Taiwan is supersafe compared to almost anywhere else. Every city will have a few rough spots although they are pretty hard to find in Taiwan. If you are not looking for trouble you won’t get into any here.
You might have your bike or scooter stolen but that’s about it as far as I’ve heard for crime. I DID have my bike stolen. :fume:
You might have your bike or scooter stolen but that’s about it as far as I’ve heard for crime. I DID have my bike stolen. :fume:[/quote]
Same thing happened to my GF…she left it outside Subway (the one next to the gym in Zuoying) for 5 mins in broad daylight and it was gone…nice bike too.
I can’t believe that KHH has Taiwan’s worse crime. That MUST be TaiZhong among the big cities. That said some years ago we certainly did have issues about the safety of visibly foreign people here (for example one friend of mine was randomly attacked from behind while stopped at a red light on a motorbike) but fortunately it seems to be somewhat better now.
KHH does has some good points. Traffic, ease of parking, weather, rent or house purchase price relative to North Taiwan would certainly be things I would give KHH good marks for. The polution can depend a lot upon where in the city you are talking about. If like I do you live in ChaiShan by the beach getting a sea breeze and a mountain behind us blocking smog from the city then it is really not too bad. On the other hand if you live in parts of FengShan, NanZi, XiaoGang etc good luck if you like being able to breathe.
From a business persons perspective it is cheap but the prices you can realistically sell things for here are often crazily low and the relatively low number of foreign business owners here means that some of the government departments are at best confused about what to do or not do with issuing business licenses etc.
You might have your bike or scooter stolen but that’s about it as far as I’ve heard for crime. I DID have my bike stolen. :fume:[/quote]
Same thing happened to my GF…she left it outside Subway (the one next to the gym in Zuoying) for 5 mins in broad daylight and it was gone…nice bike too.[/quote]
Bike as in pedal bike theft is very common all over the island, nothing to do with Kaoshiung or Taichung or Taipei. BTW Taichung is not a crime ridden place, it is very safe in the main.
As for opening a business, earnings are very low in Kaoshiung, probably 20 something k to 30k average. The same problem crops up everywhere outside Northern Taiwan, probably why so many foreigners open up restaurants in Taipei compared to elsewhere as the money is concentrated there between business people and government officials.
I’ve lived in some high crime areas in North America and there is just no comparison to anything ANYWHERE in Taiwan. It just isn’t a factor.
Of course if I get robbed, shot or raped, it will then be a factor.
[quote=“crystaleye”][quote=“headhonchoII”]Go to Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong) and you’ll disappear off Forumosa…nobody posts from down there…almost.
Anyway…I’ve been there a few times recently. It depends what time of year you go, the summer is really hot there, although it is really hot all over Taiwan too mixed with the air pollution it’s not a great feeling.
Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong)'s harbour areas are improving by leaps and bounds. We stayed in unipresident hotel on the harbour entrance recently, if you like looking at harbours and ships it was a great spot, you can see some nice yachts nearby. Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong) also has a very good shopping centre complex, dreammall, better than Taichung actually. Then you can walk and bike through large parts of the city which is good. It is a very big city as I found out when driving through it, you need to know the spots you want to go to. Visited Zuoying lake, was not too impressed, needs to be totally renovated. I wouldn’t be too hard on the DPP in Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong), it has worked for them there, they are pushing more cultural stuff and parks etc. Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong) city didn’t sell off large areas of public land like they did in Taipei!
Tainan is smaller and has a nice feel to Anping and certain parts, it’s obviously a lot more historical and it’s only 1 hr from Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong). Hardly any expats live there though.
All the cities in Taiwan suffer from pollution but Taipei is probably slightly better these days due to less factories and the fact that it rains more so washes it out. I have been driving a bit recently and to be honest there has been severe air pollution for much of the past two months over most of the island, the West coast is severely polluted still (really bad haze which only disappears when you go to the Central mountains or the East Coast).
