My fiance and I might be moving to Taiwan next year and this seems to be our desitination city. Can anyone tell me any information on this place?..ie things to do, safety, places to eat etc
Ive heard some bad reviews from the locals here in germany that have been there but I would rather hear on here how it is. You guys know best I think.
Thanks for the info!!I live in Hsinchu. If you have any specific questions, I could find the answers for you.
How nice is the city?
How safe is the city? How big is it?
What are some things to do there? Art galleries, theatre, bars, clubs etc
Is there a large variety of restaurants? If so what kinds?
What percentage of people can speak english? Over all are people friendly?
How far is the city from Taipei?
Just general things like this…Thanks
[quote=“cnelam7”]How nice is the city?
How safe is the city? How big is it?
What are some things to do there? Art galleries, theatre, bars, clubs etc
Is there a large variety of restaurants? If so what kinds?
What percentage of people can speak English? Over all are people friendly?
How far is the city from Taipei?
Just general things like this…Thanks[/quote]
The city is quite Ok, but it doesn’t come close to Taipei. Thankfully Taipei is just more than hour away by train. Trains and busses leave frequenly. I usually go by bus and they leave every 15 minutes. There are several bus companies. (I don’t know how far the speed train programme has come).
There’s a glass museum, a theatre that shows foreign movies (free of charge) besides the normal theatres. I know of two English style bars/pubs. There are quite a number of restaurants here. There’s at least two Italian restaurants, many that have French menus, some Japanese ones and obviously thousands of Chinese ones (some vegetarian). Most people above the age of say twenty do not really speak English, but most of the guys working in the Science Park do. Many people are friendly, but friendliness is optional.
thank you very much…it was quite helpful
Here are some links that might be of further use:
www1.hchg.gov.tw/hchg/hcintro/en … spire2.htm
eweb.sipa.gov.tw/en/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hsinchu
all-hotels.com/east_asia/tai … chu_e1.htm
travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-4 … acations-i
encyclopedia.com/html/H/Hsinchu.asp
Hsinchu is very safe (except for the traffic) but a little dull. It is close to some beautiful mountain areas if you like the outdoors. People are friendly everywhere in Taiwan. While English is not (effectively) widely spoken, you will always be able to find someone around who can speak it if you really need help/get lost etc.
I agree with what Tigerman said. The company is not going to be able to get you a work permit. The rules are very strict about this. You wil also need to be married to get a residence permit. There is no way around this in your case.
Xinzhu is a fairly dull city in my personal opinion, especially if you’re here for more than a few months. There’s little of interest to do and the shopping isn’t all that great. There are a number of museums but none which are really worth mentioning (unless glass-making is your thing). There are a few sights worth seeing in the city, such as the Eastern Gate and a number of small temples dotted here and there, but on the whole it’s no more scenic than your average city.
On the other hand, it’s not that far from Taipei (under 2 hours by coach) and the rest of Xinzhu County is quite beautiful. If you have your own transport, you will be able to explore the surrounding area a lot better and be able to get out of this polluted city.
There are plenty of places to eat, some better than others, naturally. You can find a number of good restaurants serving a wide range of cuisines in the Science Park area, ranging from Vietnamese to Italian. The Windance Mall also has a selection of restaurants and a Warner Village cinema but is a little disappointing as far as shopping goes.
I’m a little curious…will you both have jobs over here in Xinzhu? I know from experience that living here can be very dull if you don’t have a job so unless teaching English is something you enjoy, you won’t have much luck finding a good job in this city. You could always look for jobs in Taipei and commute everyday but this can be tiring and expensive.
The IT industry is also an option.
The IT industry is also an option.[/quote]
True, but that is pretty much only an option for those with a background in IT. I’ve had some luck doing freelance translation here and there but nothing substantial (and I really dislike teaching English!).
I’m just suggesting that it might be better for people to be coming here with a job in view, unless they do happen to like teaching English or have a background in IT or engineering.
maybe you guys should check out my other post in Visa and residency Issues. Its called needing help. It seems right now I wont have a job option. I am looking into it and we are also considering trying to get my fiances company to give me some type of job. There is also the dealthat my fiance and I will NOT be married by the time we go over there so people are saying I wont even be allowed to get a residency permit. So you should check out that post and tell me what you think.
Thanks for all of the information. If we do come it seems we will be staying 1 to 2 years at least. This is our only option as far as a city goes though because its a branch of the company he already works for in Germany.
