I can’t find a Chiayi category so I’m just going to throw it out maybe someone can sort it out.
It’s 2:00 a.m. after and ton of bars open.
But from realistic perspective Chiayi is really really really really boring one of the most boring cities in taiwan.
Maybe that’s why one of the female city councilors is working to start a new red light district in taiwan.
Got to wonder what counts as a ‘bar’ and ‘open’ some of those could possobly consist of an old man and a chained up dog asleep in front of a fridge?
But that old man has got some stories let me tell ya!
Chiayi is supposedly famous for its 雞肉飯 (chicken rice). I went there once and tried it at a recommended place and couldn’t taste any difference. That’s all that stood out for me. Besides that it’s like any other generic Taiwanese city in the middle of Taiwan.
If Taipei is first tier (the only one in Taiwan), and Kaohsiung and Taichung and Tainan are second tier, I’d put Chiayi in third tier (with company like Hsinchu).
they do good cockfighting in the outskirts.
not THAT kind. get your mind out of the gutter, you misanthropes!
These two places have had quite different histories.
Hsinchu City (at least the city center) was not bombed to the ground. It still has lots of historical buildings and sites to check out near the train station, itself lovely.
Chiayi City, on the other hand, was bombed to the ground by the US in the 1940s. While historical structures are relatively thin on the ground, the human component is on the rise, with many young people returning (I have heard) to open cafes and similar businesses. I know Hsinchu City pretty well and like it a lot. With Chiayi City I’d like to get to know it better.
Guy
I’d put Tainan third, and then Chiayi fourth. Tainan is way smaller than Kaohsiung or Taichung. And no MRT? Booooo
What did you expect? I hadn’t even heard of Chiayi until a couple of years after I moved to Taiwan.
Yeah, maybe you’re right.
What tier would you put Hsinchu in then? If we’re doing it by qualities like beauty and cultural importance, then a city like Taoyuan would be 10th tier. But if we’re doing it by population size and economic importance, then Taoyuan would be second tier.
Really? Comparable to Kaohsiung and Taichung?
I didn’t realize Taoyuan was that big.
Kaohsiung has 2.7 mil people. Taoyuan has around 2.3. But more importantly it has the major international airport. Besides that, there’s no reason to visit.
Oh damn that’s huge. I had no idea.
Haha does anybody actually consider TPE a part of Taoyuan? It’s pretty far from the city center, isn’t it?
Taoyuan is so much more real and alive than Taipei. Especially the Taipei gentrified areas, built up areas, overpriced areas, business districts, etc.
Real people, young people, and their real lives go home to Taoyuan and places.
I consider living there more and more.
U&ME 酒吧 is a decent lounge pub bar near some luxury hotels, Chiayi hospital, and other things in that part of town. A couple karaoke rooms available and all proper bar atmosphere. Open late.
Actually, young people go home to their parents, and their “real lives” consist of shutting themselves in their bedrooms and only coming out to the dining room to eat when dinner is ready.
Besides, there are plenty of real/authentic places in Taiwan that are 100 times more interesting than Taoyuan.
(Not that there is anything fake about built-up areas. They are still Taiwanese. Just the modern kind of Taiwanese.)
I guess this kind of counting scheme (first tier, second tier, etc) may obscure as much as it reveals. I rarely hear this vocubulary used in Taiwan anyways (it sounds more like the way people talk about cities in China).
Guy
very very true.
Ex-wife was from Taoyuan. Man, those visits home were boring.
when we went to visit relatives in countryside Chiayi I was, however, treated like an honoured and distinguished guest, and made to eat the best chicken testicles! Lucky me! Probably from the losers of the aforementioned fighting cocks.
