Hi all,
Looking to move to Taipei to teach English early 2019 from Canada. I visited earlier this year and loved my time spent in Taiwan. Of course visiting and living a country are two different things. I have a list full of pros and I need some cons to be aware of what I’m getting into so I don’t have any nasty surprises.
Depends on where you live for the negatives.
Since you only want the cons, I’ll offer a few quick ones:
Taipei: costly, costly, costly. Did I forget to mention costly? Cold and dreary in winter.
Kaohsiung: air quality.
Taichung: a very large coal plant nearby.
East coast from Hualien southward: less foreigners than on west coast; public transportation not as good as on west coast.
Wages stagnant for teaching English. Think they’ve been stuck at same level for decades.
I am annoyed by pollution and horrendous driving style in Taiwan. Otherwise it is quite nice.
Looking to move to Taipei - maybe it’s best to live there for a few years? I am aiming for 2~ years currently and see it goes from there.
I’m petrified by the drivers there 
Always going to take great caution when crossing the street. I’ve rented the city bikes there a few times, but was pretty scared. How do you deal with the pollution? I was thinking of investing in those face masks. Is the pollution bad all year around in Taipei or are some seasons/months worse than others?
Be prepared for financial discrimination. Difficulty getting credit cards, loans. Also you may be discriminated against by some landlords who won’t rent to non Taiwanese.
For food, be prepared for bad tasting contaminated food. Western food is a lot more expensive there. You will be getting a Costco membership.
As @nonredneck says, you may come upon some food scandals, but that shouldn’t deter your decision to make the leap.
If pollution ever gets bad in Taipei, just stay indoors like others or go to local district sports centers to exercise.
Outside of the east coast, which has the best air and almost never any pollution, Taipei is not that bad for pollution, relatively speaking. There are times when the air quality is bad, but it’s the best part of the west coast (from Taipei to Pingtung).
I don’t think you’ll need a mask. Masks are generally worn by sick people on public transportation, or if SARS happens to make a comeback or bird flu decides to invade Taiwan.
What part of Taipei? It’s big and you could find cheaper places to rent depending on which part of the city you want to live, or even across the river in New Taipei City.
Yes, maybe best to start in Taipei, and then if you like it after one year, you can try to find a job in another city.
In no particular order
a) Amazing and cheap food and drinks. Unless you go high end, it is unlikely you would need to pay more than 1000ntd for a dinner including both drinks and food.
b) Super cheap to rent, once again unless you go super highend. Not really sure about the rents in the rest of the country, so I am only speaking for Taipei now. But, I would assume they are even lower than in Taipei
c) Good opportunities for out doors. I do bicycling, trail running and hiking and the opportunities are amazing.
d) Clean air. I stayed in HK 8 years prior to moving to taipei, and the air is far cleaner here.
Downsides
a) Far to the airport. It will probably take you over an hour, minimum, to get to the airport. Unless you live right next door to the airport mrt line, you might want to take uber which will set you back 1300ntd.
b) Limited connections at the airport to Europe, so you will end up often doing a layover on the way.
c) Many places do not know English, so e.g. opening bank accounts(which I have still not bothered doing for this reason) or going to get a drivers licence will be a very tedious experience.
d) Far to the beach from Taipei, it will take you over an hour to get to the nearest beach.
Getting a drivers license (or scooter license) is now very easy. The test is in english, yeah! Passed on first try. The harder part is the scooter driving test. Move in a straight line for 10m, but you cannot pass the 10m mark TOO early (you are timed), ha ha. So, it’s a good balancing act.
Almost forgot, there is a general lack of trash bins in public. Although this is not a problem for most, but if you got dogs(which I got 2) you will find it frustrating having to look for a bin in which to put their sh*t.
Super cheap to rent in Taipei? Are you out of your mind? The rent in Taipei is overpriced, even for the dumps. The only way in Taipei to get cheap rent is to have roommates or live in a shoebox apartment.
Everything I guess is relative, but I think it is super cheap compared to what I paid in Hong Kong.
On the flip side… some landlords prefer to rent to foreigners - feeling they are cleaner & more reliable.
yea its the cheapest rent of anywhere Ive ever rented.
relative to property prices rent is low in Taipei.
https://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Asia/Taiwan/price-rent-ratio
My taxi man charges only $800 for dropoffs and $1000 for pickups. travel to TPE is usually around 40 minutes outside of rush hour. And airfare to SE and NE Asia is generally really cheap.
There are also plenty of bus lines that don’t take more time than the mrt.
OP, a lot of imported goods in Taiwan are more expensive than outside Taiwan due to a high import tax.
You should probably estimate your average salary and your expenses for what you what to do and things you like to eat, wear, and use (including your hobbies). Stuff like outdoor gear is more expensive, but bicycles are cheaper (like Giant). Imported food is going to be more expensive. Also factor in the price of going home to visit if you plan to do that.
If you like certain foods, you may not be able to find them here and may have to cook them yourself. Getting the ingredients to do this can be a pain sometimes depending on what your want.
Upsides:
People are friendlier, more open minded (only Asian nation with same-sex marriage fwiw), and less nationalist than other East Asian countries. Still might encounter bigots, but not as much.
Night markets are fun
Rent is cheap
Easy to be a big fish in a small pond, if you work hard and make connections.
Lots of cool sights, like temples and hiking trails
Close to Japan, Korea and HK if you enjoy traveling
Downsides
Wages SUCK. I make THREE times as much as my brother-in-law and that’s still only about $2,100 USD a month (about 65k NTD). I made a lot more in Korea and Japan. I’m a Uni teacher, and my job is relatively easy. My brother-in-law works much harder than me in a factory all day. He’s making 20 something thousand NTD a month. Truly deplorable situation.
Air quality is awful. I live in Kaohsiung and my allergies have kicked into high gear due to inhaling crap air every day. Last year I had a bronchial infection for about 4 months and was coughing nonstop. Not everyone is as affected as me, but it’s bad for everyone.
The drivers here are dickheads. They drive through red lights when pedestrians are still crossing, buses cut off scooters, scooters plow down sidewalks. I hate it. I can never fully relax when I’m walking around outside like I can in Japan or western countries.
“Ghost island” phenomenon. Basically there’s some ignorance towards basic common sense and safety issues that will drive you nuts.
That’s what immediately comes to mind.
There is no such thing as import tax in Taiwan, what they do have though is duties on imports and vat.
Import duty and vax are import tax…
On the topic, it depends where you are from.
Did someone mention the climate? Summer is too hot and too long. Winter is too humid so we feel cold and it is too long.
Each year there are usually 36 hours of Spring and Autumn.