Living in Danshui & Beitou

One of those buildings near the art university faces Chinese graveyards though. Furthermore, the air circulation in that building isn’t so good. The pool and gym facilities are also pretty rank. This is the one right across from the Wellcome market on the hill. If I remember correctly, these rooms were rented out by some movie star dude that appeared on 90210 as an extra a few times.

I lived there for a month after I first arrived and wouldn’t pay 4 or 5 million for it. Many Taiwanese think it’s haunted.

We bought a place in a new complex in Danshui a few years ago. It’s been great. The commute is a bit of a pain and the traffic arteries in and out get a bit messy on the weekends, but there’s a lot to do up here and there are lots of great views. We’ve found plenty of good eateries, and it’s easy to get to outdoor recreational spots.

I don’t notice the winter cold, but I like cold weather.

cfimages, glad you’re in the neighborhood now. BigJohn lives up here too. You can’t miss him–he’s really big :wink: .

The upper end of our budget is probably about 6 million – 5 million would be perfect. I work in Taichung right now, and shifting my workplace to Taipei is not an easy option, so we are thinking about this as an investment & place for retirement. If work opens up in Taipei, all the better, but I don’t think I would like to commute every day, even with the convenience of great transport. At the moment we live within a 10 minute walk from work (for both of us), which would be hard to part with, even for the lure of Taipei. Thus, the real attraction is the place – Tamsui & environs, easy transport to places of interest and entertainment, and a mix of urban and natural scenery.

I think we can take the cold, too, but the rain could be a drag. Yeah, I know, this is Taiwan and it rains everywhere nonstop for weeks on end, but we have many more drier days here in the central Taiwan.

Well you’ll like Shilin even more then potentially. We have Yanmin mountain as well as plenty of river side and bike trials etc. We have far better food though to fill up with once you have finished your exercise. :lick:

[quote=“Tomas”]We bought a place in a new complex in Danshui a few years ago. It’s been great. The commute is a bit of a pain and the traffic arteries in and out get a bit messy on the weekends, but there’s a lot to do up here and there are lots of great views. We’ve found plenty of good eateries, and it’s easy to get to outdoor recreational spots.

I don’t notice the winter cold, but I like cold weather.

cfimages, glad you’re in the neighborhood now. BigJohn lives up here too. You can’t miss him–he’s really big :wink: .[/quote]

You said you’d keep that between us! Anyway, you’re getting the stitches out next week so I guess you’re more relaxed about it all.

I’d like to consider moving to Danshui, but my wife is convinced that it would be much too damp (as opposed to Taipei proper). Is that the case?

You can compare historical weather patterns in parts of Taiwan at the Central Weather Bureau site.

Why is that area so cheap? For a reason. I go up there to visit Tomas on occasion. Man! It takes FOREVER to get there! And that’s on the MRT. In the car? JEEEEZ!
Tomas has a lovely place indeed, but properties up there would have to be a HELL of a lot less in order to persuade me. Takes me less time to drive to Taichung than it takes to drive to Danshui, usually, so if it was that kind of commute, I’d go for the even lower prices down there. And the better weather, too.

Thanks! These tables suggest Danshui is slightly drier (precipitation) than Taipei, but slightly wetter than Taichung, although it is also a bit more humid – more damp then – than either of the bigger cities. Makes sense given the proximity to large bodies of water.

[quote=“sandman”]Why is that area so cheap? For a reason. I go up there to visit Tomas on occasion. Man! It takes FOREVER to get there! And that’s on the MRT. In the car? JEEEEZ!
Tomas has a lovely place indeed, but properties up there would have to be a HELL of a lot less in order to persuade me. Takes me less time to drive to Taichung than it takes to drive to Danshui, usually, so if it was that kind of commute, I’d go for the even lower prices down there. And the better weather, too.[/quote]

Shouldn’t we distinguish between driving and the MRT though? The HSR is 49-60 minutes to Taichung from Taipei but no way to you get here that fast by car. The MRT from Danshui to Taipei station is about 45 minutes. I think that would get old if you had to do it every day, but I am not considering that. Plus stops further in from Danshui would of course cut down the travel time.

If you live in Tamshui and work there or close by I’d say it’s a good place to be based. Hard to beat the ocean and riverside.

Nope. There’s this grand legend across Taipei that Danshui is some kind of northern hinterland where it’s always raining and always cold. In winter, yeah, it’s cooler: maybe 1 degree. Rain? Often it’ll be dry here and raining when I get to Taipei. Often it’ll be raining here and dry when I get to Taipei.

I admit my clothes aren’t drying very well at the moment, but I suspect that goes for everyone in northern Taiwan. This weather is awful.

The flip side of the cool weather: the air is a lot clearer out here. Many Taiwanese will point out that’s because of the “cold” wind. One degree cooler for some visibility? I’ll take that trade.

Nope. There’s this grand legend across Taipei that Danshui is some kind of northern hinterland where it’s always raining and always cold. In winter, yeah, it’s cooler: maybe 1 degree. Rain? Often it’ll be dry here and raining when I get to Taipei. Often it’ll be raining here and dry when I get to Taipei.

I admit my clothes aren’t drying very well at the moment, but I suspect that goes for everyone in northern Taiwan. This weather is awful.

The flip side of the cool weather: the air is a lot clearer out here. Many Taiwanese will point out that’s because of the “cold” wind. One degree cooler for some visibility? I’ll take that trade.[/quote]

You are saying it ISN’T some kind of northern hinterland??
Well I tell ya, I would prefer danshui a zillion times more then Wanli , which I and my friends referred to as “the dark side of the moon” .