I’m just wondering if anyone here is living in Keelung. I’m considering working as a teacher there.
What is there to do in Keelung? How much are rents? Is there much of an expat community? How long does it take to get to Taipei?
Thanks in advance,
Turgid
It takes about 45 minutes to get from Jilong to Taipei on the train.
Rents are much cheaper there than in Taipei.
Jilong has a good night market, and it’s not too far from some interesting places on the coast and some good hiking trails. Although you will find some expats there, most Taiwan expats wouldn’t want to live in Jilong because, in general, it’s dull and ugly. Oh, and rainy too.
[quote=“cranky laowai”]
Jilong has a good night market, and it’s not too far from some interesting places on the coast and some good hiking trails. Although you will find some expats there, most Taiwan expats wouldn’t want to live in Jilong because, in general, it’s dull and ugly. Oh, and rainy too.[/quote]
Yeah pretty much. I border Keelung/ Taipei County on the east coast, and that’s close enough or too close for me.
The city was never designed right, and sprawled into itself.
Most people work in Taipei and commute daily. On weekends visitors come up from Taipei and around Taipei, to litter and dirty the place further. The night market loves these “tourists” because they spend money there. So generally people don’t care about the environment
Although many places in Taiwan have at least one special thing about it – be it wet, dirty, cramped, bad traffic, gray, Keelung manages to capture them all. Some foreigners actually like Keelung, because it’s got certain rawness to it. There are a couple of bars there, but these are “love you long time” sailor bars
You can go down the coast a little or up into the hills, where you can find nice beaches, rock beaches, diving pools, and nice trails. Don’t go to Hoping island on the weekend unless you are a litter warden and plan to make a fortune
Visit Keelung but dont live there !!! RAins 280 days a year, almost continuously. Small and dirty and cold in winter. But great place to visit now and then. Absolutely dont live there !!! Give it a MISS.
one of the only places in Taïwan i’ve been i didnt like :S But ill go there asap again to change my mind…but i still dont know how…got to wait to go there again 
Visiting it is nice. Living there would suck in certain respects… like the ones mentioned above… notable the crappy weather. My girlfriend’s uncle lives there and he told me that when he was a kid, it once rained for 244 days straight!
On the flipside, there’s a brand new movie theater in Keelung near the night market that’s as nice as Warner Village or Miramar but charges about 100NT less - and yeah, costs in general are lower.
Heping Island is kind of nice, but Keelung in general strikes me as dark and wet…
Please, don’t anybody laugh.
The place reminds me a bit of a little Rio de Janeiro.
IF you could start all over. . .
First, get rid of all the crappy buildings . . . Okay, get rid of ALL the buildings!
It’s a beautiful natural harbor! (after nature has taken over again in say two or 50 years)
Now, invite some Brazillionaire developer to invite HIS samba school, and let them repopulate the place.
DONE!
Rio without beaches? mmmh…
I think I pass on that one…
Relax. We’ve got it covered.
With a Brazillion dollars, you IMPORT the sand and build perfect beaches.
Waikiki sand is from New Jersey; at least it was 30 years ago.
I CAN’T understand why they don’t plant coconut palms at more beaches in Taiwan.
Coconut palms turn a mediocre beach into somethin’ photogenic.
And how much would it cost to have a couple of full-time sand rakers and garbage-picker-uppers?
Keelung has potential because of location. The harbor is deep, and well protected. So first but you would need to raze most of the city (old buildings narrow streets, higway overpass disecting it in two)
Can’t wait for the Chinese tourists to come into Taiwan… they will make the ugly famous places look even more dirty and littered
We’ll need a few backpackers to sell skimpy thongs and micro bikinis.
A couple of square centimeters of cloth and a string and you’ve made your own.
Yes Jilong needs a complete makeover. All the buildings need to be razed and the whole town completely rebuilt into something pleasant. However,what to do with the cold and the rain thats true 3/4 of the year???
Nobody in their right minds would live in Keelung really.