Nantou has quite polluted air actually due to the basin effect. The puli basin should look absolutely incredible but you can rarely see the mountains clearly due to the air pollution . But it’s not terrible either and a lovely part of Taiwan in my opinion . I would also recommend Puli more than Nantou city. Especially living on the edge of Puli . There’s a uni outside the town too.
Nantou county is a much better bet than Miaoli. Nothing really happens in Miaoli it’s extremely quiet. Nantou has more stuff going on .If you are into hiking , biking , camping , wildlife , gardening ， tribal culture , local herbs , tea , coffee and food, yeah it’s fantastic. Get out into the mountains .
Personally I don’t think Taiwanese are very friendly or social. Curious yes. But YMMV. Speaking fluent Mandarin will go a long way.
Shhhh the pollution deniers might see this…its green, its clean…dontcha know?
I agree, coastal air blows away faster and the in house pollution there gets exported fairly quick. But thats not exactly a wonderful endorsement haha. If pollution is of concern (as it probably should be), go east.
Welcome @Popcorngirl . He’ll do fine even if just speaks English.
I have a good buddy. His Chinese is around the most basic level of talking (thanks, hello, have you eaten yet, etc.).
We’d go into the same nook and cranny shops in the neighborhood, and the laoban would talk to him, smile, nod, basic English, etc., and give him free stuff to eat, drink.
I’d go into same place alone and speak Mandarin and they were just as polite in Chinese, but never got the free things, ha ha. We both laugh about the situation. It’s okay either way.
Maybe back in @tommy525 's younger days of anything-goes Taiwan.
Nowadays, like @Brianjones notes, can swing a dead cat and hit a foreigner who likely speaks Chinese to some degree.
I’ve noticed less and less of that over the past few years. I can’t remember the last time a clerk was shocked or treated me differently when I simply spoke a few words of Mandarin. Frankly, it feels great to be treated normally in that regard.
I’m guessing all of those Foreigner in Taiwan videos on YouTube have helped normalize us, especially with younger folks.