By the way, I cant teach english because I am not a certified teacher.
All I can suggest then is getting a 6-month multiple entry visa (which would require you to re-enter the country every 60 days). This is what I have as I’m basically here with my partner as he is working on a contract out here. And since we’re not married, I’m not entitled to his ARC so I just have to make do with what I can for the time being.
If I were you, I’d also look into the option of pursuing study while in Taiwan as some have suggested. It might solve a few problems but might not entitle you to find a job.
If you dont mind me asking, what do you do everyday then? Cant you even get a visa that allows you to voluteer?
Despite the warnings on this site, you can volunteer in practice to teach English, help the elderly, clean up beaches, tutor orphans, working with women’s groups etc. Just stay away from controversial stuff like labor organizing, politics, and playing music in public and you will be fine.
You will not, however, be able to get a job in a regular company without a work permit. You also need to note that even if you could get the residence visa through your SO or school, you will still not have work rights. These are separate issues for most people.
In practice, you can do freelance editing, under the table tutoring, etc. without a work permit although you will be deported in the unlikely event you are caught and it is illegal.
I think you should see about studying something in Hsinchu (two major universities) or just get the visitor visa.
I spend much of my time at home, to be honest. We have an apartment and I do the cleaning, food shopping etc. I also do some freelance writing (unpaid) for an online magazine as well as some occasional freelance translation work. I also dedicate some time to perfecting my Chinese and learning Dutch (my partner and I will be moving back to the Netherlands later this year and a certain level of fluency in the language will boost my career prospects).
In essence, I’m taking some time away from ‘real life’ but still dedicating that time to gaining new skills, even if I can’t find a good job here.
It pretty much depends on what sort of person you are. I’m quite content getting on with my own thing and can find ways to entertain myself, but I can understand that other people would get bored very easily.
[quote=“cnelam7”]maybe you guys should check out my other post in Visa and residency Issues. Its called needing help. It seems right now I wont have a job option. I am looking into it and we are also considering trying to get my fiances company to give me some type of job. There is also the dealthat my fiance and I will NOT be married by the time we go over there so people are saying I wont even be allowed to get a residency permit. So you should check out that post and tell me what you think.
Thanks for all of the information. If we do come it seems we will be staying 1 to 2 years at least. This is our only option as far as a city goes though because its a branch of the company he already works for in Germany.[/quote]
Hsinchu is a cool place (if you get bored on weekends and want to waste money its one hour to Taichung). If you are rich and bored you can also waste more money in Taipei (one hour the other direction). Hsinchu isn’t more boring than any german city I know. Taiwanese are boring (slightly more boring than the average german). Taiwan is safe (the arms budget is one of the highest in the world) and err, Hsinchu too, even the traffic, contrary to what some people say. Just that the road here is ONLY for cars and scooters. There are some cultural activities all year long like everywhere else in Taiwan. It looks more boring here as you don’t run into ‘fun’ that easily here but you will have to check some schedules and maybe even get involved (which can probably improve the chinese you want to learn better than in Taipei).
If I summarize all your posts your “husband” will work in Hsinchu, possibly the Science Park.
Well, you won’t have trouble finding a job here (employment is high, especially in Hsinchu). If you really feel like having to be a volunteer in a hospital then there are plenty of it in Hsinchu (considering the size of this town) but most of the hospitals that look for volunteers are on the east coast (that is far). It seems you don’t have a european passport but technically you could fly to Hongkong every end of month until you find someone supporting you jobwise (if you are eligible to the 30 days visitor visa). The Science Park Administration is reponsible for work permits in the Science Park here, not the lame Council of Labour Affairs and they give out ARC’s easily if a company here backs you. Taiwanese are very friendly and I guess if your “husband” tells people here that he knows that you are looking for a job it should be easy.
Do you know anyone who is Taiwanese?
What is your nationality?
We dont know anyone there. We actually havent even been there yet. We will be taking a two week trip there probably at the end of march to check everything out. We are fairly adaptable considering all the places we have lived but we just want to make sure by checking the place out first. My fiance and I both are from the USA. Our ages are 22 (myself) and 25 (fiance)
Yinzer young. Yinz can adapt to just about anything.
Yinzer young. Yinz can adapt to just about anything.[/quote]
Coming to Taiwan now is a bit easier than when we first came over. 