Taichung vs. Kaohsiung: What's better?

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
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Hi Guys,

I’m planning to move to Taiwan next month. I’ve narrowed my choice down to 2 cities: Taichung or Kaohsiung. However, I’m having a bit of a hard time deciding.

From what I’ve gathered, Taichung seems to have great weather, is more centralized, but has no MRT. In comparison, Kaohsiung has an MRT, great weather, but is more polluted. On my last trip, I only visited Kaohsiung and really enjoyed it. But I have a friend staying in Taichung, so if I can save more money there, I would be up for it.

For anyone who has lived in either city - or both - I would love your thoughts and feedback:

Overall, what city is cheaper to live in (such as rent, food, transportation, gym, etc) ? Ideally I would like to keep my costs to 30-35,000 while still living a comfortable life.

Which airport offers cheaper flights? (I’ll be doing 90 day visa runs, so I’d like to keep my costs to a minimum)

Since Taichung doesn’t have an MRT is it really difficult getting around the city? I know you can get around with a scooter, but I haven’t driven in years, so I wouldn’t feel comfortable.

Are there are lot of cafe in both cities? I’ll be working on my laptop so a good working space and wifi are important.

Is the pollution that much more worse in Kaohsiung?

And lastly, what city has a better night life?

If anyone can offer me their thoughts and feedback, that would be really appreciated. Many thanks!

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Both cities are equally cheap and have lots of cafes. Kaohsiung has the edge in nightlife, public transit, and air travel options. Winter pollution in Kaohsiung might be slightly worse but both places get their fair share of pollution. Move to Kaohsiung.

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regarding pollution… yeah Kaohsiung has terrible air sometimes, but since the petrochemical factories opened in Zhanghua, I don’t think Taichung is really that much better off. It all depends on wind and other things, right now if you go to one of those PM 2.5 monitor sites, Kaohsiung is slightly worse, but when things are bad in Taichung it about just as crappy.

taqm.epa.gov.tw/taqm/en/default.aspx

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Kaohsiung has a decent-sized international airport, so seems a no-brainer if concerned about flight choices. Though in Taichung I guess you could theoretically head to either Taoyuan or Kaohsiung depending on flight options. Would cost an HSR ticket of course.

Overall I think Kaohsiung.

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Taichung airport has quite a few flights these days and much improved , although it’s still a lot smaller than the other two. It’s easy enough to get to Taoyuan airport from Taichung.

There are some good bus routes in Taichung but it’s better if you have a car or scooter. Kaoshiung edges with its public transport options.

I would say go for Kaoshiung as it is a city that’s getting better all the time and pretty near Kenting, Tainan and Taidong. The Harbour area and bike paths are nice.

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+1 for Kaohsiung. It feels more lively and it has a nice seaside. The only downside for me would be the heat in summer, it’s usually quite a bit hotter than Taichung and I’m not a fan of high temperatures, but it’s a minor problem.

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I would say there is little temperature diff between Kaoshiung Taipei or Taichung in summer, and Kaoshiung (Taipei can be hottest on many summer days) is just a little hotter than Taichung all year round, hardly any difference between the cities.

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Taichung has very cheap flights to Hong Kong nowadays if you can pick and choose dates. I’d say Kaohsiung is only a marginal favourite in terms of available flights.

You have a friend in Taichung. It’s good to be with friends, especially when in a new city.

I know a great cafe in Taichung, and bet there are many more for working in. Cafes here are a dime a dozen nowadays, shouldn’t be a problem to find somewhere you’re comfortable with in either city.

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K-town all the way. There isn’t a single advantage Taichung can offer. Cheap flights to HK? Pffft…So what? It’s too spread out, public transportation is in the stone ages, the night life sucks, and in regards to air pollution there just aren’t enough clear days in Taichung anymore to make it worth while. Finally, you are smack in the middle of either the NE or Kenting if you live in Taichung, which sucks if you are a beachgoer. Kaohsiung on the other hand has great public transportation, a much better thought out road network, better traffic, a more vibrant foreign community and the slam dunk is that you are only 90minutes from Kenting or 2.5 hours from Taitung.

GIve Taichung a solid miss…It’s actually on of the only cities in Taiwan IMHO that is going backwards. 20 years ago Taichung would have been the no brainer winner in this discussion.

Not anymore

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I wouldn’t say Taichung is going backwards overall… It has some very nice areas like art museum area and science museum and 7th district and nantun but in terms of air pollution, yes it has got worse, and Kaoshiung and Taipei have pulled away with more investment and better public transport, and they are far bigger cities after all!
If you are into the ocean they’d be the choices in terms of west coast.

