I might be going to Taiwan soon, and basically I’m wondering how people find living there different from China or Korea, from the POV of people who have been to Taiwan and other Asian countries? I’ve spent time in Korea and China but not Taiwan, so they’re sort of the frame of reference I’m working with here.
Korea is a lot cleaner, more modern and has better food (Taiwan has some of the best food around for formal dining, but the day to day shit people eat here is GOD AWFUL) but the Taiwanese are much more friendly than Koreans, and you can live a much more ‘normal’ life in Taiwan. People in Taiwan will leave you the fuck alone to go about your business.
This makes Taiwan much more livable in my opinion. Taiwan is a better base for travel as well.
China is a soulless armpit with some nice buildings and infrastructure. Taiwan is much better for your health and sanity, although the frankness of the Mainlanders is something I find refreshing.
Don’t listen to him, Taiwan has great food on every street and every corner…he totally misrepresents the situation, if you like Chinese or SE Asian food Taiwan rocks, shock horror you might have to learn a bit of Chinese to read and order from the menus …! Taipei itself has large numbers of Chinese, Japanese, Asian and Western eateries at good quality and great prices. I also go to real ethnic Korean restaurants often, they are as good as anything in Korea and cheaper too. Taiwan’s night markets and street food are among the most famous in Asia.
I love the day-to-day food. Good and cheap.
In general, Taiwanese are MUCH more open to & comfortable with foreigners than S. Koreans. For me, it was much easier to form relationships with the people here. If you’ve spent a significant amount of time in China & Korea, then living in Taiwan should be a breeze.
The food here is good, but it depends on what you like and if you’re open to trying new things. If you never been here then you might find things like stinky tofu objectionable but once you can get past its smell, they are great food. You can find western food that are of decent quality too but they will not be as cheap.
wow, I stand corrected.
bian dangs, lu ro fan, and all the do-gan creations are utter crap IMO. Edible, but barely. Guess you guys have low standards. There are good SEA and Japanese restaurants but the price goes up, and the Korean food in TW is NOT like the Korean food in Korea, it is fashioned to Chinese tastes.
I don’t eat bian dang, lu ro fan and do-gan (although there are also very good do-gans just strong tasting to western palates) although I do eat tofu which can grow on after a few years…what I do eat are steamed dumplings, boiled dumplings, fried dumplings, 100s different types of noodles, ramen soup, beef noodles, 100s different types of seafood, great soups, hot pots, baozi, peking duck, fried stand vegs, luwei soya style food, 100NTD quick fry and beer places, bbq’d stuff and that’s only the basic Chinese food not even talking about the great drinks, snacks, desserts and fruit you can get here everywhere. Western food is not expensive at all in Taiwan these days, 10-12 USD will get you a pretty good pasta or burger or pizza including often including a drink and soup if you so desire in a real restaurant, it’s just most people are relatively poor here. I have eaten in great Korean restaurants here, I’d like you to say that to the bosses of the places I eat that their stuff isn’t good…you’d have to be running out the door when you said it. Sure there’s always a bit of localisation, completely natural otherwise would you like to sit on the floor when you eat? Trust me, if there’s anything you can do in Taiwan, Taipei especially, it’s eat well and at a price which means you can do it everyday!
[quote=“Deuce Dropper”]wow, I stand corrected.
bian dangs, lu ro fan, and all the do-gan creations are utter crap IMO. Edible, but barely. Guess you guys have low standards. There are good SEA and Japanese restaurants but the price goes up, and the Korean food in TW is NOT like the Korean food in Korea, it is fashioned to Chinese tastes.[/quote]
I had some lu ro fan which was good. Thing is you need to find the right place for it and some are utter crap but some are great. Do not let looks deceive you sometimes the most run down/shitty places you see actually have the best food. I just found a noodle place that I did not want to eat at because I thought their food was utter crap. Then one day I ate there and man I was surprised!
But on the flipside in America the Taiwanese often crave these kinds of food and they’re twice if not three times the price.
Most buffet restaurants in the 'wan have enough variety to please… and they are cheap. I esp. like the vegetarian buffet restaurants.
I have lived in all 3 countries so surely my answer will be the definitive one? Every one else can just shut up!
Taiwan rocks. I hope to move back there in the next 24 months and stay for a very long time. My retirement plans include a beautiful spot by a reservoir near Gang Shan in the South of the Isla Formosa.
China is very very big and therefore very different depending on where you are. I lived in Shanghai (which is nice) and worked in 5 or 6 different cities (mostly first and 2nd tier) which varied enormously.
Korea sucks the big one. The people are dirty alcoholic liars who stink of garlic and eat disgusting food. Apart from that it gets very cold in the winter and extremely hot in the summer. If you survived there you can live anywhere. I enjoyed the world cup and the sex. The girls are very pretty.
