With all the negativity about Taiwan that flies around these parts, I just want to say that I’m so unbelievably jealous of you all for being able to live in Taiwan. Nothing like living among the Brexiteers and football hooligans in a village in England to make you realise how good you had it in Taiwan… 
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I do not share your sentiment.
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Even when it’s 35C outside and stickier than a jam sandwich?
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Haha! You know what, I didn’t think about that! But if I compare the horrific Taiwanese summers with the extremely depressing British winters (cold, hardly any daylight, crumbling infrastructure that drives to a halt when there’s a little snow, etc.), I’d probably still go with Taiwan. Hot and humid summers aren’t fun, but they don’t put people in a bad mood the way harsh winters do. And the evenings, after the sun goes down in Taiwan, are actually really pleasant.
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have you ever been through winter in northern Taiwan?
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Ha! Brilliant
Yes. I don’t want to look back at Taiwan through rose-tinted glasses, so I’ll try to be objective, but I really don’t think the Taiwanese winter is nearly as bad as the British winter. For one thing, Taiwan doesn’t get the short daylight hours that England has in winter, which is proven to make people more unhappy and angry. Also, if I remember correctly, the temperature in Taiwan fluctuates throughout winter, going from cold to warm, and sometimes even hot, in a matter of days. I lived in Taiwan for four years and during that time I never felt it was necessary to buy a proper winter coat, because I knew the cold wouldn’t last and the temperature was so unpredictable from day to day. The lack of central heating, and having to wear scarf and hat in the office, was pretty crap though. In fact, I know that winters in northern Taiwan suck - I don’t want to sugarcoat it - but they don’t compare to England’s winters.
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If it Is Just the winter, southern Europe isn’t much(might be slighly) better than taiwan?
Yilan send their regards.
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taiwan winters vs british winters: taiwan winters are shorter.
uk does have miserable weather for like 8 months or something
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As they say you get 9 months of miserable rainy cold dark gloom, and then you get winter after that
It’s amazing how r/unitedkingdom has spilled over here.
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As per our Google overlord, Uk’s average rainfall is below 900mm / year, compared to nearly 2700mm in Yilan city (so in the center of the region, far from the even wetter mountains), so yeah if you wanna swap the weather count me in.
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The rice paddy is always greener on the other side.
Rainfall is a bad measurement as Taiwan has typhoons and the rain tends to be more storms than drizzles. 8 months of constant drizzles are worse than a standard typhoon for a couple of days, unless you’re in Puerto Rico then you’re completely fucked.
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That sounds accurate. To be fair to England (something I rarely am), our summers are actually very good. It’s hot, but not too hot. We generally don’t get the extremes that many other countries get, and it isn’t nearly as humid as it is in Taiwan (at least where I’m from it isn’t). Plus, the sun comes out early and stays out until late. The only problem is that British summers don’t last very long.
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Yeah, I’m aware that Yilan and some other areas near Taipei (like Keelung) have really bad weather conditions. My post is (like my time in Taiwan in general, unfortunately) Taipei-centric.
What else you missing?
Too much. On the top of my head, friends, socialising with colleagues after work, doing things that don’t involve “going to the pub” (I love pubs, but there’s literally nothing else you can do where I am), the sense of wonder (it lessened with time, but it was still there after four years in Taiwan), going on dates… I think it wouldn’t be so bad if I lived in London, but I currently live in the arse end of nowhere. The contrast between between here and Taipei couldn’t be sharper.
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