The issue between where to live is complex as Taipei is also the city that has improved the most and has the best public transportations, plus it is closer to the North Coast, there is no equivalent to that down middle or South of Taiwan unfortunately (most of the coastline has been destroyed). Also Taipei’s restaurants both local, Asian and foreign are still tops.
The cost of Taipei is far higher for decent accomodation, but if you live in Taipei county it probably evens out. The East Coast has them all beat but too remote.[/quote][/quote]
Hello HH,
you mentioned that the east coast beat the rest of Taiwan in terms of … rental cost? the costs of eating out?.. I would love more reviews on the east coast…
[quote=“crystaleye”]
Hello HH,
you mentioned that the east coast beat the rest of Taiwan in terms of … rental cost? the costs of eating out?.. I would love more reviews on the east coast…[/quote]
I am not HH, but will give you an answer 
Both the south and the east coast have very similar low pricing. You can get a place to rent for as low as 3000nt a month (about 100 Canadian/US$) and the same biandang (boxed lunch) will cost about $50nt - 60, whereas in Taipei, it would be over $100nt for a lunch. Now for $3000nt rent, your place won’t be the best, but I had a friend who was paying about $9000 and he rented an entire house which was massive for just one guy. You couldn’t even get a cramped room in Taipei for that price.
HH most likely will chime in here at some point too.
[quote=“dan2006”][quote=“crystaleye”]
Hello HH,
you mentioned that the east coast beat the rest of Taiwan in terms of … rental cost? the costs of eating out?.. I would love more reviews on the east coast…[/quote]
I am not HH, but will give you an answer
Both the south and the east coast have very similar low pricing. You can get a place to rent for as low as 3000nt a month (about 100 Canadian/US$) and the same biandang (boxed lunch) will cost about $50nt - 60, whereas in Taipei, it would be over $100nt for a lunch. Now for $3000nt rent, your place won’t be the best, but I had a friend who was paying about $9000 and he rented an entire house which was massive for just one guy. You couldn’t even get a cramped room in Taipei for that price.
HH most likely will chime in here at some point too.[/quote]
I’m renting a similar house in Kaohsiung as your friend. It’s really spacious for 3 people, 4 cats (at last count) and 1 dog. There are rooms that aren’t even used. It isn’t perfect by any means but for 3000NT/mo and a 3 way split of utilities it’s nearly impossible to beat. You might have to buy some new furnishings and do some redecorating (painting) though.
The more standard 2 bedroom apartments rent for 9-12K/mo which is pretty reasonable for two people. And you can find cheaper apartments if you want.
Yeah rent here is quite cheap, especially if you live a little outside the city. In Taipei my rent was 14000 (7000 for my share) for a hole with a crappy living room, 2 stuffy bedrooms, 1 really tiny bathroom and a crap kitchen, right next to a night market. Maybe was paying a tad much for it, but still. Outside of K-town, we found an apartment with a giant bedroom, giant living room, as well as 2 other spare rooms w/ 2 bathrooms, wide kitchen, and 2 balconies for 10000/m. Like a real place to live. In Taipei it would have cost most of my salary for the same kind of place.
[quote=“crystaleye”][quote=“crystaleye”][quote=“headhonchoII”]Go to Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong) and you’ll disappear off Forumosa…nobody posts from down there…almost.
Anyway…I’ve been there a few times recently. It depends what time of year you go, the summer is really hot there, although it is really hot all over Taiwan too mixed with the air pollution it’s not a great feeling.
Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong)'s harbour areas are improving by leaps and bounds. We stayed in unipresident hotel on the harbour entrance recently, if you like looking at harbours and ships it was a great spot, you can see some nice yachts nearby. Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong) also has a very good shopping centre complex, dreammall, better than Taichung actually. Then you can walk and bike through large parts of the city which is good. It is a very big city as I found out when driving through it, you need to know the spots you want to go to. Visited Zuoying lake, was not too impressed, needs to be totally renovated. I wouldn’t be too hard on the DPP in Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong), it has worked for them there, they are pushing more cultural stuff and parks etc. Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong) city didn’t sell off large areas of public land like they did in Taipei!