Do not listen to anyone who tells you the food sucks in Taiwan they are probably either poor or ignorant or both. Some of the best food in the world can be found in Taiwan. The Japanese food in Taiwan is exceptional due to close ties between the countries and the proximity.
Getting a work permit to do anything except teach English is very hard and Taiwanese bureaucracy is designed with the sole purpose of keeping foreigners out.
I lived in Korea before coming here and I cannot say I agree with Edgar Allen. Seoul at least, is a very modern clean and safe city. The food is great, although there is a lack of choice in many parts of the city, if you do not want to eat Korean food.
Korea tends to be a country where you get what you give. If you do not make an effort to learn about the country, it’s history and language, you will have a hard time.
Taiwanese people are in general more easy going and open than Koreans, and many foreigner thinks Taiwan is an easier and better place to live.
And, no… the Korean food here is in general not as good as in Korea. However, you can enjoy a much wider variety of international cuisine in Taipei than in Seoul.
I noticed that Taiwanese in general tends to be very friendly towards foreigners. In America it’s not like that, you actually have to make great effort to learn about the country to be accepted there. In Taiwan however you can be totally ignorant about Taiwan and its history/culture and the locals are still very friendly.
Thanks for your advice guise. To be honest, I don’t mind if the Korean food there is “Sinicised,” actually I rather like Chinese-Korean dishes like Jajjangmyeon… :hungry:
Good to hear everything is cheaper over there, that’s more or less what I’d heard, as is the impression that Taiwan is less stressful to live in than Korea.
Seems tbh that most peoples’ complaints ITT are relatively minor (some food not up to your standards? Unattractive urban landscape?) so I’ll take it that it’s not at all an unpleasant place to live or work. Seriously, in Korea or China these are WAAAAAAAY down the list of things for folks to complain about.
The main differences between Korea, China and Taiwan, IMHO, are money and the vibe. Korea is not an overall friendly vibe; Taiwan is very friendly, but it’s no Shangrila. China is more or less friendly in a sketchy way. Korea is the best in terms of money, but at least most of the people hate foreigners half of the time, and half of the people hate foreigners all of the time. Taiwan is number two in terms of money:not too bad, but then again not that great either. China is still an emerging market but with some points of light like Shanghai and Shenzen. But it’s also a shit hole. But an amazing one, in a uniquye way. Whaddaya want, money, friends, or culture? Overall, Taiwan is a good overlap. Korea: cash. China: China.Take yer pic.
Yes Taiwanese are making up for the dark past when the aborigines used to behead any shipwrecked on the island. Or maybe its because most taiwanese are still mostly of chinese ethnicity and arriving on Taiwan and surviving was something back when it was an island much feared by those shipwrecked on it, thus the inherent gene was instilled that installed generosity and friendliness towards other recent arrivals?? Just tommy’s pet theory.
I’m going to have to go ahead and disagree with you there. I had a very easy time getting work permits when I needed them. Although the bureaucracy could be described as inefficient or even incompetent, I never felt like the rules were designed to do anything but protect Taiwan’s less skilled workers. Most countries do the same. YMMV and all that. Taiwan does not try very hard to attract international talent to it’s shores but it is not putting up any ridiculous obstacles either.
Taiwan is far from perfect but for me it wins this 3-way contest hands-down as a place to live. Korea can be cool but as others mentioned, the daily hate on foreigners thing gets tiring. China is without exception a shit hole.
Having lived in Korea, I’ll chime in with my own:
Positives of Taiwan over Korea:
Food: Korean food comes in three varieties: bland, volcanic, and WTF is that thing? Taiwan food has more subtleties, more normal ingredients and is more western, likely due to occupation and presence of foreigners over the centuries. The sole exception to this I’ve seen in Taiwan is skinned, dead frogs for sale as meat in Carrefour.
Smoking: About 95% of Korean males smoke, while the Taiwanese smoke about as much as Canada or the US. If you’re a non-smoker, it’s a boon, and is for buttheads (a/k/a smokers) as well, although I’d prefer western smokers not come here.
Isolation and culture shock: Life in small Korean cities is unbearable. Never mind English, finding anything non-Korea in food or entertainment and recreation is impossible in Korea. Small towns in South Korea look exactly the same as pictures of North Korea. Small town life in Taiwan is quite bearable, not just for food and daily necessities, but also for social living.
Pollution: The sky over Seoul, Korea is brown 24/7/365, plus they get the “Yellow Wind” from China’s poisonous mining industry. Taipei and Kaohsiung’s skies are blue; others will tell you Taipei is filthy, but they don’t have the experience of enduring Korea.
Road Pizza and Littering: I can’t recall seeing road pizza (alcoholic vomit) in Taiwan, but big orange piles of kimchi puke were a daily occurence in Korea, and worse on weekends.
