In Taiwan I have often heard the phrase
Fear not the heavens
Fear not the ground beneath you
Fear the Cantonese speaking Cantonese
The Hong Kong folks probably say the same about Taiwanese
And yes, double yes , Taiwan is one hell of a noisy place in the cities or whenever you get more than two , no , more than one Taiwanese in one place.
But that’s how some of us like it.
Eh, it’s not like you’re moving to a radically different social environment like Saudi Arabia. For all its differences, Taiwan still has enough common culture with the US and other East Asian countries. It’s an adjustment for sure, but you still have any number of western and Japanese style department stores, pubs, cinemas, art galleries, restaurants, coffee shops, a modern subway system… I can’t say my life is too different than what it was in the US. Certainly not “Mars” different.
Anyway, the ones who can’t hack it because it’s “different” usually only last a year.
Yeah you and I know that but that sure seems to be the case from many who have graced these forums.
Only those that have been to more extreme places know Taiwan ain’t that bad compared to…
Yeah, like I said, those are the short-timers and whiners who can’t hack it because things aren’t exactly like they are at home. They usually cycle out after a year (although some puzzlingly stick around for years even though they hate it). Good riddance.
There are worse cities believe me . MIaoli city for one !
Yes I am one of the few who has lived in Taipei city, Taoyuan City, Miaoli City and Taichung city.
For me it was Mars different when I arrived almost twenty years ago. .The smell, the noise, the heat and humidity the food, the high rises, the crowds, everything being illegible, little internet , No Google maps scooters everywhere ， people screaming hello at you everyday. It was a different planet, absolutely ! We had no Asian community or real Asian food where I grew up.
Now things are just so much easier with coffeeshops and MRT systems and the internet.
Finally know what the food is that I am eating and I can communicate with the aliens . So much Western food too. But the heat still gets me.
Yeah real dirty place. Streets are dirty, buildings are old and falling apart. Homeless everywhere. Dirty air that messes up people’s lungs and skin. Ragtag restaurants that all look like clones of one another. Poor road design. Filthy scooters every inch all over the pavements. The grottiest train station in asia.
And quite a few undesirable people lurking around too. Lot of hicks and criminals live there. Me and my girl were more than happy to leave that place. It is definitely worth pointing out though that the area around Taichung away from the dirty city is nice. Nantou is beautiful. Sun moon lake is a great day out. There’s a nice farm high up in the mountains. Monster village is kinda quirky and worth the trip. Skywalk there is cool too.
Kaohsiung much nicer. Taipei marginally better due to clean subway and international vibe. Just get away from the cities and Taiwan is a nice place for sure
Dude that’s the train station !
Every newbie makes that mistake.
Taichung has the toniest districts in all of Taiwan. Much of the city is a pleasure to walk around. I lived like a king in Taichung compared to Taipei.
I removed some bickering. Keep it on topic and address the message please.
People tend to live in a place where multiple goods are readily available. And foreigners the world over tend to gravitate towards pools of their own people. Case in point, damn near every West coast metropolis in America and Canada. Also, many multinational corporations have branches in Taipei, so that adds to the attraction as well.
Taipei has a nice charm. An Asian capital with a touch of Western flair. Not as crowded as Tokyo or Shanghai, and definitely not as pretentious. There is a sense of order in Taipei, that at least to me, does not exist anywhere else on the island. Things seem to flow smoother in the north than in the lawless south or the gangster-riddled [wife’s words] middle.
But, to each their own.
Crowded depends on what metric you are using. Taipei is one of the most densely packed places on earth. It’s total population and area may be smaller than Shanghai and Tokyo, but it’s populatuon density is much higher.
http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/largest-cities-density-125.html
How do they calculate their data?
That website has 5.7mn people and 376 sq km for Taipei
Taipei has 2.7mn people and area of 271 sq km
New Taipei City has 3.9mn people and area of 2052 sq km.
Math doesn’t work out for either city alone or together or partial or whatever, but, still a good site.
I’ve long heard that Panchiao particularly has one of the largest (population/sq. km) ratios.
B
Banqiao
Seeing that P is like nails on a chalkboard.
Ha ha. That’s because you haven’t been in Taiwan as long as I have when it was spelled like that; along with Hsintien, Tamsui, Hsinchuang, Sanchung, etc, which have since been twisted into pinyin spelling. Lots of other examples such as Hsinhai road now Xinhai road or Chunghsiao now Zhongxiao.
I believe there is a strand on this topic somewhere from years ago.
No harm either way now.
What are cons may depend on how and for what you stay here in addition to where you are from.
Do you have a family moving with you?
What is your current career? The period of teaching English in Taiwan is good for your career? At least, it won’t harm your future career? If the few years in Taiwan make getting back to your career in Canada difficult, it is a big cons.
Actually, I have been here that long. I remember when all the signage used to spell it Panchiao too. It still grated on my ears back then because it is not pronounced as a “p” as in “pan”. If you look at the way it is spelled using bopomofo, which is the standard way of writing traditional characters phonetically, it is 板ㄅ(b)ㄢ(an) 橋ㄑ(q [pronounced as “ch”])ㄧ(i)ㄠ(ao)
ㄅ = b sound
ㄆ = p sound
And so does Taipei grate your ears every time you see it? Must be quite painful.
I think he gets that, at least I hope so. Metro Taipei is one of the most crowded places on earth, fact. It is far more crowded than Tokyo .
Why do people on this site have to be so snarky? This place gets more and more unfriendly every year. Reminds me why I left this site years ago.
You are right though, the “pei” is pronounced ㄅ(b)ㄟ
I guess it never really bothered me because I have only ever seen it spelled as Taipei. Never seen it Taibei. So I guess I was just used to it.
However the signage all over the place used to be very inconsistent for Banqiao. It used to be posted differently all over the place, making it confusing for those not aware of the language battle going on.
Yeah, @the_bear, what’s your problem, man?
Why teh #snark???
Whatever happened to the good old friendly Auzzo stereotype, any friggin ways???