Tainan is smaller and has a nice feel to Anping and certain parts, it’s obviously a lot more historical and it’s only 1 hr from Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong) (Gaoxiong). Hardly any expats live there though.
All the cities in Taiwan suffer from pollution but Taipei is probably slightly better these days due to less factories and the fact that it rains more so washes it out. I have been driving a bit recently and to be honest there has been severe air pollution for much of the past two months over most of the island, the West coast is severely polluted still (really bad haze which only disappears when you go to the Central mountains or the East Coast).
The issue between where to live is complex as Taipei is also the city that has improved the most and has the best public transportations, plus it is closer to the North Coast, there is no equivalent to that down middle or South of Taiwan unfortunately (most of the coastline has been destroyed). Also Taipei’s restaurants both local, Asian and foreign are still tops.
The cost of Taipei is far higher for decent accomodation, but if you live in Taipei county it probably evens out. The East Coast has them all beat but too remote.[/quote][/quote]
Hello HH,
you mentioned that the east coast beat the rest of Taiwan in terms of … rental cost? the costs of eating out?.. I would love more reviews on the east coast…[/quote]
I’ve never lived on the East Coast, but in terms of affordability it would be much cheaper in general and it has the most unspoilt scenery and countryside. The East Coast of Taiwan is not comparable to the West, it’s almost like living in a different country as there are no big cities there and the population density is quite low, the air quality is also excellent compared to rest of the country as there is very little industry and not so many vehicles.
The drawbacks mentioned sometimes would be the relative isolation, earthquake risk, getting hit badly by typhoons sometimes, not many foreign eateries ,lack of jobs etc. It’s got a bit easier to get around as they have a tilting train that run between Hualien and Taipei, otherwise you can take the regular train, the dodgy highway (quite dangerous in bad weather or due to the trucks) or fly from the nice tropical airports of Taichung/Hualien (but they are not international airports).
The East Coast has a lot of aboriginal people and their culture helps give it a different flavour.
Hi,
I recently moved to Kaohsiung for an internship. Before that I spent about 4 months in Zhongli studying. I am finding it much harder to meet people in Kaohsiung because I am not in a university setting. Any suggestions?
/insert witty, but smart-ass remark/
[quote=“tolstoy”]Hi,
I recently moved to Kaohsiung for an internship. Before that I spent about 4 months in Zhongli studying. I am finding it much harder to meet people in Kaohsiung because I am not in a university setting. Any suggestions?[/quote]
Did you read my post about top ways to meet people? If all else fails, internet or even stalking works quite well apparently.
[quote=“Joeman_0”][quote=“tolstoy”]Hi,
I recently moved to Kaohsiung for an internship. Before that I spent about 4 months in Zhongli studying. I am finding it much harder to meet people in Kaohsiung because I am not in a university setting. Any suggestions?[/quote]
Did you read my post about top ways to meet people? If all else fails, internet or even stalking works quite well apparently.[/quote]
Well, being female, stalking actually creeps me out somewhat. I suppose I could always try the internet route, but I am not sure if that will increase my odds of actual interaction.
what kind/sort of people are you hoping to meet? What demographic. Advise and we can elaborate?
I would like to meet a variety of people. My Chinese is still at a beginner level, so I can only carry on basic conversations. I would like to meet people I can practice Chinese with, although I would also enjoy meeting other foreigners as well. I am still a student, so I would probably have more in common with people in their 20’s.
Where in the hisung are you at? I live in what used to be Kaohsiung county and don’t really have any foreigner friends, but I think I need some to stay sane.
posting.php?mode=quote&f=8&p=1251749#
I am in Sanmin District. Please send me a message if you would like to meet up. 
Havent heard of it being called “the hsiung” before? 
See? Forumosa to the rescue yet again.