It was not about how similar they are. Anyone who’s not blind could see that Japanese cities are leagues ahead of Taiwanese favelas.
It was more about the size, the status of them in their respective countries, and their geographical position(Taipei & Tokyo = Capitals; Kaohsiung & Osaka = port cities and 2nd largest; Taichung & Nagoya = in the middle and 3rd largest; Tainan & Kyoto = the oldest).
I contemplated the same question a little while ago and after visiting both cities settled on Kaohsiung.
From what I can tell a modern fully furnished 2 bedroom. apartment in Zuoying walking distance to KMRT with 25+ pings are going for roughly 18K NTD.
Thank you so much for all the replies! I really appreciate it.
It seems Kaohsiung might be the better option, but I guess I’ll spend a few days in Taichung before making a final decision.
Are there any areas in either city you guys can recommend I should check out to get a good idea of how living there will be like?
Also I understand that the Kaohsiung airport offers more flights, but how are the flight prices overall compared to Taichung? It seems the flights to HK from Kaohsiung are a bit pricier,but I was only using Kayak to get a general idea. Are there any local sites that you guys use to get cheap flights?
Thanks again.
I can only speak for Kaohsiung. Here are some places I recommend to check out to get a feel of life in Kaohsiung:
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Kaohsiung Arena area: There is a huge department store called 漢神巨蛋 (Han Shen Ju Dan). There are lots of stores and some nice KTVs. There are some groups of foreigners that play soccer in the field there.
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瑞豐夜市 (Rui Feng Night Market): conveniently located near Kaohsiung Arena MRT station; more Taiwanese than Liu He Night Market; very popular/crowded.
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Central Park area: Shopping area with lots of neat stores (including trendy hair salons) and restaurants; very popular among young crowds. Brickyard (club) is nearby.
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Kaohsiung Train Station: trains and buses to basically everywhere in Taiwan; the surrounding area has a lot of good restaurants and bars, as well as some music stores.
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西子灣 (Sizihwan) - laid-back water-front area; you can get a bike outside the MRT and explore; nice view of the harbor from high up. There is a university here (National Sun Yat-sen University) that has a beach area (though you aren’t supposed to go in the water; however, I have seen people do it).
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Zuoying district: significantly quieter than other areas. Public transportation hub (HSR, MRT, trains, buses). There is a huge department store (Shin Kong Mitsukoshi) which is one of the only places I have found that sells shoes big enough for me! There are neat shops and restaurants on the lowest level. There is a Daiso (basically a “dollar store,” but a Japanese version). There is also Lotus Lake and a Confucius temple nearby.
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旗津 (Cijin): cute little island strip that you can get to by taking a ferry. I recommend taking a bike if you can (bikes and scooters are allowed on ferries). There are tons of fresh seafood stands and other delicious goodies.
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Dream Mall: enormous mall; most things are overpriced, but it’s still a neat place to look around. There are events/concerts here sometimes, such as the one on New Year’s Day (Jan 1) with a lot of very famous Taiwanese singers/groups performing.
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後勁游泳地 (Hou Jin Swimming Pool): This is not a popular destination but more of a hidden gem that I had to include (as someone who loves swimming
). It’s located in walking distance (2-3 minutes) from a MRT station. It was 50 NT to enter last time I went, and it is never too crowded. It is outdoor, so it does not stay open all year.
That’s all I can think of for now, and feel free to PM me if you have any questions about Kaohsiung.
Thanks J Ming, I’ll be sure to check those places out. Sure, I’ll message you if I have any more questions about Kaohsiung.
Places to visit in Taichung:
Time: Late afternoon
Place: Start off at Eslite book store. There is a large park to the directly south of it. There’s plenty of activity going on in and around the park and it has a great cosmopolitan feel to it.
On both the east and the west sides of Eslite there are more pedestrian areas with stalls/markets selling things made from young creative types. Normally the weekend has the most activity.
You can stroll from around Eslite moving southwards following the park until you hit ShangXiangLu 上向路. There are many cool streets and shops and restaurants to be discovered here.
Time: anytime
Place: Museum of Fine Art. The museum and it’s grounds make for a pleasant day out.
Across the road wuquan xi lu, there is a fascinating indoor old market place. I believe it’s called Zhong Xing Shi Chang. The market no longer exists and the shops inside are slowly being taken over by cafes and restaurants. It’s reminds me a little of Hong Kong’s former walled city in Kowloon.