Sidewalk combat: The Taiwanese habit of zig-zagging across the entire width of sidewalks is damned annoying (you would think they’re trying to block the sidewalk), but at least they don’t deliberately walk in front of you and expect you to move as Koreans do. I weigh 90 kilos and always won the collisions with Koreans; in Taiwan, I can count on my hand how many heavy collisions I’ve had with other pedestrians, and they were drunks or anti-foreigner morons, not average people. In Korea, those were a daily occurrence despite the sidewalks being no more crowded than Taipei’s.
Positives of Korea over Taiwan:
Subway and bus systems: Korea’s subway system is far more extensive and useful than Taipei’s, although if the two new lines are finished, Taipei’s will be good enough. Korean city bus routes are also better marked than Taiwan’s.
Baseball: Taiwan’s baseball is halfway between AAA and AA ball in the US. Korean baseball is near Major League level.
Drivers: Koreans do a lot more hit-and-run on cars, and they think sidewalks are parking lots. But one thing they do far less than the Taiwanese is hit-and-run on pedestrians. Crossing the street at a green light with a walk signal in Taiwan is more dangerous than crossing at stop sign only intersection in Korea.
I have no comments on mainland China because I not lived there…then again, who would want to? The rampant smoking, the lack of free speech, eavesdropping on your phone calls, government and business corruption, etc.?
I forgot to mention dead, skinned frogs, in my above post about good food available in Taiwan, thanks for pointing that out, of course, you could also point out that most animals tend to be consumed after beind dead and skinned first, weird isn’t it?
Yes Taiwanese are making up for the dark past when the aborigines used to behead any shipwrecked on the island. Or maybe its because most taiwanese are still mostly of Chinese ethnicity and arriving on Taiwan and surviving was something back when it was an island much feared by those shipwrecked on it, thus the inherent gene was instilled that installed generosity and friendliness towards other recent arrivals??[/quote]
Still won’t let your NT$5 ass in, though, will they???
:roflmao:
Having lived in Korea, I’ll chime in with my own:
Positives of Taiwan over Korea:
Food: Korean food comes in three varieties: bland, volcanic, and WTF is that thing? Taiwan food has more subtleties, more normal ingredients and is more western, likely due to occupation and presence of foreigners over the centuries. The sole exception to this I’ve seen in Taiwan is skinned, dead frogs for sale as meat in Carrefour.
Smoking: About 95% of Korean males smoke, while the Taiwanese smoke about as much as Canada or the US. If you’re a non-smoker, it’s a boon, and is for buttheads (a/k/a smokers) as well, although I’d prefer western smokers not come here.
Isolation and culture shock: Life in small Korean cities is unbearable. Never mind English, finding anything non-Korea in food or entertainment and recreation is impossible in Korea. Small towns in South Korea look exactly the same as pictures of North Korea. Small town life in Taiwan is quite bearable, not just for food and daily necessities, but also for social living.
Pollution: The sky over Seoul, Korea is brown 24/7/365, plus they get the “Yellow Wind” from China’s poisonous mining industry. Taipei and Kaohsiung’s skies are blue; others will tell you Taipei is filthy, but they don’t have the experience of enduring Korea.
Road Pizza and Littering: I can’t recall seeing road pizza (alcoholic vomit) in Taiwan, but big orange piles of kimchi puke were a daily occurence in Korea, and worse on weekends.
Sidewalk combat: The Taiwanese habit of zig-zagging across the entire width of sidewalks is damned annoying (you would think they’re trying to block the sidewalk), but at least they don’t deliberately walk in front of you and expect you to move as Koreans do. I weigh 90 kilos and always won the collisions with Koreans; in Taiwan, I can count on my hand how many heavy collisions I’ve had with other pedestrians, and they were drunks or anti-foreigner morons, not average people. In Korea, those were a daily occurrence despite the sidewalks being no more crowded than Taipei’s.
Positives of Korea over Taiwan:
Subway and bus systems: Korea’s subway system is far more extensive and useful than Taipei’s, although if the two new lines are finished, Taipei’s will be good enough. Korean city bus routes are also better marked than Taiwan’s.
Baseball: Taiwan’s baseball is halfway between AAA and AA ball in the US. Korean baseball is near Major League level.
Drivers: Koreans do a lot more hit-and-run on cars, and they think sidewalks are parking lots. But one thing they do far less than the Taiwanese is hit-and-run on pedestrians. Crossing the street at a green light with a walk signal in Taiwan is more dangerous than crossing at stop sign only intersection in Korea.
I have no comments on mainland China because I not lived there…then again, who would want to? The rampant smoking, the lack of free speech, eavesdropping on your phone calls, government and business corruption, etc.?[/quote]
Taiwan baseball A, Korean Baseball A-AA. Lets not get carried away here.