Good for you, I prefer Taoyuan, over ZhongLi but your preferences I guess are different. ZhongLi has many shops serving SE Asian workers in your so called Downtown which is ok but I would out of place for me, at least Taoyuan has some bigger shops and small Japan town, but getting a bus to Tucheng for the MRT for better Taiwanese/Japanese options.
all else fails there’s always tinder/bumble/omi 
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I think that explains @henn’s interest in Zhongli District. Incidentally, Pingzhen District appears to be next to Zhongli District. Taoyuan District is on the other side of Zhongli from Pingzhen, but it doesn’t look like it’s very far away from @henn.
I live in taipei and even here i couldnt make many friends so i imagine its much harder where you live. Also you are not alone. For most foreigners in Taiwan, their wife /gf/ bf is the only friend they have. You can join some language exchange and other activities but those are hit or miss. Worth a try though.
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I wouldn’t necessarily say my interest is specifically in Pingzhen/zhongli. It’s just where I live so I was more so looking for just some like tips in general in meeting friends or girls nearby. If the chances are higher somewhere else then I’ll take note. Just looking for some pointers you know?
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I forsure thought the same thing. It’s alright though. All in due time. I mean I’ve only been back for like 2 weeks. I randomly stumbled upon this forum and it seemed interesting to me.
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Yup I’m already on that wave lol😂
I haven’t heard of omi though. Is that a Taiwanese dating app or?
I apologize for my inaccurate assumptions! I shouldn’t have assigned thoughts to you that you didn’t necessarily have.
As to the dating part, I wish I could provide pointers, but I’m quite old, and I’m pretty much retired from that area of human activity (and I wasn’t very good at it when I was young).
But I do wish you good luck in your endeavors!
And again, apologies.
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I think so, idk, don’t really use any of em. I just crush on my coworker who’s half my age older than I am instead of actually meeting people I have a chance with. 
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All good! I’m still familiarizing myself with Taiwan in general. Whether it be Zhongli or Taipei or any other part! No worries, I was not offended in any way shape or form!!
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Glad to hear that! And again, I wish you good fortune here in Taiwan!
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Hahaha no worries and hey you never know! I met my ex who I still FaceTime like every other day at my last job in the states! She had a boyfriend when I first met her and she’s a lot older than me(in my opinion). But obviously we ended up together after I crushed on her for a few months. Anything can happen and best of luck to you!
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Omi is German for Grandma. But yes, it’s also a Taiwan dating app.
For English speakers in your area probably the South East Asian workers are the most numerous. I knew a few, and there were really sweet, smart, interesting guys and gals amongst them. I’d recommend giving making friends a try. Dating apps should work for initial contact.
Depending on where they work, though, they might have little to no free time outside of their dorms. Very sad how many of them are practically locked away.
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I’m a little late to this thread, but don’t pay too much attention to all the people knocking Pingzhen/Zhongli. If Taipei has 2000+ (or whatever) good bars, cafes, restaurants, etc…maybe Pingzhen/Zhongli has 100…but it’s still plenty. It’s also a nice distance where you can go into Taipei/New Taipei City/Taoyuan City for even a few hours, or to almost anywhere with a TRA and HSR nearby. But specifically in Zhongli area:
- There is a bar called River Bar in Zhongli that is common for English speakers–often about 1/3 Taiwanese who speak good English, 1/3 English speakers who live in the area (English teachers, engineers, university/Chinese language students, etc.), and 1/3 foreigners passing through for some time for work or travel. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights are usually busiest, but they also have big parties (Halloween, New Years, major sporting events, etc.). That street they are on has at least 10 more bars (including a great whiskey bar, Dramyouth Whiskey Bar) , a craft beer place, and good restaurants/lounges/dance bars with drinks…though probably River Bar is the one you’re most likely to meet new people if you go alone simply b/c Taiwanese are more likely to be very social within their group of friends, but not interact randomly with the people at the next table.
- Tons of other excellent craft cocktail bars near Zhongli train station (Google cocktail bar)…though again these are good for hanging out with friends once you meet them…maybe not great for going to actually meet people.
- There is a Taoyuan-Jhongli (Zhongli) Sports group on LINE. I have never attended, but communication is in English and they have regular and one-off events in the area.
- A lot of foreigners are at the public sports centers/swimming pools in Zhongli…that can be a good place to meet them (again, will be a lot of people who live in the area so if you get along, you can plan to go for coffee or drinks or other activities later)…there is also SOGO Mall Zhongli that has a lot of foreigners, with a lot of restaurants and nice to just walk around, maybe can chat with people there.
- As another person mentioned, near the train station (the Zhongli train station area is kind of the border between Pingzhen and Zhongli, though it’s all a short walk/YouBike to get around), there are a lot of foreign workers from SEA, especially on weekends…it’s great in the sense that everyone is kind of an immigrant “together”, and those from The Philippines likely speak good English. But since you said you are fluent in Mandarin and come from the US, you may not really feel as much of a connection to them as a Western foreigner or Taiwanese local…so sure, you could hang out there and make conversation, but I don’t know it would make you feel more “at home” than just chatting with Taiwanese in the right environment.
For sure Taipei is going to be more “international”, but honestly to get from Zhongli to central Taipei is so easy and doesn’t even take much longer than for someone who lives around the edge of Taipei anyway. So for sure to go to major international events, meetups, language exchange, networking happy hours, etc. Taipei is easy and convenient.
But Pingzhen/Zhongli has a lot of good places to hang out in. Once you get a handful of local friends from the area, then your network will expand. You just go out to dinner with a group of 3, and one of them joins up with a group of 5 they know, and now you’re a group of 8. It’s just getting to know the initial 3 that is of course a little difficult. But if you speak Mandarin, you’ll be fine. Don’t listen to anyone who says you need to go to Taipei or Kaohsiung or anything like that just to make a few friends. You definitely want to have a core group nearby. And of course once you go to the military, you’ll make friends from all over, including for sure local ones from Taoyuan/Zhongli/Pingzhen.
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Take the hsr to Taoyuan Station, then hop on the airport line for the last few stops. It’s faster and cheaper than taking the airport line all the way.
The “China” Hash House Harriers have been officially renamed as the Taiwan Hash House Harriers. Although a lot of the old timers keep calling it China Hash out of habit. Their FB page is private, by invite only and the public website is buggy as hell, so good luck trying to find them. just follow the flour to the beer if you want to find these lost degenerate souls.
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If you’re in Taoyuan, though, you don’t want China/Taiwan Hash, you want WHAT Hash (for sure active) or Taoyuan Metro Hash (pretty sure active)! Now, I’ve never run with either, but I’ve also not heard complaints, so just join their facebook groups and see what works with your schedule.
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Hey bud, I’m also in Taoyuan with a similar circumstance.
I was in MN for 8 nearly years and came back from conscription too, though I’m done with it now, if you’d like to meet, I’ve sent you a message.
They’re also private as hell too. I tried to join up but it meant walking through the wilderness during the summer. Not excited about that. You also have to pay to go on them.
And you won’t be allowed to join their facebook group until you showed up at one of their “run”.
That’s the entire point. I’ve no idea why you’d try to join a running/walking group if you’re not interested in running/walking… 
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