turn up on the expected start date). Be careful, and you’ll probably be OK.
Or rather: Be extremely careful, and at least you’ll have some chance of being OK.
The best part about Toufen is that there’s a main highway junction, allowing you to leave quickly by car. And I think I saw a couple of nice antique shops. The rest was typical, small-town, Taiwanese living. Take all of the bad aspects of living in the country in a western country and all of the bad aspects of living in a city in a western country and put them together, and VIOLA! You have Toufen.
I’m not a huge fan of Zhunan, either. It is the ONLY place in Taiwan (other than the icky brothel district of Taoyuan) where I’ve felt unsafe walking around at night; scooter punks swarming, and you just know to stay out of their way. I’m not talking about all areas, just one specific area, near the hospital/morning market. On the other hand, as has been mentioned, it has Ciding Beach (and another beach, too, I think), a proper train station, and also an exit allowing you to get onto the highway, although not with the same degree of haste as the Toufen exit.
Self edit: Just remembered that Zhunan has the Taiwan Beer Brewery. Haven’t been there yet, but have heard it’s a good time! One more point for Zhunan, I guess!
The coast from Zhunan to Houlong always makes me sad. I mean zhunan is still pretty in parts with a view over the ocean but they had some great beaches and coastal areas that have been destroyed by Taipower coal power planta, incinerators and the ridiculous waste of money that was called the coastal highway. Really pisses me off.
I heard the resort has been reopened now though.
Dont let Asians near coastlines eh.
[quote=“finley”]
Yes probably 
. The OP is right to be concerned. Underestimating the situation is a sure-fire way to end up in the ER, and I personally know three people (and have heard of many more) who did. Fortunately they got patched up and it doesn’t show, but in each case there were consequences beyond the immediate unpleasantness (one lost a dream job because she couldn’t physically turn up on the expected start date). Be careful, and you’ll probably be OK.[/quote]
But at the same time like 5-6 people from my highschool have died in Canada in car accidents as well since I’ve graduated. And I went to a small highschool. I’m willing to bet the number of traffic related deaths/injuries per capita isn’t significantly less in Canada and the USA than in Taiwan.
Taiwan is snubbed by everything so they’re not on this WHO list, but China is at 16.5 and America is at 12.3 per 100,000 people per year. That’s not a huge difference and Taiwan, I’d guess, is somewhere in between.
I think being in a big metal cage as opposed to being on a small scooter gives people the sense that it’s less dangerous. But you’re going way faster, stop slower, and have a much reduced ability to dodge anything.
But anyway, that’s pretty off topic from this thread.
Only a small percentage of Chinese drive so the stats are misleading.
[quote=“nemesis”]The best part about Toufen is that there’s a main highway junction, allowing you to leave quickly by car. And I think I saw a couple of nice antique shops. The rest was typical, small-town, Taiwanese living. Take all of the bad aspects of living in the country in a western country and all of the bad aspects of living in a city in a western country and put them together, and VIOLA! You have Toufen.
I’m not a huge fan of Zhunan, either. It is the ONLY place in Taiwan (other than the icky brothel district of Taoyuan) where I’ve felt unsafe walking around at night; scooter punks swarming, and you just know to stay out of their way. I’m not talking about all areas, just one specific area, near the hospital/morning market. On the other hand, as has been mentioned, it has Ciding Beach (and another beach, too, I think), a proper train station, and also an exit allowing you to get onto the highway, although not with the same degree of haste as the Toufen exit.
Self edit: Just remembered that Zhunan has the Taiwan Beer Brewery. Haven’t been there yet, but have heard it’s a good time! One more point for Zhunan, I guess![/quote]
I lived in Zhunan for 3 years and never had any trouble whatsoever, regardless of where I was or at what time. Over-reaction, I think.
take my opinion/comment with a grain of salt, as i’ve been living in Toufen for exactly one month today. However, I’m not the American that seeks out western foods and wonders why nobody is speaking English anywhere. I’m 37 and lived in chicago for more than a decade before taking a job here in Toufen last month. i was VERY CONCERNED and hedged about the position for awhile before finally agreeing to take it.
i’m glad i did.
i’ve spent 2 weekends in Taipei since arriving and have been in Hsinchu on the other weekends for a little ‘noise’… to be honest, this place is not nearly as bad as i expected it to be. have i met a single expat? no. do i have any friends yet? other than my boss/her family, no. is my conversational chinese worthy of mention? definitely not. but i’ve found the people here are quite friendly, and living here is VERY CHEAP, even by Taiwan standards of pricing. if you want to save money or travel a lot you could do a lot worse. and not to beat a dead horse, but YES, that mcdonalds is in a terrible location RIGHT off the freeway interchange, and there are some great restaurants nearby. Hsinchu has a lot of restaurants and a bit more stuff to do, but i wouldn’t tout it as anything amazing either, again based on my VERY limited perspective. getting to hsinchu is a snap though, and cheap.
now having said my peace about toufen, it sounds like there are a couple expats here… WHERE ARE YOU? i would really like to meet and hang out! haha…i literally have not even SEEN a westerner since i arrived… in hsinchu yes… but toufen? not once. and i find that odd, because my school is near jianguo road, where there are like 4 buxibans yet i still never see any foreign teachers… are you all hiding in there because there is nothing to do outside? please let me know. let’s have lunch.
Hey,
I’ve been in Jhunan for about 1 month now… Woo!!!
This place is pretty cool. Although I did come from a fairly small quiet city in Australia. So far I’m liking it, cool food, nice people and nice scenery. If you want some beetlenut this is the place to get it.
Anyway I’m working at Joy English buxiban… It’s ok however the hours are huge and my contract was written in a bit of a weird way which made me think I wouldn’t be working so much.
I met my girlfriend in Australia who is Taiwanese so luckily she acts as a bit of a guide and can show me around to all the funky places to eat etc etc.
I’ve seen a few foreigners here (Jhunan), they seem to hide at the beach. I’ve only seen an american dude and a group of 2 guys and 2 girls with a dog in the streets… That’s about it… Cool story Hansel.
Anyway, we should all meet up, start a fire and shoot our pistols in the air…
Bleh 1:30am NIGHT!!
Man Zhunan sounds like a party place. The last time I saw a Western foreigner in the town my wife is from was around 2008. Really.
I spent four days vacation on the East coast recently, I didn’t see any white foreigners until we spent a day in Taipei! Plenty of HKers and Asians though.
To the OP, you’ll definitely want to get your apartment in Jhunan, not Toufen. Toufen is basically “the wrong side of the tracks” of the two towns. Zhunan is close enough and quite a bit nicer.
I’ve been in Zhunan for a while now working at one of the local chain buxibans. We had a solid posse of 10-ish foreigners, hanging out together quite a bit, but many have now left and we’re hoping to meet their replacements. We sometimes get together at the big 7/11 (across from what I think is the town hall) on Thursday nights after work. Lately, since the gang has thinned, we haven’t been going, but I’ll let everyone know to come next Thursday.
Zhunan is nice, pleasant, and Shitoushan is my favorite nature area in Taiwan yet, but… yeah it’s a pretty sleepy place.
I’ve never really liked Toufen.
Hey Ben,
Sounds decent… However I usually finish my buxiban work at about 9pm, is that too late?
This week I have a few days off so I’d be keen.
Which 7-11 do you mean?
Anyway catch you later mate!
The 7/11 near the corner of Daying & Zhongzheng roads by the Jhunan town hall. I’ll PM you my #. We also have a facebook group, “Jhunan, Taiwan–Center of Awesomeness” http://www.facebook.com/groups/176192842420706/