We live right around the intersection of DaXing West Road and ZhongZheng Road it this area is booming. It’s nicer than downtown and in the area we have Arches (very good Thai food), a McDonalds, KFC, TGI Friday’s, a nice hotel (Fulon Hotel) and much more. Though driving today, I did see that they are putting a new building up on ZhongZheng Road next to the new Performance Art Center and across from the Spanish Restaurant. Here’s hoping a movie theater so we don’t have to drive to TaiMall or Metrowalk.
Yes, that’s the place I mean. We have an apartment in that area too, but have been waiting for years to see anything happening there. Finally!
A must visit if you live anywhere in Taoyuan county.
I’m wondering what else will go in that huge area where they put the performing arts center. They just built that big building complex across from the Fulon Hotel. I would like to see a movie theatre.
The area mentioned around ZhongZheng and Nanping is not bad (in the sense that Taoyuan is a hole and that area is better than most areas). Dayou Rd and the surrounding area is a bit of a foreigner ghetto and it’s a little pricey for what you get I think. There’s certainly much better value elsewhere. It’s fine though if seeing a lot of other foreigners is a priority. As also previously mentioned, the downtown area is a complete shambles.
Taoyuan City is an abomination. One degree better than Zhong-li, but not by much. Get out of the shitty, the concrete jungle and live out on the periphery. Places like Longtan, parts of Bade, the north section of Guei-Shan all have interesting more isolated locale. Sure it adds to the commute, but it pays off in peace of mind, less stress on the senses. It’s also cooler in temperature, less populated, and flora & fauna are actually not yet extinct.
A must visit if you live anywhere in Taoyuan county.[/quote]
Can anyone give me directions from Yang Mei?
A must visit if you live anywhere in Taoyuan county.[/quote]
Can anyone give me directions from Yang Mei?[/quote]
Thanks
Well you guys have collectively painted one hell of a picture (in doggy turd), I’m still in the UK and have just been offered a job in Taoyuan…I hear the words “No thank you” echoing in my brain.
Better to know than not though, it sounds like a lot of mainland China by most accounts
Taoyuan’s saving grace is that it is possible to save a decent amount of money there under the right circumstances. Because there’s not a lot to do there, if you can avoid travelling to Taipei and blowing your cash there, you won’t have a lot to spend it on in Taoyuan. That holds true unless you get caught up in the expat bar scene, which is pretty lame anywhere, but seems doubly so in Taoyuan due to it actually being the most exciting thing there. If you must hit the nightlife in Taoyuan, it’s far better to hit the Thai clubs (known locally as “Thai Disco”) or the Philippino karaoke joints. Much more fun than the Taiwanese night spots. There’s less posing, the patrons are much more welcoming, fun and outgoing than most Taiwanese (the exception being that one drunk middle-aged Taiwanese businessman in every bar who is overly confident about his English, thinks he’s the funniest guy in the world and who inevitably gets his shirt off to unashamedly reveal what he believes is the world’s sexiest beer belly somewhere in the cover band’s third set), and it’s cheaper too.
There’s also the combination of it not being a “cool” place to live, so foreigners don’t flock there by choice (so you probably have a lot less competition than Taipei or Taizhong), and it being a commuter city for Taiwanese working in Taipei, which means there are still a reasonable number of wealthy people in Taoyuan who want private lessons or who send their kids to buxibans (unlike some parts of Taiwan that are not popular and are full of poor Taiwanese who can’t afford their very own white monkey). If you’re willing and able, there’s a surprising amount of work in Taoyuan and you can save a decent amount.
There’s also reasonable poontang in fairly ready abundance, including in the Southeast Asian guest worker communities, which a couple of my friends used to tap with great regularity.
[quote=“alwaysjittery”]Well you guys have collectively painted one hell of a picture (in doggy turd), I’m still in the UK and have just been offered a job in Taoyuan…I hear the words “No thank you” echoing in my brain.
Better to know than not though, it sounds like a lot of mainland China by most accounts [/quote]
On the plus side, there are lots of jobs there. It’s just not a nice place to live, too many people and not much in the way of urban planning. However, decent spots can be found in the outlying areas, such as Yangmei or Longtan, if one is willing to drive 40 mins to work.
