I have a client needing general information on Mai Liao, Yun Lin County. It appears to between Tainan and Taichung/Chunghua. I’ve actually got some pretty decent information from the internet but would like to hear what the living conditions are like there. Also, if people have families there where do they send their children to school (small int’l school, home school?), Transportation, etc.
Anything would be appreciated. Willing to pay in beers for your help 
A very good friend of mine lived there for a few months. I helped him move all his stuff up from Tainan in a truck, so I saw a bit of the town over two days.
I can safely say Mailiao is the biggest shithole I’ve ever visited in Taiwan. I’ve been to Sanchong, Nanzi and Shalu, lived in Yongkang, spent a while in rural, betel-nut-beflecked Zhanghua County. Nothing comes close.
There are two industries in town - one is heavy industry - Formosa Plastics, naptha cracking plants etc. - responsible, I imagine, for the visible yellow tinge to the air (I wish I was joking). The other is prostitution (old Annette was well informed there, contrary to the protests of the townsfolk). Oh I’m sorry, there are some gambling dens too.
This friend of mine was being paid a small fortune to teach English two hours a day to engineers who worked at Formosa Plastics. He stuck it out for four months, saved every penny and set himself up comfortably in Taipei after that - but you can still see the sickly look wash over his face whenever that place is mentioned (and it has been four years since he left).
International schools? You must be joking. The only possibility would be to live near Taichung and attend school there, while mum and/or dad commute to work in Mailiao.
I’m not usually this strident about anything, but do yourself a favour and stay away.
Yes, totally agree. I’ve spent years living in the sticks but that coastal area along the Yunlin-Jiayi county borders is really hideous.
Any place on the western plain, south of Hsinchu and north of Kaoshiung (except Taichung city) is in the middle of nowhere and a dive
Thanks Taffy - I laughed out loud on your comments
Any ideas how to put lipstick on this pig? Maybe I can tell them "Mai Liao is suffering from deferred maintenance "
[quote=“On The Brink”]Thanks Taffy - I laughed out loud on your comments
Any ideas how to put lipstick on this pig? Maybe I can tell them "Mai Liao is suffering from deferred maintenance "[/quote]
Just read him the first part of a book Chris translated:
“Mailiao is a quiet rural township of narrow lanes dotted with hibiscus flowers and banyan trees. Famed for it’s expanses of green terraced rice fields and clear running brooks…”
the rest said “It now is the site of the Fifth Naptha Cracker.”
A Belgian guy lived there and had a restaurant, catered to the many foreigners that worked in the dredging industry and some others … he closed down after getting troubles in his marriage … don’t know if he started again or that his ex is still in the business of catering to foreigners … anyways they Belgian beer … and good steaks
Lipstick on a pig, eh? Well - it has “international flavours” (Vietnamese hookers), a “strong, money-driven work ethic” (Thai labourers worked like navvies, beaten, threatened, cheated out of their money etc.), and “healthy rivalries” (Thai and Filipino workers regularly beating the crap out of each other).
It’s also fairly small, which means you can get to somewhere that is not Mailiao pretty quickly.
[quote=“Muzha Man”][quote=“On The Brink”]Thanks Taffy - I laughed out loud on your comments
Any ideas how to put lipstick on this pig? Maybe I can tell them "Mai Liao is suffering from deferred maintenance "[/quote]
Just read him the first part of a book Chris translated:
“Mailiao is a quiet rural township of narrow lanes dotted with hibiscus flowers and banyan trees. Famed for it’s expanses of green terraced rice fields and clear running brooks…”
[/quote]
… In need of some TLC
Reads like a real estate ad trying to sell a lemon 
[quote=“Muzha Man”]Just read him the first part of a book Chris translated:
“Mailiao is a quiet rural township of narrow lanes dotted with hibiscus flowers and banyan trees. Famed for it’s expanses of green terraced rice fields and clear running brooks…”
the rest said “It now is the site of the Fifth Naptha Cracker.”[/quote]
Remember…the first part of that was in the past tense. (Note that the following is NOT anywhere near an exact quote, because I don’t have it on hand. But it conveys the feeling.):
“Mailiao was once known for its idyllic country lanes shaded with banyan trees and cascading bougainvillea. Now it’s home to the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Plant with its famed green smokestacks…”
By the way, check out the website for Mailiao tourism:
Leisure Tourist Attractions: 6th Naphtha Cracking Plant of Formosa Plastic
[quote]2. 6th Naphtha Cracking Industrial Park
Since the completion of Mailiao 6th Naphtha Cracking, it became the 3rd tourist attraction of Yunlin County than other landscape areas. It demonstrates the will of human being and the technical progress, which must be the attractive capacity of it.[/quote]
:roflmao:
The “yellow air” is what scares me the most. Seriously, what the hell?
Gosh if I remember correctly it may be near one of two FFZ (free farting zones) of the NS freeway? IT was one of the two stretches that forever stank .
Its one of those rare places on Taiwan where the Taiwanese fear to tread?
I had dinner with a group of engineers who worked there (Formosa Plastics) and lived in Camp X-Ray-style wire mesh cells in barracks. I asked one guy from Kaohsiung what he did at the weekends and he said “um, go back to Kaohsiung” very slowly, like he was explaining it to a moron. Which I suppose I was for asking the question.