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I’ve heard people say that Taipei = Tokyo of Taiwan, Taichung = Nagoya of Taiwan, Tainan = Kyoto of Taiwan, and Kaohsiung = Osaka of Taiwan.
It’s kinda funny how they are actually geographically comprehensive.(Taiwan: north to south, Japan: east to west)

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Kaohsiung +1
I moved to Taichung two years ago thinking it would be a great place to explore Taiwan, be close to beaches and mountains. I was wrong. There are plenty of nice places in Taichung, but it is a sprawling, poorly planned city. The last 12 years of the previous city mayor has seen plenty of new apartment blocks built, some nice parks, but nothing else IMO, which is a shame as this city has so much potential. There is a one line MRT being built and a brand spanking new BRT (trolly bus) which is going to be decommissioned.
The only thing I think that Taichung has over Kaohsiung is that it is a few degrees cooler (so I have been told).
If you don’t mind being a bit removed from Taipei, Kaohsiung is the place to be.

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KSiung is a good place.

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To me KS is the only city in Taiwan that feels like it is evolving for the better.

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Under these circumstances, I’d also vote for Kaohsiung. Lots of good food (esp seafood and taiwanese/fujianese snacks), lots of nice people. If you can, try to be close to the KMRT–the city does have buses but I think counting on them could drive you insane. Certainly very few locals rely on them…

Also, I do not have any scientific data to back this up, but it seems to me that Kaohsiung’s infamous pollution is not spread evenly across the city. Certain industrial districts (like Nanzi) would be bad news. But somewhere closer to the waterfront would I think be better in almost every way.

The other famous downside of life in Kaohsiung is the notoriously crappy wages paid to local workers compared to the (also low but comparatively less crappy) wages up north. But since it sounds like you’ll be freelancing / self-employed, this would not likely cause you grief.

Guy

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Average temperatures from June to October in the three major cities.
As you will see, the differences are VASTLY exaggerated.
The hottest city in Summer is Taipei!
Look at the stats people.

The real temperature and climate differences show up in Winter and Spring.

weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=94764 (Taichung)
26 27 27 26 23 (June-Oct)

weatherbase.com/weather/weat … 3?s=592978 (Kaoshiung)
27.2 28.3 28.3 27.2 23.9 (June - Oct)

weatherbase.com/weather/weat … pei-Taiwan (Taipei)
27 29 29 27 24 (June-Oct)

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I strongly recommend Kaohsiung.

Prices, weather, and pollution don’t have a big enough difference to matter in my opinion.

The MRT in Kaohsiung is amazing. You can easily live in Kaohsiung even without a scooter (I did it for a year). The buses are fine and taxis are cheap to fill in the gaps. Taichung is also a bit trickier to navigate, even with a scooter (my Taiwanese friend living in Kaohsiung FROM Taichung told me this).

Nightlife in Kaohsiung wins hands down. It’s also worth noting the great accessibility and diversity of food options in Kaohsiung.

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Before the existence of the MRT, I would have said Taichung was better. My experience of Kaoshiung was in summer and it was so hot and polluted if you walked a block you needed a shower. These days if I was forced to choose between the two I’d choose Kaoshiung simply due to the better public transport system.

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While I am unambiguously a Kaohsiung fan, the lack of love here for Taichung is striking. I guess this is what happens when you let developers do whatever they want without any clear urban planning or basic transportation infrastructure. Of course this can apply to almost everywhere in Taiwan outside of Taipei and Kaohsiung! In Taichung’s case, the botched roll-out of the BRT certainly didn’t help.

Guy

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I’ve lived in Taichung for a few years and myself and family much preferred it over living in Taipei (moved to back to Taipei for work)…a lot cheaper and more space and better climate, less crowded., and plenty of parks for kids. it has its drawbacks but so do Kaohsiung and Taipei!
we lived in a premium area in Taichung beside 1st class parks and residential areas for 1/3rd LESS than what I pay for now in New Taipei City! The kindergartens there are also vastly superior for the price, sunny and open space and affordable bilingual schools. The kindergartens in Taipei area frankly shocked me, some even being located in office buildings or industrial blocks! Many look little better than prisons. Even more expensive kindergartens have no open play space and are overcrowded.

It is wrong to malign Taichung as having no planning, it has better parks and green areas than Taipei (Taipei has a severe lack of green space including trees) for example, but it is a big city and tends to go area by area. There are new areas like 7th district and Nantun and the redeveloped lareas around People’s park and art museum and Costco area that are very nice places indeed especially during the 300 sunny days a year. where it drops down is water and air pollution and lack of Integrated modern public transport (it’s planning for car drivers is the best in Taiwan though).

The thing is the BRT isn’t that bad but it’s essentially just a bus lane, which largely existed already, so expectations were way overblown. it was obvious they should have made a LRT on that route and some other main roads instead…mayor Hu was next to useless only good at promoting building of expensive apartments! all public transport in Taichung is basically free …which is hard to complain about too much if one is going to use it.

But…Taichung is undergoing MASSIVE redevelopment of old gritty areas right now, stay tuned over next few years. it will amaze you if you drive around the outskirts to see how much is being redeveloped…its on the scale of the mainland. This is generally good as those areas were full of illegal structures and factories.

The earlier comparison of Taiwan cities and Japan cities was wrong in my opinion (and in the case of Tokyo and Kyoto…frankly laughable). The closest city to Taipei in Japan is actually Osaka I would say. Loads of similarities.

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