Hi all
I’ve been offered positions in both of these cities, i like the sound of Changhua City (not far from Taichung) but am interesting in hearing what others have to say about them.
Thanks
Nic
Dry versus wet. Changua is dry and warm, Keelung is one of the rainiest ports in the world.
Changhua gives you access to a lot of countryside, some easy day trips; Keelung to beaches, the north coast, hot springs, a lot of hiking, and Yangmingshan National Park. Also Taipei is close.
Neither is a very nice looking city (none are in Taiwan).
Why don’t you tell us what you hope for in the place you live and we can advise you better?
Here is the link to the Changhua thread:
I always hated going to Keelung. It just seemed so dirty and mountainous, but it is a cheap place to live like Changhua. Changhua has grown on me, but that’s because I want to save money and work a lot, which is what I can do here.
Keelung rains something like 280 days a year !! Bear that in mind.
[quote=“Nikola”]Hi all
I’ve been offered positions in both of these cities, i like the sound of Changhua City (not far from Taichung) but am interesting in hearing what others have to say about them.
[/quote]
Changhua is near enough to Taichung that you can get there quickly; trains go there several times per day (about 15-20km). I don’t know much else about it other than it’s a fair sized city, not a hole in the ground.
As for Keelung…
For weather, Changhua. It almost never rains, and the mountains shelter it from the worst of the typhoons.
If you choose Changhua, try to live over the back of the city near the Christian Hospital and technology university. The air is cleaner, the views pretty good and very easy access to the countryside and some short hiking trails. Oh, and should you get sick, the Christian Hospital is meant to be the best hospital in Central Taiwan.
I lived in Changhua for 6 years and it was only work-related stuff (well, my fiancee’s work) that took me away.
As well as Okami, who replied above, there’s another poster on here, Puppet, who lives in Changhua. He’s pretty plugged into the bar/social scene there (what there is anyhow), so send him a message if you’re into that.
If you time the connections right (which you can look up online), you can get from Changhua to Taipei in 70 mins by high-speed rail and local train.
I lived in Keelung for a long time. It’s really, really wet… really, really boring… really, really dirty. There are rats the size of dogs and spiders the size of rats… (slight exaggeration Lol)
But it’s cheap! Which school would you work at in Keelung?
Hi all
Thanks for the replies.
In Changhua one school is Shane and the other is a private language school. From other research Changhua City seems like the better option. Even though i’m from Scotland I don’t think i could live somewhere where it rains heavily all year round 
All i want from a place is that it’s safe, a sizable expat community and has easy access to the main cities!
Nikola
xxx
Both Changhua and Keelung are safe and near main cities.
I would not say that either one has a sizable expat community, though Puppet could fill you in for Changhua and others for Keelung.
Both will be “safe.” Neither has any kind of “sizeable” expat community to speak of. Both can be within easy travel distance of Taipei.
Be warned. The chances of you getting enough blocks of time off work to actually MAKE the journey – especially from Changhua – are fairly remote.
If you take a job there, you’ll basically be stuck there apart from the occasional Saturday or Sunday nightmare train ride with the hordes of mouthbreathers.
Take a job in Taipei or Taichung. There is a REASON you’ve been recruited from overseas! The VAST majority of people already living here would sooner carve their testicles off than be stuck in some shitty little hole miles from anywhere.
By the way, as you’re from Scotland, if I tell you Keelung is a bit like Cardenden on a bad day while Changhua is more like the nastiest part of Grangemouth, that should give you a better idea of why recruiters are forced to hire teachers from overseas. 
[quote=“sandman”]
By the way, as you’re from Scotland, if I tell you Keelung (Jilong) is a bit like Cardenden on a bad day while Changhua is more like the nastiest part of Grangemouth, that should give you a better idea of why recruiters are forced to hire teachers from overseas. 
[/quote]
Thanks now i have an idea of what it’s like (I now have visions of dodgy council estates) 
I’ll now push for one of the main cities.
How long have you lived in Taiwan?
[quote=“Nikola”][quote=“sandman”]
By the way, as you’re from Scotland, if I tell you Keelung (Jilong) is a bit like Cardenden on a bad day while Changhua is more like the nastiest part of Grangemouth, that should give you a better idea of why recruiters are forced to hire teachers from overseas. [/quote]
Thanks now i have an idea of what it’s like (I now have visions of dodgy council estates) I’ll now push for one of the main cities.
How long have you lived in Taiwan?[/quote]
Not as bad as that. Point is, though, it sounds to me that you would not be very happy there, given what you’ve mentioned as your criteria.
Get a job in Taipei, Taichung or Kaohsiung. Those jobs out in the sticks will still be there if you later decide you’d rather live in grimy isolation.
