Dude, I live in Kaohsiung. I’d much rather be in Taipei. I’m in Kaohsiung because my wife already had an apartment here and I happened to land a Uni gig. But ideally, I’d rather be in Taipei for a variety of reasons I won’t get into. Like you said no one is right or wrong, it’s subjective.
Yeah we are entitled to our opinions but I personally feel it ridiculous to think you have done and seen everything in a country in one year, you are just scratching the surface, especially if you don’t have relationships, learn the language , receive education , work in a career there, make a contribution. That’s just tourism you are talking about.
But not interested in arguing , it’s nice to travel and enjoy life.
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It again depends on individuals. What and how you want to see and do. For some people a year would be more than enough to be in Taiwan.
Its enough by its not enough to see and do everything, that’s absurd, sorry. You can even visit the same place multiple times and each time it could be different. Just Penghu islands alone I have been there loads and I still haven’t seen everything. Same with Nantou, Hsinchu, Chiayi mountains. Same with Taidong . Same with Yilan and Hualien and Pingdong too . There’s that guy that visits all the waterfalls around Taiwan, he’s been doing it for years and years and finding more amazing stuff and that’s just waterfalls. I have an interest in aboriginal areas and culture as well as local farming traditions and I am still discovering stuff all the time. Judt a few months ago I visited an aboriginal village in Pingdong and stopped outside the village at an area that covered in stone walls. I walked around it and was astonished to realise I was walking around their ancient village that had been abandoned. I had no idea you could find these places still . Last week I was in Chiayi and I saw the most incredible firefly display of my life (seen them before but not like that ) and finally visited the best tea farms in Taiwan high up on Alishan mountain just walking through the farms covered in fog. Incredible.
I have experienced incredible things related to typhoons and earthquakes , huge flooding disaster in Taipei, whole hills sides shorting out in front of me and seeing the incredible work of emergency services, I have visited the beaches after typhoons and smelled the air full of Hinoki and thousands of tonnes of trees lining the beaches. Each typhoon was different.
If one was interested in temples or tea or insects or snakes or plants or birds you could happily spend a whole lifetime exploring the island.
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The traffic isn’t as bad as everyone says it is. It is multiple times worse. A few pointers…
All that nonsense about “right of way”, you can forget about. Apparently it is a sign of weakness.
Beware of taxis. Every week, I have more than one verbal, damn near physical altercation, with taxi drivers on this island. As a pedestrian, scooter driver, bicyclist, or in a car the taxi is one of your worst enemies. There are also fake taxis. These are regular cars with CB antennas attached to their car. Rumor has it, they operate illegally. Well, they are just as bad as the yellows. And they sit in front of my apartment at 3am talking up a storm and dumping their betelnut and trash on the street. The police cannot be bothered to do anything, if they even can.
On the same list, in no particular order -but just as deadly- delivery trucks (usually blue, with a box on the back), buses (evil, evil, evil) and then other drivers. Scooters will ride on sidewalks. So will taxis at times.
The traffic in Taipei seems to be more civilized than the rest of the island. It seems the further south you go, the worse it gets. In Kaohsiung, I am not really certain they understand the concept of lanes and flow. I have never been on the “other” side of the island, so I am not so sure.
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Dude! You gotta go have a look. That’s the part that the Portuguese called formosa. Without it, we would not have this forum.
Guy
I can’t say one time visit or experience enough for most places and things. Even around my neighboring places there remain that I should visit and know more. Though, I can guess for some people one time would be enough. What people want are different.
I’ve worked in all the countries we stayed in. My girlfriend is Asian and I know some of her language. She fluently speaks 4 languages including English, so I don’t need to learn a new language like Chinese just to enjoy the year in Taiwan.
I myself speak Japanese and know basic Korean. Though I of course believe learning the local language enriches the experience of living in a foreign country. I’ve just no interest in Mandarin at this time. It sounds too harsh. It’s not aurally pleasing to hear. Would give me a headache.
