Best Taiwanese cities/suburbs to move to?

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
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Used to be fairly good until about two years ago. You’ll find something, but good luck getting more than 16 odd hours a week. After that you’ll have to farm yourself out to other schools, and unless they are willing to apply for an additional work permit (new law states that you have to have a work permit for each school you work for, even if only for one or two hours a week - and in Tainan they do check, they have been to my school and have paid a visit to all the teachers I know at work) it’s illegal and they will deport you. I personally know of two guys that that has happened to in the last few months.
There are simply too many foreigners here for the amount of work available, schools are closing down and enrollment raters are decreasing. The same is true for public schools who have been forced to close several Grade one classes and let some teachers (Taiwanese teachers included) go.
Canadians, and more so females, are still at the top of the recruitment lists. So unless you’re a female Canadian NT$600/hour or more is very unlikely.
This is the reality of the situation, although good positions are to be found. Just don’t have unrealistic expectations, rather be surprised if you are indeed lucky.

As far as transport is concerned. Yep, public transport is basically non-existent in Tainan, except for Taxi’s. You can get a car, but, once again, good luck finding parking, even at your apartment. Also traffic gets so congested that it can easily take you an hour to get somewhere in a car at times, whereas the same distance would take 10 or 15 minutes on a scooter.

I think most folks have hit the nail on the head regarding the positives of Kaohsuing or Taipei. I know nothing of Taichung, so no comment there. Wouldn’t mind living in Taidong or Hualien, though… :slight_smile:

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[quote=“cfimages”][quote=“cands”]I’ve also been really keen on finding a teaching job on the east coast, but proving difficult.

Some of those Taipei suburbs however sound good too!

However been checking up on some job advertisements, some are based in Miaoli and Changhua (Zhanghua) (Zhanghua), anyone lived or been through these places??

  • how do they compare to other places with pollution and living costs (apartment)?

many thanx :wink:[/quote]

Cands, I live in Changhua (Zhanghua) city and I must like it, because I’ve been living here for 4 years. The weather here is great - not too hot in summer, and usually dry. We don’t get the rain that the north of the country gets. And typhoons generally get blocked by the mountains. It is fairly polluted here though, but not as bad as somewhere like Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong).

If you are the type of person who needs to be around plenty of English speakers, needs a good range of Western food, nightclubs, bars etc, then Changhua (Zhanghua) wouldn’t be for you. There are a few foreigners, although I don’t really know any of them. The newbie foreigners tend to be the ones who hang out in the couple of bars that are here, the longer-termers seem to hide themselves away.

That being said, it suits me. I’m fairly busy working one job M-F afternoons, and building a photography business the rest of the time, which means I do a lot of traveling in Taiwan and also spend a lot of time at home working on my computer - mostly photo stuff, and marketing my photos. Plus, I’ve always preferred Asian food to Western food, so I can live here happily without all the usual expat things. And, even though my Chinese sucks and my Taiwanese is worse, I don’t need to have English speakers around me. I’m happy being silent.

And for the rare occasion when I do need a touch of things western, Taichung city is only 15-20 mins away (although I usually end up eating Indian food when I’m there).[/quote]

Ok well thanx :slight_smile:

Actually I’m not too concerned bout having western food at hand, I rather enjoy eastern myself plus not too concerned bout bars an such, though it would be nice to hang out with some local expats every now an then. My biggest concern is pollution, I dont mind some just would like to avoid it. Plus I do enjoy visiting temples, Are any close by, how about hiking trails? camping areas?

And anybody living or lived in Miaoli? Sounds pretty cool too

23

Ja definately! but proving difficult to find, some in Ilan but still not too sure. My boyfriends coming from SA in May, so need to choose a place where theres a chance we can both have a job in the same place plus compromise on the pollution issues :smiley: but i’m narrowing it down slowly!

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[quote=“cands”]I’ve also been really keen on finding a teaching job on the east coast, but proving difficult.

Some of those Taipei suburbs however sound good too!

However been checking up on some job advertisements, some are based in Miaoli and Changhua (Zhanghua), anyone lived or been through these places??

  • how do they compare to other places with pollution and living costs (apartment)?

many thanx :wink:[/quote]

I live in Changhua. It’s a decent place…I like it.

It’s a small town, so you tend to run into a lot of the same people. That’s something I actually like.

There are enough places to get a burger or some other Western food. But if you are really craving something different and feel closed in, a $30 train ride takes you to Taichung in 15 minutes. A 3 bedroom apartment would be about $10,000 a month.

Matt

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[quote=“SydneysMama”]Thanks for all the info so far- very helpful. I checked out the sites about Hsinchu (Xinzhu) and it looks promising except one thing…there was something written about if you have children do not live in apartments because the playgrounds are littered and often have broken glass laying about but if you live in a house you will run into cockroaches and snakes. :noway:

Now, I lived in Hawaii so I have run into my share of cockroaches and a few snakes here in North Carolina but I don’t want them to be my new roommates either, is this the case in most places in Taiwan or only a select few?[/quote]

The roaches are no worse in Hsinchu than anyplace else in Taiwan. (Unless you live in Holland Village.) I have seen snakes, but have never been harmed and they’ve never been in my house or anyplace like that. (There was one on my neighbour’s roof, but it vanished so may have been a figment of my imagination). The playgrounds and parks here tend to be quite clean, more so than in other places where I have visited. Certainly, we lack the beauty of Ilan, but the foreigners tend to be more accepting of newcomers and less cliquey.

I’ve been there for a year and I love it; it’s not too big, you can live cheaply on the outskirts (away from the noise of downtown) and it has, as someone mentioned, all of the amenities of Taipei. (It’s also the tech hub, so the locals will be more likely to understand your English and/or mangled Mandarin, especially closer to the science park).

As for teaching jobs, the best ones are found by going door-to-door. The best ones often aren’t found online, and certainly not at chain schools (unless you really, really need the over-structured “puppet curriculum”).

Good luck in your search, and I hope that you find the city you’re looking for! :wink:

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The Ventriloquist of the group objects!

Matt

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Ja definately! but proving difficult to find, some in Yilan but still not too sure. My boyfriends coming from SA in May, so need to choose a place where theres a chance we can both have a job in the same place plus compromise on the pollution issues :smiley: but i’m narrowing it down slowly![/quote]

Taipei suburbs. Decent air, and hiking and biking trails at your doorstep.

That said, since the government starting forcing businesses to leave a clear walkable space on sidewalks even smaller towns have become a lot more liveable as you can actually walk around. Taitung is an exception as it has almost no sidewalks anyway. Taitung is good if you want to surf but not so great for hiking. Actually, as odd as it sounds the east coast just can’t compare with the north for variety of hiking options that are quick to get to.

Changhua’s not bad. The new park up in the hills around the Big Buddha is good and there is good biking up the too. Tainan’s got a whole new community developing out near the harbor in Anping. Lots of park space and fresh ocean breezes. Paths for walking and jogging. Wide roads. Little traffic.

Kaohsiung would be great if the air was better. Give it another 5-10 years and it will be the most liveable city in the country.

Taichung can be good in certain areas. Lots of good areas close by. Dakeng is just 20 minutes away and has nice trails and even hot springs. Overall though I hate the traffic there.

28

Thanx guys! :wink:

I’m actually on my way to taiwan this sunday, had a few job offers but all in different locations, since i got a 60 day visa gona check out a few different areas before i settle down, but to tell u the truth at the moment i really dont care where i live as long as i get a job sorted!

However northern Taiwan is looking the best at the moment