[quote=“tomthorne”][quote=“monkey”]If you live in Taoyuan City near the freeway or in Nankan on the opposite side of the freeway, you have a 40-minute commute to downtown Taipei. That’s about the only positive thing I can think of.
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Nankan is an oasis of culture and entertainment. There are now two malls. Also, Costco may soon be building a store behind Taimall. Taimall itself has an excellent pub. For those who enjoy hiking there is a small mountain. Nankan river now has cycle paths. At night, you can hang out with many kindy teachers outside 7-11. If you say Nankan wrong it sounds funny, too.[/quote]
Let’s not forget that Taimall has such subtle and tasteful exterior decoration. Also, where are these famed areas around Taoyuan City that are okay? Bade? Guishan? Neili? Why these are all the Paris, Venice and Vienna of Taiwan, respectively!
Seriously, one of the most exciting things my wife and I used to do there was go to that huge, 24 hour pet store (why anyone needs to buy a rhinoceros beetle at 3am, I don’t know, but don’t let anyone tell you Taoyuan is not convenient!) called Rainbow Fish so I could look at iguanas.
Another thing I like about Taoyuan? The way Zhongzheng road inexplicably divides around that temple downtown. Try getting across there on foot! Now that’s entertainment, and exercise, enough any time of day or night, and day of the week! Oh yeah, and Taoyuan is famed for its pedestrian access generally…not! Likewise, going the other way on Zhongzheng Road, I love how after Ciwen Road, there’s a set of about six traffic lights that always go green, green, green, red, green, green, and how when you get that red in the middle, you have to wait 90+ seconds until the next green, despite the fact that you only drove for all of fifteen seconds before getting that red light. Brilliant! Really, the whole city is just a gem of urban planning!