Which City Would Be Best for Me?

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
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Hi all,

ahead of emigrating to Taiwan, I have been researching a lot into the following cities,

Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, Kaosiung.

I have listed Taipei, but I already know I would not want to live and work here. I’d be more than happy to visit here and there, but it’s not extremely important that I do. I primarily want to be in one of the Western, South-Western cities. In the future I may think of going more East for a slower pace of life, but that is way into the future to be considered right now.

They all seem amazing, but I’m struggling to narrow one down that will suit my needs best as a resident. I am an artsy and cultural person, so a city with Taiwanese cultural history would be great with a nice creative scene.

I also practise Judo here in the UK. I would absolutely love to keep practising after emigrating. Is Judo popular in all these cities? Aside from Judo, I also like rugby and Football. I could be too British in wondering if there’s bars in any of these cities that show rugby/football matches!? But this type of socialising is not necessary at all.

I do like to travel a bit too. I have heard that transport links aren’t as good in Tainan and Kaosiung, but I’d imagine city-to-city travel is still pretty high standard? I do like chilling out in nature which I know Taichung works being close to mountainous regions.

I would also like to take Taiwanese mandarin and Hokkien classes. I think Taichung down to the South is saturated with Hokkien speakers, but are there any official classes that can be taken? I’d like to eventually promote Taiwanese Mandarin and Hokkien to the point I can teach these languages (but more research is needed on the Hokkien possibilities).

On occasion, I do like a night out (not to get heavily drunk or to heavily party) but to relax, maybe get a bit tipsy and enjoy the night with some good music and friends. I’d imagine, New Taipei and Taichung would be best for this. I am a gay man too, but I do not need to live exclusively in a gay community or thrive on LGBT issues to function in my daily life. Just the chance to possibly date and socialise from time to time would be plenty for me in this respect.

I am a Theravadin Buddhist. I know Taiwan is thoroughly Mahayana Buddhist which is fine for me. Seeking out one or two genuine buddhist temples to visit on occasion would be awesome.

I would also love the chance to take up GuZheng lessons. It is an instrument I have always found to be beautiful, and learning to play it will be breathtaking. I’d hope lessons would be readily available all over the cities listed above.

Obviously, I cannot make any final decisions solely on research and other people’s opinions/experience. Before starting to work and finding a place to rent, I hope to travel around Taiwan for 2 weeks or so. I will base myself in Taipei and have daily trips to the other cities to find which one clicks. If I have a good idea now of the sort of cities that may be best suited for me, I can pay particular attention to them when travelling.

Thanks for any advice.

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Probably easier to have a week in Taipei then spend a second week (at least) going down to Kaohsiung and Tainan via Taichung. I doubt that doing day trips to those places from Taipei would really be worth the hassle – I don’t think you can learn much about a city and what it’d be like to live there in the few hours you’d have.

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If only considering those cities, then Kaohsiung.
Cheaper, has nice Arts Museum and other cultural things, international airport, HSR to go north, can learn Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese.
Moving permanently here forever, or just for this stage of your life?

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Will be here permanently.

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Nothing, my friend, is permanent. :slightly_smiling_face:

Reading your post, I intuitively thought of Tainan City (not off in the sticks) as a place to start.

Guy

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How about Chiayi? It’s near the mountains and downtown area is quite large. Close to the sea if you want to go there.

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Its downtown area is rather vast, and it’s close to the mountains.

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Liked for actually using an apostrophe correctly! :grin:

Guy

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Not what he is really looking for. I would say Taichung or Kaohsiung or maybe Tainan as that’s close enough to Koahsiung.

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can you take one away for using the comma before and without it being two independent clauses (i dont really mind as im dyslexic so no punctuation is easier for me)

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Why not? Chiayi is starting to become pro same sex relationships

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I would highly recommend traveling a bit before settling down. Only you know what works for you. For me personally (I’ve lived in Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung), Taipei was too crowded and busy but had the most events and social life I’ve ever experienced in Taiwan. Public transportation is very convenient.

I’ve never quite gotten the Tainan vibe; I found it a bit boring. I go there once a year, and that’s enough for me.

Kaohsiung is fun, closer to the beaches, with plenty of day trips and an international airport. The north is a bit far and could be an expensive trip. Public transportation is pretty convenient.

I’ve settled in Taichung, which has way less rain than Taipei. While not as many events, I hike a lot, and Taichung is a good base. Public transportation is not as good as Taipei and Kaohsiung but has a decent amount of restaurants and other activities.

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Isn’t Chiayi right up there with Hsinchu being boring AF?

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Just curious, but since you plan to be here permanently, how long have you ever lived in Taiwan previously?

Would this also include naturalization as well?

What is the impetus for moving to Taiwan permanently?

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If you are looking to teach Hokkien I recon Taipei would be a safer bet because practically everyone down south can speak Hokkien already.

Overall and based on what you say I wouldn’t write anywhere off - not Taipei anyway - and I’d make my decision on your two week trip.

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You have to learn it before you can teach it.

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Liked for candour!

Guy

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Oh right, I guess In that case he should probably just stick to promoting Mandarin.

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I have looked into Chiayi after your suggestion. Looks rather nice! Definitely one to visit.

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Based on your other posts it seems you are looking for a job as well.

After I picked Taiwan, I looked for a job. The best job happened to be in Kaohsiung, so this is where I washed up. Very happy here.

So, that worked well for me. I’m sure I’d be just as happy pretty much anywhere else, everywhere has pros and cons and is all still Taiwan

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