Hi, I know that Taipei is the most expensive city in Taiwan - but how much more so? I know rents are a lot more, but how about daily expenses? What would you consider the better offer -
Taichung - 75000NTD
Taipei - 81000 NTD
Both are private primary schools - 8am-4pm Monday to Friday.
I think it would entirely depend on details, but overall I would imagine that 75000 in Taichung would be more comfortable if moola was the major concern.
I think it’s the same.
I’d want the most comfortable possible
I would choose Taipei, simply because the place is overall more interesting and diverse than Taichung, but really both are solid offers.
All the best!
Is Taichung that much cheaper?
I’d rather live in Taipei than Taichung, even if it’s a bit more expensive.
There’s your answer. 
Not really. Maybe rent is cheaper but it’s mostly the same.
Taipei because the offer is in Taipei.
Apart from rent, not really (from my small experience anyway).
I think the regional price difference within Taiwan is greatly exaggerated. The only thing more expensive in Taipei is rent and property price, everything else is the same.
Just out of curiosity which do you prefer?
I would choose Taipei.
Sure rent is cheaper and you might save a bit more each more on that. But there’s less things to spend it on in Taichung. Plus less friendly to English speakers who aren’t Chinese speakers.
Taichung isn’t terrible, it’s not like it’s in the countryside. It’s got a lot of stuff going for it.
But choosing Taichung over Taipei is like choosing Cleveland over New York… or Liverpool over London… or Daegu over Seoul… or Adelaide over Sydney… and so on. Some people like the slower pace and smaller feel of a second-tier city. Personally, I don’t. But as always YMMV.
Adelaide over Sydney any day
Then go with the Taichung offer.
I’ve never been to Australia to comment on the comparison between Adelaide and Sydney, but Liverpool compared to London isn’t a good comparison. I spent five years in Taichung and it sucked. Taichung is to Taipei as Dongguan is to Hong Kong. Second tier sounds so much better than Taichung actually is. Even my wife (born and raised in Taichung) can’t wait to leave the place when she’s there and wishes her family lived in Taipei.
The difference in cost of living is primarily in rent. Taichung people will tell you Taipei is super expensive because they don’t want to spend an extra 20NT on a bowl of noodles. I’d rather pay the extra 20NT because of the convenience of having a functioning public transit system, shops for probably everything you’d want to shop for, a large network of bike paths - many of which run in the riverside parks, the riverside parks themselves, decent city parks, better air quality because it’s not next door to a coal-fired power plant, a better selection of food and particularly western food if that’s your thing, public events - some of which are free, monuments and museums, mountains in the city limits (which are accessible without a scooter or car), a decent zoo that’s VERY reasonably priced compared with any western zoo… Taichung has big KTVs owned by gangsters, coffee shops located near a stinking gutter that is charitably called a river, a science museum you can only enjoy with a child and surprisingly tall mountains that you can never see unless it rained that morning (which it rarely does because “Taichung has such wonderful weather!”) . Many Taiwanese people find Taichung a desirable place to live and I think it’s because their sole criterion is Number of Rainy Days per Year.
Ouch.
My honest opinion is Taipei is the only city worth living in