You’d make a good salesman GuyInTaiwan,
transient lil Phillies and Thai’s (Indo’s? my personal favourite) aplenty is as Austin Powers might say “My bag baby” and I certainly am intending to go for cashola if the deal I’m being offered actually materialises it seems pretty good to me as an inexperienced teacher. Being near the airport wouldn’t hurt as I intend to be off visiting friends around the way (HK, Thailand, Malaysia etc.) as often as my remaining funds allow.
Not that I’m totally easily led…but you’ve formulated a convincing argument, I believe its referred to as confirmation bias 
Khok Dee Khap (as they probably say in that Thai disco I’ll be checking out)
alwaysjittery: Well, it was unintentional! Haha. Short of moving to Jinmen or Green Island, I pretty much got as far away from Taoyuan as I could whilst staying in Taiwan! Taoyuan is really not my bag, as much because of many of the foreigners there (there are some cool foreigners there, but it does seem to attract, or at least retain, a disproportionate number of the boring foreigners in Taiwan) as the local Taiwanese. If it weren’t for the Southeast Asians, I’d say it would be like living and working on the Death Star.
I always found TwoTongues’ Tatooine analogy to be quite apt. What with the Hutt, Jawa, and Tusken Raider inhabitants, and the odd human settler thrown in for good measure.
“Tatooine analogy” Holy shit you’ve now made it sound like the middle east 
Anyway I think I’m about getting the picture, so far its dirty, ill planned, difficult to navigate, attracts boring foreigners (and locals) and has about as much going on at night as the Gobi desert, but is easy to earn and save (see Gobi desert) and does have its share of SE Asian perks to be found…well nowhere’s perfect :discodance:
I think there might be some temporary position applications being filled in for jobs in Thailand until something suitable in Taipei County rears it head…I hear somewhere over the rainbow at the end of the MTR is where its at (ho hum).
[quote=“GuyInTaiwan”]Taoyuan’s saving grace is that it is possible to save a decent amount of money there under the right circumstances. Because there’s not a lot to do there, if you can avoid travelling to Taipei and blowing your cash there, you won’t have a lot to spend it on in Taoyuan. That holds true unless you get caught up in the expat bar scene, which is pretty lame anywhere, but seems doubly so in Taoyuan due to it actually being the most exciting thing there. If you must hit the nightlife in Taoyuan, it’s far better to hit the Thai clubs (known locally as “Thai Disco”) or the Philippino karaoke joints. Much more fun than the Taiwanese night spots. There’s less posing, the patrons are much more welcoming, fun and outgoing than most Taiwanese (the exception being that one drunk middle-aged Taiwanese businessman in every bar who is overly confident about his English, thinks he’s the funniest guy in the world and who inevitably gets his shirt off to unashamedly reveal what he believes is the world’s sexiest beer belly somewhere in the cover band’s third set), and it’s cheaper too.
There’s also the combination of it not being a “cool” place to live, so foreigners don’t flock there by choice (so you probably have a lot less competition than Taipei or Taizhong), and it being a commuter city for Taiwanese working in Taipei, which means there are still a reasonable number of wealthy people in Taoyuan who want private lessons or who send their kids to buxibans (unlike some parts of Taiwan that are not popular and are full of poor Taiwanese who can’t afford their very own white monkey). If you’re willing and able, there’s a surprising amount of work in Taoyuan and you can save a decent amount.
There’s also reasonable poontang in fairly ready abundance, including in the Southeast Asian guest worker communities, which a couple of my friends used to tap with great regularity.[/quote]
This post had me :roflmao:
And very nearly had me convinced to start looking for work up there and to start packing my bags for a move up north.
Then I remembered I’m married.
“Then I remembered I’m married.” and I’m not. Can’t imagine why THAT post got my attention over the 100 or so saying how completely lame the place is 
bismark: Except girls (local or SE Asian) in this country [strike]don’t[/strike] have casual sex AND do your housework. Damn! In some ways, it does make a foreign man wonder what this marriage thing is all about.
Preaching to the choir, buddy. 