I live in that area. One of the most underrated places to visit in Taipei. Cheap and some food that i cant get anywhere else in taipei.
I meant thats literally the ONLY ethnic area in Taipei. 
Taipei has become a bit more shopping mall commoditised over the years ,lost some of its markets or old waisheng communities and grotty hangouts. The benefit being of course itâs not as gritty as it was. But I feel Taipei and Taiwan could really do with more diversity and fresh blood.
I donât disagree with this at all!
Guy
It will be hard to attract diversity and fresh blood with borders restricted 
Many people have left.
Yep, and theyâre not being replaced. The waiguoren scene has gone from small-but-robust to stale and nearly dead. The fact that the government wonât even hint at when or under what circumstances they will open borders or end quarantine is really concerning. Even the other most restrictive countries in the world (mostly neighbors in Asia) are opening up now.
Yeah, I see maybe one westerner a day, probably more but I tend not to notice westerners of Asian ancestry unless they talk. However , yes less black and white faces around for sure. There must be stats somewhere.
They are very good stats on immigration website . I confirmed significant drop last year.
@Brianjones stats
Wow that is really really low. I guess there are lots of people with dual nationalities not listed though.
I would also guess a lot of the foreigners are in Taipei and New Taipei city. 
I did sort of notice that kids stare at me a little more this year or maybe I am just paranoid lol
@Brianjones I wonder how many mixed race kids or people there are in Taiwan, half Taiwanese and half another nationality ?
In realityâŚvery few.
I recall mixed race children of Taiwanese and SE Asians being high. Iâve got a figure of 25 percent of annual births in my head.
Yes for SEA you are right . Quite high numbers in some places. Number of immigrant brides has also been dropping though if I recall rightly.
Covid exacerbated the long term trend
This is funny.
With regard to the sex of international spouses, foreign husbands in Taipei outnumbered foreign wives by only 56, while foreign wives outnumbered foreign husbands in the six special municipalities
Actually the reality is more than 90% of permanent immigrants are females from SEA who got married here.
I wish I knew how big the cockroaches are. Some years ago when I came here as a student, there was one above a door and I couldnât get myself to walk under the cockroach and out the door. It was a back door to the house so I went out the front door. But I stood there paralyzed for a while just looking at the huge bug before I decided on the alternate route.
And every year they suddenly getâŚThe magic abilityâŚTo fly!
I think youâre just hanging out with the wrong people. Thereâs a group I hang out with on the weekends and there have been at least three or four new people show up every week. The COVID precautions theyâre taking has become EXTREME (like donât come for two weeks if you are in a restaurant in the past week and didnât have at least 1.5 meters between you and someone else.) but people keep coming. No more or less than before.
Youâre right thereâs no tourists or people passing through or only here for a month or two. No real âfresh bloodâ. Itâs weird how used to that I am now. I am always surprised at the occasional ABC who came to TW for the first time recently because grandmaâs in her 90s. (Iâve met three, but all of them had jobs lined up too). But Iâm thinking of how weird itâs going to be when I start meeting people who are on vacation or a business trip or studying Chinese for a month, etc. again. Iâd grown accustomed to knowing everyone thatâs here actually lives hereâŚ
Yep, thatâs what I was getting at. Also not as many people being sent by their companies, and just not as much fresh blood keeping the scene vibrant in general. I think Im pretty in tune with the full range of whatâs out there to choose from. Itâs not what it was pre-Covid.
I wish I had known that they could fly! 
Hereâs a new one, in light of what I just found out about my employerâs option of us is: the vast majority of schools, even those that are âhighly regardedâ see foreign teachers as interchange and replaceable. Someone with a decade of direct EFL experience, in the eyes of the admin, is no different than someone with a fake a degree from Bogus University of Bangkok in underwater basket weaving and no work experience to speak of. Exceptions may or may not include TES and TAS. And pretty much no where else.
TES and TAS also see their teachers as replaceable, but that is the nature of the job⌠they come for a few years and move to a new country or go back home. there are long term foreign teacher working there, but they are a minority.
you are right however that the school wont cut any slack when it comes to credentials, you have to be a real qualified teacher.
Not disputing this in the least, but are Taiwanese teachers seen all that differently?