You’re making some assumptions I just savor the tourist parts and move on. Dont be patronizing man. I’ve studied in Korea, worked there too. Worked and lived in Japan too. Vietnam no different.
As for relationships, I’d wager confidently I’ve more actual authentic Taiwanese friends and colleagues in one year than most make in 5 due to staying in their secure expat circle. Old people, young people I’m loved by all.
There’s a huge difference between passing through and putting down roots.
Especially in Taiwan and if you have family here and making a living and supporting them. Massive difference.
Seen all those things. Sorry. In a few weeks actually. Revisiting those places doesn’t count as things to do. And did you recommend I sample a typhoon? Done it too man. The only thing I’ve yet to experience is an authentic Taiwan funeral. I’ve seen them on the street but never been a guest. Did you see the funeral strippers?
Nah you haven’t seen them all impossible. You don’t even speak Chinese but then make up a whole lot of rubbish about it being harsh so you didn’t want to learn it. It takes many years to learn Chinese and it’s hard. Thats why you didnt learn it. I learned Chinese it took me years of hard study and effort for the reading and writing part while I was also working.
There are multiple dialects of Chinese and they sound very different to each other.
All you are talking is experiencing things at a very surface level. That’s not really getting to know a place , sorry.
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Yes. I. Have. You’re not the first foreigner to de-virginize those places, believe it or not. Everyone has been there. You assume a lot, but what you aren’t aware is my girlfriend actually speaks Chinese. She can easily organize transport and communication with the rabble. No place is off limits to us in Taiwan. We’ve seen a ton.
Just because it took you a lifetime to do those things doesn’t mean one can’t do them in less.
Anyways about those funeral strippers… Did you see that or not?
So you couldn’t even communicate with people well nor even read stuff around you but you know everything about Taiwan . You experienced one single season of Taiwan each. But you’ve done it all.
Okay then.
And yeah I have seen the strippers a few times.
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Exactly. Let the ones who speak english speak english. The ones who don’t my girlfriend can talk to. She can speak both so its great. And have you actually heard chinese? Don’t pretend it sounds nice… Cats getting strangled has a nicer ring to it. I learned Japanese because it actually sounds nice. The vowels are harsh as hell in Chinese. … Not my kinda language.
And yes, it takes years and is hard to learn. Respect of course to those smart enough to learn it.
Even chinese don’t really wanna speak their language. Hence the huge amount of English schools around and the push by the government to learn it. A shame as the small samples of it I did learn revealed a great deal of depth and nuance. Just a shame it sounds so bad
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Ehh this shows you don’t really understand Taiwan too well.
Chinese is still the MOST important subject at school here, edging maths.
The focus on English is just to add a competitive edge.
Mandarin Chinese is the major reason I put my kids in public school . They spend hours learning it everyday.
If you can’t speak or write Chinese well here it is hard to progress in education actually.
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Not all.
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Chinese education is dire anyways so it’d be better not to progress in it. The kids aren’t allowed be kids and have fun. Pushed by their folks to be number one and become a doctor or engineer or one of those millions of Taiwanese with an IT degree. Don’t send your kids here folks.
The best way is just to get land here. Marry some girl whose family has that rare as golddust land and then sell it to some rich cats who want to build another mall here. No need for education. See the guys driving the fancy cars in Taipei? Inherited land. Nearly all of them. Some of them can’t even read.
This is true by the way. I’ve a friend here who works in a top investment firm with rich clients. His words not mine
sheesh
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So to change the mood.
We’ve all heard of Tuvan throat singing right. Well maybe we havent but I want to go and see this in reality. Awesome right.
…And for extra laughs read the youtube comments.
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But I couldn’t believe this when I saw this video that this was from Taiwan. Didn’t even know what polyphonic singing was.
And yeah I’d love to see the real ceremony with the old guys of the tribe and not the ones for the tourist shows.
This blew me away. Hope some of them are still alive. Funeral strippers on the back of a truck ain’t nothing on this.
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