I have recently been offered a position in Taipei. I currently live in Taichung. This new position provides greater income BUT people have warned me that the cost of living is significantly higher than that in Taichung. I need to make a decision pretty soon so any advice from others who have made this transition or people currently living in Taipei would be most appreciated.
Thanks guys[/quote]
While the sample size is a bit small, the below numbers from Numbeo can give you a bit of an insight:
Indexes Difference
[quote]Consumer Prices in Taichung are 4.08% lower than in Taipei
Consumer Prices Including Rent in Taichung are 10.87% lower than in Taipei
Rent Prices in Taichung are 33.55% lower than in Taipei
Restaurant Prices in Taichung are 10.65% higher than in Taipei
Groceries Prices in Taichung are 7.33% lower than in Taipei
Local Purchasing Power in Taichung is 4.02% higher than in Taipei[/quote]
IMHO, you have about a 2:1 COL exchange. The problem occurs when it fluctuates. Ex: I lived in OZ and was being paid in U.S.$ Then, it was 2:1 and I lived at twice the going rate. When it changed and became more 1:1, it hurt.
Worse air-pollution, colder in winter, crowded…Taipei IS worse IMHO than Taichung IF you don’t need the convenience of what the capital can offer ( and nightlife which seems dead in Taichung)
On your COL question, it is confirmed it being higher than Taichung.
Look into the Numbeo detailed comparison ( for some items / services )
That is factually incorrect. Taipei has superior air quality as well as far more green and recreation space and a world class MRT system.
I have nothing against Taichung but Taipei, for many if not most foreigners, is worth $4-5000 more a month to live in.[/quote]
I agree. Even the difference between Taipei City and Greater Taipei is startling. If I moved back to Taiwan, I wouldn’t live anywhere else other than Mucha in Taipei. Close enough to downtown but you can be on mountain plantations in minutes. Better education if you have kids, better hospitals, laws are somewhat followed, and it at least tries to be international.
For your sake, stay away from Nangang. It is, IMO, one of the worst places in Taipei. If you want cheap, go to Xizhi: you’ll have nicer apts for lower prices, plenty of options to park your car, CostCo and other amenities. Otherwise check out the Songshan or Houshanpi areas.
Q[quote=“Mucha Man”][quote=“ceevee369”][quote=“prevlin”]That REALLY makes Taipei look bad.[/quote]
Worse air-pollution…)[/quote]
That is factually incorrect. Taipei has superior air quality as well as far more green and recreation space and a world class MRT system.
I have nothing against Taichung but Taipei, for many if not most foreigners, is worth $4-5000 more a month to live in.[/quote]
As somebody who has spent 9 years in Taipei and 3 in Taichung I can compare and contrast for you
Taichung is very dry compared to Taipei. Some Winters it seems to rain everyday in Taipei
Taichung housing is half the price of Taipei, for buying and renting. Not only that the places are more modern and less crowded in general. Few moldy apartments due to dry climate and newer housing stock. Taichung wins big on this point. Indoor car parking is usually available at a very cheap price. Taipei housing is notoriously expensive and damp and crowded, noise being a constant issue I experienced too. Indoor car or parking of any kind can run 5000 NTD/mth.
-Taichungs air pollution is severe, as is most of the West coast. Its so bad sometimes it blocks the view of the city below. It builds up within one day of rain it is worse in the winter. Taiwan has a severe air pollution problem that is ignored by the government, one of the reasons being that Taipei is simply not as bad. The wind and rain blow it away and there aren’t so many factories and powerplants. There is still bad air pollution , especially from vehicle traffic at major intersections, but you can get away from it in the suburbs pretty easily.
-Despite being on the coast Taichung has no beaches. The coast has mostly been destroyed by industrial facilities.
Taipei has nice beaches less than 1 hour driving or train ride.
-Taichung city is nice enough, well laid out streets, not so crowded, plenty of cafes and restaurants and some areas for walking, but still not enough pavements. Taipei city (not Taipei county) has pavements everywhere now.
Taichung does not although better than many other places in Taiwan. Taichung has more green strips and parks than Taipei I feel, if you do not include the river parks or yangmingshan. But I miss yangmingshan a lot! Taichung has the best metropolitan park in Taiwan on a hill overlooking the city.
Taipei has the MRT and good buses. Taichung has a few bus lines and a train line. I drive and driving is easy and convenient in Taichung, its built for driving, lots of parking available. Parking is cheap at 20NTD per hour. The high speed rail is convenient to use if you drive.
Traffic is heavier in Taipei, driving is more complex and difficult, there are many speed cameras, more police enforcement and parking can be 40-50 NTD an hour or more. There’s also a lack of car parks.
There are police everywhere in Taipei. In Taichung you rarely see police and there are almost no checkpoints. Strangely there is little crime in Taichung though as far as I have seen. If you like a freer lifestyle, Taichung is the place.
Taipei has more money and Taipei is a much bigger city, so there are more shopping malls and museums and ‘things to do’ especially if you include the outer areas of Taipei. More concerts and festivals. What makes Taipei special is the access to places like yangmingshan, tamshui, wulai, north coast, Ilan etc.
