Other foreigners near Taichung?

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
,
1

Just moved here a couple of weeks ago & want to make some friends. I thought that would happen naturally, but I live in a tiny town outside of Taichung & almost no one here speaks English. (There’s not a single bar or movie theater in the entire town!)

I know there are a pretty decent number of expat bars/groups/social events around Taipei, but what about Taichung?

2

Hi. Living in an isolated situation can be tough. Get yourself on a bus or in a cab and take yourself out – repeatedly – to some of the hang-outs listed in these Taichung-area threads:

viewforum.php?f=107

You might consider moving closer to Taichung proper and commuting to your job, depending on where it is.

Best wishes –
Tazzie

3

Which tiny town exactly?

4

I’m in Sihu

5

Sihu must be pretty damn tiny because I live in Taichung and I’ve never heard of it. If you lived in Fengyuan, I would be able to tell you how to get your ass down to Taichung. But in the case of Sihu I don’t know.

6

Is it the Sihu in Changhua County?

If so PM puppet and he can direct you to the local Changhua hangouts for foreigners and we also have a Changhua thread:
[url]What's Changhua like?

Are you working at the Joy in Sihu that was always hiring?

7

Yup, that’s the one. I’ll definitely check out that thread (thanks). Any spots worth trying out in Changhua?

8

What do you like to do? I find most of the spots really blah. Changhua lacks a really good night market. Most of it we have gone over in the Changhua thread I linked to. If you are into cycling Changhua can be good for that. You basically live smackdab in the middle of the hydroponic, mushroom and industrial section of Taiwan.

If you told us what you were looking for, we could be more helpful.

9

Changhua’s become hit and miss the past few years. You either catch it on a good night or on a bad night. Most bars are hole-in-the-wall, which is actually what I prefer most of the time, so it’s perfect for me. Just sit there with a few beers talking to some friends until later at night.

Luckily, since you’re in Taichung County, you’re close enough to see Taichung Improv when they perform. :smiley:

Like Okami said, let us know more what you’re looking for.

10

Hi all,

Loosely related to your messages is the fact that I am moving to Taichung on August 13th from London and am hoping to make my cultural immersion in the city as easy as possible. I get that the traffic is/may be quite bad but what are the good things about Taichung?
Anyone know of a good teacher of Acoustic guitar or a good gym? I’ll be in Taichung East.

Many Thanks!

11

I think taichung can be a great place, dont let the bad vibes get you down. But dont go gangster chasing though. Theres plenty of them in town.

12

Gangster chasing?? :smiley:

I was brought up in a bad area in London and learnt Muay Thai. If I get any negative vibes from a gangster…I’ll run as fast as I can D

Jokes aside, is crime a problem in Taichung or is it relatively safe? I’m out there alone and know nobody so I am really looking forward to discovering!

Thanks, Tommy.

13

Its safe, unless you look hard for trouble.

14

[quote=“Shish”]Hi all,

Loosely related to your messages is the fact that I am moving to Taichung on August 13th from London and am hoping to make my cultural immersion in the city as easy as possible. I get that the traffic is/may be quite bad but what are the good things about Taichung?
Anyone know of a good teacher of Acoustic guitar or a good gym? I’ll be in Taichung East.

Many Thanks![/quote]

Let’s stick to the OP topic. You can find a lengthy discussion about Taichung [button]here,Visiting Taichung, need advice on planning?

15

Most of what is said in this forum about Taichung is correct. I have lived here for the past 5 years. Here are my impressions:

  1. Weather is very nice - sunny most days, and typhoons tend not to be as violent here. In summers, it doesn’t get as hot as in the south and in winters it doesn’t get as cold as in the north.
  2. Rent seems to be about 1/3 the price of what you get in Taipei. You can find decent apartments for about 10000 NT a month. If you’re willing to spend double that, you can get into luxury.
  3. Public transportation involves buses and taxis. If you get a scooter, you can pretty much make it from one end of town to the other within 20 minutes.
  4. It’s not as “international” as Taipei which can be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective. If you’re here to assimilate and learn the local culture, then it’s good. The average person on the street probably doesn’t speak much English.
  5. If you’re looking for a selection of foreign restaurants, then while there are some, it’s certainly nothing like Taipei.
  6. If you’re going to be traveling in and out of Taiwan often, then plan to add 1-2.5 hours to your journey (high speed train or bus) to get in and out of Taoyuan airport.
  7. Gangsters aside (they don’t bother you as long as you don’t bother them), Taichung is a very safe place to live in. There aren’t really any places you should stay away from at night (unless parks with gays and lesbians bother you) and people are generally quite friendly.

PM me when you get into town if you want to meet up.

16

Adam, thank you so much. It would be great to meet up and find out more about the town.

Captain Stag, thank you for the link. I’ll stick to it from now on.

17

[quote=“Shish”]
Anyone know of a good teacher of Acoustic guitar [/quote]

Shouldn’t be too hard. Taichung’s entertainment consists largely of a foreign and local music scene. If you can’t find one, send me a PM and I’ll ask around.

18

Thanks, Puppet!