If you cross over meicun lu from the museum and head west, there’s plenty of small lanes with old Taiwanese style houses, most of which has been reconverted into shops. Again, there’s plenty of interesting stuff here to be discovered.
Time: morning/afternoon
Place: North of Gongyi Lu - JingCheng Lu/Hua Mei Jie. Interesting old lanes with plenty of reconverted cafes/eateries.
Time: anytime
Place: Miyahara - Old Eye hospital converted into a Harry Potter-esque style cake/ice cream shop. The cakes are from a well known brand and the packaging design is great. Well worth a visit. Not much else nearby unfortunately.
A bit further afield - 30 mins car journey:
Wetlands area: 高美溼地 - lovely at late afternoon/sunset.
TungHai University - great campus with unique church.
Is Taipei’s lack of green space really that severe? In the city, you have Daan Park, the belt of parks north of Minzu road running from Yuanshan, Rongxing park, Kangle park on Nanjing, many neighborhood parks, and special parks like Xianjiyan in Jingmei, Fuzhoushan Park, SiShoushan, and the botanical gardens. Plus a National Park north of the city (Yangmingshan). Taipei’s most important green space resource are the riverside parks. The riverside parks near Jingmei, Gongguan, and Wanhua are all very spacious. Is Taichung really all that much better in this regard? I freely admit that I don’t know Taichung that well and I have been to some very nice parks there but I don’t think Taipei is really that bad. Across the river in New Taipei City is another story…
Yeah it’s that severe, the riverside parks are nice but they aren’t really ‘present’ when you walk around the city doing your thing, and a bit hard to access in many places. Most areas are incredibly built up, if you want to find play areas for kids or some breathing space the schools are often the best bet. Plus there’s also a lack of trees and greenery on the streets. Artificially cutting off ‘new taipei city’ as if it doesn’t represent taipei city is a bit silly.
Thanks for the awesome breakdown! I’ll be sure to check out these places as well.
I think it really depends on where you live. If you are in the Guting neighborhood, for example, access to the river side parks is very easy.
Do you live in Taipei City proper or are you in New Taipei City? There is a big difference. I take your point about how they are really two parts of one greater metropolis, but as someone who lives in Taipei city proper I very rarely go to New Taipei City and when I do, I am struck by the lack of sidewalks, lack of green space and crowding.
If you moved from Taichung to New Taipei City then I would agreed that you have downgraded. I’m not so sure about Taipei. Yes, I know its more expensive etc, but that’s because it is a much nicer place to live and the city has a lot more money.
Apologies for the off-topic posts.
Just found some stats to confirm HH hunches. Taichung is not bad on the parks from, but look at Kaohsiung.
縣市別 每人享有已闢建公園綠地面積（平方公尺／人）
square meter of parks/person
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
全國 1.82 1.83 1.94 2.07 2.07 2.17 2.37 2.49 2.60 2.77 3.22 ⓡ3.46 3.56 Taiwan
新北市 0.68 1.09 1.05 1.11 1.06 1.04 1.05 1.05 0.98 1.07 1.04 ⓡ1.82 1.88 New Taipei
臺北市 2.25 2.26 2.28 2.35 2.35 2.39 2.46 2.47 2.49 2.48 2.48 2.46 2.46 Taipei
臺中市 0.43 1.46 2.18 2.24 2.22 2.25 3.35 3.32 3.12 3.31 3.34 ⓡ3.31 3.38 Taichung
臺南市 1.17 1.18 1.37 1.78 1.84 1.98 2.11 3.12 3.33 3.85 3.78 3.93 4.13 Tainan
高雄市 3.06 3.11 3.22 3.25 3.20 3.90 4.10 4.27 4.36 4.53 7.92 ⓡ8.30 8.63 Kaohsiung
“說明：本指標不包括國家公園、農林牧養殖、水利及生態保護等用途之非都市計畫區土地；
人口僅計算依法完成實施都市計畫區內之現住戶籍人數。”
The above doesn’t include national parks nor farmland/waterways/protected ecological sites.
i find the distinction between taipei and xinbei a bit weird too. sure xinbei is not as good as taipei but which city in the world has better outskirts then the central area? its just how it is. and yea…taipei has some shithole areas too, its not all nice. personally i live in new taipei and it annoys me the way people think i live miles away. i would rather live here than neihu or beitou…
In my limited experience, the air seemed cleaner and there seemed to be a nicer breeze in Taichung. That might might have been an off couple of days. I have no idea how typical it was.