Of course Taipei has a lot of bars and clubs.
Taichung has only one major festival a year (jazz festival),few concerts , notthing much happens really! New restaurants open rarely compared to Taipei.
Most of Taichung’s bars were shut down but some are opening up again now.
Taichung is relatively close to Miaoli and Nantou and Chiayi, awesome counties, but Taipei is close to Ilan and Hsinchu and even Taoyuan county is quite nice.
Taipei has the largest concentration of foreigners in Taiwan, in terms of foreign students and Westerners. So more foreign related stuff like clubs and societies and trade offices etc.
Overall Taipei wins but with some big caveats namely the weather really sucks in Taipei and the housing is 3rd world but 1st world prices. It’s also very very busy these days. It’s got a big city buzz. But you can choose quieter places or cheaper suburbs, then you don’t get all the citylife though. So it does depend on personal circumstances, habits and income too.
For me Taichung is very laid back and cheap and it has almost everything you need in a city (except for the afore mentioned issues), it’s a good choice for some.
Thank you everyone. I was wondering why you say I should stay away from Nangang? What makes it so bad?
I am really starting to worry about the parking situation. I doubt I will use the car much during the week, will most probably use it only on weekends. I am sure I can make do with the MRT most of the time. Most apartments I have checked thus far do NOT provide parking, so that is a little worrying.
Thanks for the detailed breakdown guys. I appreciate it.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention that my salary in Taichung is really low so I save VERY little, if any, money each month. I will be earning more in Taipei if I accept but at the same time I will spend more due to the cost of living. I just hope the opportunity for more work is higher in Taipei than in Taichung.
I didnt have a parking place when i was in Taipei. And my car had all the battle scars that go along with parking in the street. At night i would find a parking place around where i lived (chongshiao/dunhwa) when its easy to do. And all day i would NOT drive my car anywhere, unless it was to leave the city. Because once you leave that spot, it wont be there when you get back and wherever you go in Taipei city in the daytime, you cant park anyway or its very expensive or both. So i never use my car in the daytime (unless i am going to YMS or outside of the city). I take MRT or Taxi or bus as the case may be.
At night, say after 7pm its possible to use the car to go somewhere and get parking while there. Unless its a crowded area like shimenting or shihlin or linshen n.rd. But even those places its possible to find parking, if paid parking.
Basically you cant use your car in the daytime, but at night its possible. And yes the worst thing about taipei is the nonstop RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN . It rains a fair bit in NOv usually. NOt so much in December, but then from Jan until May it rains a hella lot ! I mean a hella lot. Then u get the maiyuee in May. So its torrential rain now for a while. And then in summer the almost daily thunderstorms.
The only place worse is KEELUNG for rain in taiwan. And there it rains something like 250 days out of the year.
Thanks Tommy, I am a little worried about the car getting damaged because its still new. Still paying it off actually. But yeah, if Taipei does materialize then I hope I can find something that suits me.
What type of job are you doing and how much experience do you have? Your best bet is to find a higher paying job, and yes most of them are in Taipei or Hsinchu.
English teacher, this is my second year in Taiwan. I hope that I can find a place to settle and grow. In the short time that I have been in Taichung I have become well known in a few schools. I hope that I can do a similar sort of thing in Taipei and slowly grow, become better and earn a greater income.
55,000 a month teaching in Taipei is way down the bottom of the scale. I would not accept such low pay if I were you. People must be able to command higher wages teaching in Taipei, or has the bottom of the market reached a new low?
Really??? I have never seen a salary higher than this in my time here. I had a similar amount when I was in the countryside so I guessed that this was average. So you think I should be demanding more? What is the average pay in Taipei from your experience?
I can only go on the people I know. So, with open work rights I’d put the average monthly income at around 90k. Without open work rights probably around 70k. Both of those are assuming 2+ years teaching experience. New teachers usually start at around 60k.
Posters are probably going to wade in saying that they only take home 50k or something, but IME those guys are the minority. Seriously, some of my mates just roll up to M-F kindy jobs and then do a bit of buxiban work in the evenings and they are taking home over 90 without working weekends. 55 is too low for Taipei. If the school pays shite they will almost certainly treat you like shite, believe me.
Hmmmm,thank you for the heads up guys. I am getting pretty worried about the situation now. I was always under the assumption that 55K was average. Does the fact that it is 22 teaching hours a week make a difference?
In an average month that’s around 95 or so hours I guess, so you’re getting paid about 560NT per hour. That’s the lower end entry level hourly rate.
As a first job in Taipei it could be OK if it leads to better opportunities. Maybe use it to keep you ticking over while you look for something better. Yeah, I’m sure people can live off 55k but why come to Taiwan to do that? As far as I can see there are four reasons to teach English in Taiwan: 1) save money, 2) live like a rock star for a couple of years, 3) learn Chinese, 4) be with a loved one. On 55k in Taipei you aren’t going to be doing 1 or 2, so unless 3 or 4 are your reasons then I fail to see the point.