Pros and cons of moving to Hualien

I don’t think you understand full blown typhoon when it hits the exposed east coast of a pacific island.

That’s power.

Hello

IF you are wanting sunshine and lots of good weather. Taidong is the better place. IT is relaxed, the people are fun, not many people there and lots of places to explore. I personally love it a lot more than Hualien. IT has a lot less rain then Hualien. I travel there weekly and often it will be raining where I live but not down there.

With Reguards to earthquakes I don;t really notice them that much I live in Ruisui. But I guess I am used to them from back home.

If your worried about Typhoons, live slightly south of Hualien city in the Vally or slightly north of Taidong city. Both of those places are a bit safer with the protection of the mountian.

If you live anywhere on the east you will need your own car or Scooter. Most things are very far away from each other. Also there are not very many buses. It is also not that expensive to have a scooter or car. There are lots of parking spaces. So that should not be a problem. Also very few people on the road. It is much more relaxing driving here than on the west.

For outdoors things. Come more south of Hualien city. Heaps of little areas to explore. Takaro is great to look at. But with amount of tourists that go in there its not really worth it.

The biggest problem of living on the east is there are bugger all foreigners. Apart from foreign workers. Also not many people speak english as well. But on the pro side. IT is very quite I very much enjoy the country feeling and having few foreigners is actually a bonus for me. I wouldn’t move to the west anyday love the peace and quite here way to much.

But if your chinese is not very good. You will find it hard here that is probably the only big Con about it

Hi! It’s been over a year since my original post and I came back here for an update on Hualien. Two questions: (1) Last time I inquired about whether there is a gym, the answer was not positive. Is it still the case? (2) I would like to find a newer, modern condo to rent, and I’m not having much luck with 591.com Is it easy to find a furnished modern condo to rent there?

it’s a year and you want people to answer all these questions for you but you havent visited to check it yourself?!? Lazeeee

Yeah, I’ve visited other places in Japan (Okinawa, Kyushu, Hokkaido), Sweden, Norway, Spain, etc. to see if I could settle there, so I put Hualien in the backburner. I’m bringing Hualien in the front burner since I realize my Chinese is getting worse since I haven’t had the chance to use it. So, if there’s anything new to add to what’s been discussed, I’d really appreciate it.

[quote=“Nuit”]
The only gym that I know of is the overpriced Yawei. You’d think there’d be somewhere else in town, but no-one knows of one.[/quote]

I have been using the gym at Tzu Chi university. There is a gym and swimming pool at the main campus and a bigger gym at the humanity campus. I am taking some Mandarin classes part time there, which gives me free access. I found the teachers are surprisingly good and they also organize some cultural activities.

Just posted about the gym.

Have you had any luck finding accommodation? I met one foreigner who is renting through AirBNB. I have been staying in the university dormitory accommodation, which is dirt cheap, but got a dodgy roommate so looking to move out. Ideally would live near the beautiful mountains rather than downtown.

Also regarding the gym, I heard a number of people go to this cheaper place:
facebook.com/LiftingTribes/

@cminorseven did you end up moving? What did you think?

Seven years later, I think that ship has long sailed.

Still an interesting topic for a thread. If new fresh takes on this older topic are available, I’d love to read them.

Guy

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I kind of thought that too but it’s the most recent one I’ve found :joy: I have a job offer there and would love a fresh take!

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@marasan any thoughts on this topic for @justintaiwan ?

Guy

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Theres a living in Hualien facebook group, check it out.

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I’ll write tomorrow. But let me say for now that I vacation in Hualien often but have never lived there.

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@Nuit should/may still be around if he’s not riding his bike :slight_smile:

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Hualian is usually the epicenter of Taiwan quakes
Must get hairy

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I lived in Hualian for one year, 2013-2014. My worst earthquake experience ever (and I grew up in Southern California) was in Hualian at that time. With all the things falling and breaking in my apartment, I really thought the building was going to come down. It didn’t, and that kind of reasurred me for future quakes.

I met @Nuit while I lived there; he’s a nice guy and would be a good source of info.

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I’m thinking about going for a year and see how I like it :slight_smile:
I’m not a fan or accustomed to earthquakes but it’s not a dealbreaker for me. I’ve been there on holiday a few times but holidays are different from day to day life.

Also I’ve been in Miaoli for 2.5 years so I’m used to places with few foreigners :joy:

Like I said last night, I vacation there often. We actually have a small apartment there since we will retire in Hualien. My wife and kids spend a month or longer in Hualien during winter and summer vacations and I travel back and forth between Hualien and Taipei.

I feel I could move to Hualien tomorrow. Our place is in Mei Luan so it’s about 10 minutes to the city center. I like the small town feel. The driving is bad there because you have the vacationers from Taipei driving like maniacs and the locals who drive very slowly. But overall, I prefer it to Taipei simply because the numbers are low.

And with Hualien being a vacation area, there are enough Western restaurants to satisfy my cravings.

I also enjoy the nature there (I’ll upload a picture of the view from the master bedroom), and it’s relative proximity to places I really enjoy, such as Shr Ti Ping (swimming and snorkeling), Taidong (a bit far but not an impossible drive or too much of a hassle to take the train- our place is a 6 minutes’ drive to the Hualien train station).

@justintaiwan , I would say go for the job offer. Maybe a lack of nightlife might be a dealbreaker for some, but if you’re more into small groups, close friends, etc., then that shouldn’t be a problem for you.

Edit: Here it is. When there was a rainbow.

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Thanks @marasan , what a great summary! I’ve decided to take the job :slight_smile:

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