Actually, what stood out to me more was the littering that the foreigners did in Taichung. White, black (African and black Americans/ Europeans), Filipino, and some other kind of non- Chinese Asians that I couldn’t identify made piles of trash in the central areas right near the train station on weekend nights. As soon as I got the Chinese areas, the place was clean and pleasant, like the rest of Taiwan’s cities. I find it’s the people (more than the location) that make an area nice or unpleasant. You’ll be contributing (good or bad) wherever you go.
The foreigner area of Taichung was also the only spot in the country where I saw a noticeable amount of graffiti (it was still less than a western country). I’ve lived in a lot of cities with graffiti. I had a lot of friends who thought it was art. I didn’t realize how crumby graffiti makes an area look until I lived in cities with no graffiti.
I enjoyed walking around the areas of Taichung with few foreigners. It felt fresher and greener. It was interesting to see the older architecture that is hard to find in Kaohsiung.
Taichung is building up some kind of art area. Right now, it mostly seems to have an alcohol museum and spaces for projects. Near it is some kind of cluster of mini-museums (like a fishing or sea museum). Those could be really neat, with the right direction.
Good god! Were you hanging around Taipei 101? 
Guy
Back to the original discussion… which is better - Taichung or Kaohsiung? The answer is TAIPEI!
Bumping this thread because I have been in Taichung 7 days in the past 2 weeks, and really liked it. So much so that I’m wondering if I should consider leaving Kaohsiung.
The air seemed cleaner, seemed a bit cooler and drier. The MRT and Youbike were easy to use to get around. Seems like lots of cafes and restaurants to explore (I went to several and overall really liked them, more than I like them in KHH, and seemed much more western food on offer). I saw more interesting shops selling things that I’ve never seen in KHH, such as a couple of hat shops, or a classy menswear store, or a large high-end outdoors clothing retailer.
I read above that it is spread out, but I liked the extra sidewalk space and enjoyed not feeling hemmed in by tall buildings on all sides.
Also, the vibe was different. People just seemed generally more friendly and relaxed. Seemed like there were a lot more foreigners there than in KHH, too.
Maybe it is more of a difference between the life I live in Kaohsiung vs. the visiting I was doing up in Taichung, but it seems to me Taichung may have developed for the better in the past 7 years. Thoughts?
Taipei holds no interest for me at this time, because the rent is too expensive.
I literally almost went to tell the OP off saying Taichung has an MRT.
Then I saw the date stamp.
Me too 
On a side note, I have always lived in Kaohsiung, but am quite often in Taichung for both work and leisure.
Weather-wise I disagree with the OP. Kaohsiung has the highest number of sunny days and probably the mildest winters island-wide, it is literally in front of the sea, it has some nice beaches (if one doesn’t mind hiking) compared to the faraway/ugly AF coastline near Taichung, it has an HSR station that is pretty close to the city centre while Taichung’s Xinwuri is almost in Changhua and has a better served (in non-COVID times) airport with direct MRT connection. Housing in Taichung is crazy expensive, while Kaohsiung remains affordable in comparison.
On the other side of the coin, Taichung is developing at the speed of light to become the second capital of the island after the Northern cluster, the job market is thriving and the scene is more vibrant by any means than sleepy Kaohsiung as @TT wrote. Pedestrian pathways are a thing and Taichung is indeed a city that can be explored on foot, while walking for just 5 minutes between scooters and cars in Kaohsiung would scare the shit out of me.
I also lived in both cities. Despite my love for Kaohsiung (ocean), for the sake of health I would chose Taichung with its cleaner air, even the local residents complaining how bad the air quality has become recently.
Best part would be 北屯區, close to Highway 74 and thus super convenient to go anywhere. For hiking there is nearby Dakeng with tons of trails (Kaohsiung city more or less just have monkey mountain).
Beitun also have lots of relatively affordable new high rise condos to rent for.
And you can tell whatever you want, but generally speaking Taichung people are more friendly, more stylish, more educated and in Taichung is much less 台客 going on.
Be nice!
If in your experience people did some dumb sh&t, you can call it out without ethnicizing it.
Guy