I moved to Kaohsiung recently, single guy in his 30s. Trying to decide which district/neighborhood to live in. I want to be in a good location for dating. I have a good budget for living, so could pick anywhere.
I’ve been staying around Xinxing / Qianjin and exploring around there a lot. I like the tall buildings and character of these areas, Central Park, etc. I went up to Zuoying recently. More modern stores/buildings, less tall buildings. My friend said Zuoying is like the new downtown and Xinxing like the old downtown.
I’ve also heard Zuoying more for couples/families and less for singles, but I don’t know. Also explored a bit between Siwei/Wufu, over by Love River, and a bit of Yancheng.
I’m not a big drinker but I do like live music and welcome the energy that bars can bring to an area. Street food/night markets are always a plus, there seems to be a bunch of those all over.
So in all I want an area with energy and lots of single younger women.
Living in the wrong city dude. Say that as a married man but nightlife here strikes me as…poor at best. And energy… again…I’ve never seen a big city with as low energy as Kaohsiung. You probably think you are missing out on a place where all the action is right ? But maybe there is no place where all the action is.
Hopefully somebody can give you more positive suggestions and right my wrongs in this thread.
I was already engaged-soon-to-be-married when I came here almost a decade ago, so I’ve never explored the dating scene. But AFAIK the only place singles really go to mingle (or at least westerners mixing with open-minded locals) is the Brickyard in Qianjin where you said you’re near. I knew the guy who owned/ran it but lost touch. I can’t vouch for its current quality, whether it’s still relevant or has declined (Google indicates it’s still open) but at least around 2016-2019 or so I remember it was the place single waigouren in their 20s and early 30s would go on the weekend. Other than that it’s pretty much a deadzone like @Brianjones said. If you know a little Mandarin then you could try your luck at some of the local bars and hope you meet an open-minded Taiwanese girl. You could also go to the Lighthouse, but that’s just a fairly popular expat bar, not a club or a pick up spot, and if you meet any single chicks there they’ll probably be older like late 30s to 40s.
I was dating in Kaohsiung for years, move to Taipei is the best choice
If you are blonde, blue eyed, wealthy, and speak good Chinese, remember that the girls are looking for friends first, so try joining clubs rather than choosing a neighborhood
I hope you have better luck than I did. Good news was, it wasn’t too hard to get short term casual through Tinder
Brickyard (aka the Dickyard) was popular with my international students so I didn’t go, but that’s apparently the spot Taiwanese girls know to go when they’re looking for a foreign guy. Also the Cijin beach bar which is the same owners draws the young and fun crowd. Lighthouse is a sausage party.
Personally don’t believe it’s the district one lives in to meet people, but rather the environment one often is in (from my experience of meeting the missus when I was single).
I would say join/find activity (of one or more you enjoy) groups and go from there. The locals will eventually ask if you have a girlfriend and just sheepishly answer you’re not good looking enough. Someone will introduce someone to you eventually.
If you want too meet women the best thing to do in any city in Taiwan is enroll part time for a few Mandarin classes at a local university. There’s a good chance the friends you meet and potential girlfriends won’t necessarily be Taiwanese, though, if you go that route. Expat communities in Taiwan tend to be tight, insular, and small - you’ll know every Westerner in K-Town once you’re in. (Taipei is the exception to the general rule.)
Oh yeah @qbert is right. Instead of going to the Brickyard or wherever, just go on FB and join one of those language exchange meet-ups. They’re mostly fronts for young bilingual Taiwanese girls looking to meet foreigners (and vice versa) and they lack the urgency and pressure of dating apps like Tinder.
This is very true here, had dates in different zones.
This is also very true. Most Taiwanese are very conservative so go this route. Some the girls on fix up like this very conservative, never had BF but very cute and nice, just shy to date strangers.