Nikola. Nice Scottish name, that.
I’ve only ever lived in Taipei (8 years), so I’m not qualified to talk about Changhua and Keelong. I have passed through them at times though. They are dirty, sleepy little backwaters and very provincial. It’s generally not advised for newbies to start off on places like that, as the culture shock is potentially much more intense than that of the major urban centres. Safety? Taiwan is one of the safest countries (sic) in the world. Everywhere is relatively safe compared to the rest of the world (Scandinavia excluded).
I will admit that Changhua would be a hard stretch for the newly arrived, but to call it dirty is a stretch when compared to Taipei. I’d been in Taipei for 8 years and Changhua was hard for me at first.
I can ride my scooter all day and wipe my face and not have the tissue turn black in Changhua, can’t say that about Taipei. My sinuses feel great finally after frequent colds and infections from 8 years of living in Taipei.
Taipei is a real nice clean place to live and work if you pick the right area and never leave that area i.e. Mucha, Tianmu, Danshui and certain parts of Xindian. It’s also hideously crowded, cramped and expensive. You are able to get almost anything you want though in Taipei. The weather in Taipei sucks compared to Changhua.
Taipei has a lot of expats and there are frequent Forumosa Happy Hours to meet people. The food in Taipei is great and varied. Any kitchen appliance or home decoration is readily available. You are able to get transportation to anywhere in a snap from Taipei. Try getting to Changhua at 1:30 on a Friday night if you are near Banqiao train station. Getting proper English books is easy and doesn’t require 3 months and a deposit beforehand in Taipei but is required from Caves in Changhua.
Each area has it’s pro’s and con’s. It seems like you may be more of a social butterfly that plans on only doing one year here and having fun. I would recommend Taipei then. If you are planning on being here longer and are a self starter, I’d recommend a smaller town.
[quote=“jimipresley”]Nikola. Nice Scottish name, that.
I’ve only ever lived in Taipei (8 years), so I’m not qualified to talk about Changhua and Keelong (Jilong). I have passed through them at times though. They are dirty, sleepy little backwaters and very provincial. It’s generally not advised for newbies to start off on places like that, as the culture shock is potentially much more intense than that of the major urban centres. Safety? Taiwan is one of the safest countries (sic) in the world. Everywhere is relatively safe compared to the rest of the world (Scandinavia excluded).[/quote]
The only place I ever had a knife pulled on me was in Sweden. 
Yup listen to the guys here. Jilong and Changhwa are places that can only “fool” people into going there. Nobody on Taiwan actually picks those places to live in. That being said. I would pick Changhwa in a heartbeat over keelung. Changhwa has far far far better weather. Jilong is windy and has 24/7 rain for at least 8 months of the year or more. Only the summer time is bearable. There are plenty of buses from Keelung to taipei but still takes an hours bus ride in most times. Changhwa is also bout an hours bus ride or so from Taichung. But Taichung is a great city. Smaller then Taipei but nicer in many ways.
YOu could actually live in Taichung and commute to your teaching job in Changhwa probably. This way you can party at nite in Taichung. Or you could live in Taipei and commute to your job in keelung. Millions of people (it would seem) do that and the buses and trains are crowded.
But at least at nite you will be in a better town and can party .
You could live in Taichung and motorcycle it to and from Changhwa fairly easily but would be harder to do that from Taipei to/from keelung (longer and harder ride).
If it was me? I would live in taichung and scooter it to and from Changhwa to the job. But live in Taichung. Living in Changhwa for a young person would be depressing.
I worked in Changhua for just two days and found it quite pleasant. The office was in the houchezhan (behind-the-railway-station) area and surprisingly quiet, except for the musical trash truck.
Last week I went to Keelung for the first time in a while. Frankly the place is butt ugly. It might have a certain gritty charm, but ugly nonetheless. Also, trains from Keelung to Taipei in the evening are rather infrequent, and you could race them on a bicycle with a good chance of winning.
What is the commute time between Taichung and Changhua City, seems like on the train is about 20mins or so? I wouldn’t mind the communte from Taichung to Changhua City.
I agree that the culture shock of a provincial city would be a bit overwhelming for me, I’ll see what is available in Taichung.
You’ve all been very helpful, thank you!
What is the size of the expat community in Chagnhua City and what is the social scene? I’ll be coming over on my own so being around other westerners is a big thing for me.
What is Taichung like?
xx
[quote=“jimipresley”]Nikola. Nice Scottish name, that. [quote]
It is isn’t it. LOL
I lived in Taipei most of my life and I always enjoyed going to TAichung. Its very nice a city. I think u will like it. Just explore the city, im sure you will run into the expats and the nice places to hang out.
1 Like