Don’t come. Thanks.
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Just recently and for how long…
I would tell the OP give it another year and come over then , what’s the rush .
Answer - No, I definitely would not come to Taiwan if I was you.
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Having to wear a mask all day as soon as you step outside your door is not a pleasant way to live. If I weren’t here already, I definitely wouldn’t come. Unfortunately, I don’t think the mask mandate is going to be lifted anytime soon.
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Mine is.
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Wearing a mask outside isn’t a big deal. You get used to it.
Chances of catching COVID are probably lowest in the world here, so no need to worry about that.
Bars and restaurants are all functioning as normal so you can enjoy your social life.
Vaccination rates have picked up since many countries want to play vaccine diplomacy to piss off China, and especially since Taiwan rolled out Medigen.
I’d much rather be here than the USA or Western Europe which just seem too dangerous.
Life here is just normal. I don’t get all these negative comments, unless they’re all anti-maskers, which I think is the only (slight) inconvenience.
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That’s just absolutely untrue. Are you really in Taiwan?
Ditto.
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Yes I am. I had lunch in a restaurant yesterday with friends, and am going to a Cantonese place this lunchtime with my colleagues.
I should clarify that life is pretty much normal. I don’t believe nightclubs and KTVs are open right now, but I don’t go out to them very often.
Edited to add: You also have to sign in to stores and bars etc with a QR code, but that takes like 10 seconds. I suppose it’s mildly vexing.
FWIW if the OP has the opportunity to delay a year, it could be a good idea. They’re coming to study Chinese (I think? That’s what HES is for, right?) - and there’s definitely a significant chance that schools will go back to distance learning this school year. And if you’re here to learn Chinese and interact with people in Chinese, being stuck in a room on your own for months isn’t exactly a good way to do so.
It also depends on what kind of social life the OP enjoys. I think it’s very unlikely nightlife here will be back to normal anytime soon - and if that’s what they’re looking to do, it’s another good reason to delay a year.
If you’re already here, Taiwan’s fine. Not great, but fine. Arriving anytime soon? Tricky, and a very high chance you’re going to start a tedious few months of boredom and loneliness.
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Life is very far from normal. I have to wear a mask when deadlifting and squatting in the gym. This is really really inconvenient. I hate wearing a mask outside, even when it’s just me on my motorbike and there’s no one else on the road. Restaurants are a far cry from being normal. Having to eat behind a plastic partition and some restaurants seating only two to a table that would normally seat 4 or 6. It sucks. It’s for a very good cause, but it sucks.
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Interesting. Like I said, I don’t find masks particularly irritating, even at the gym (even doing cardio).
As for restaurants, the usage of the plastic partitions seems less strict recently. They usually put them on the side of the table to protect the waitstaff now, not between diners.
Pretty much all restaurants (at least in northern Taiwan, not sure about other places) were delivery/take out only until recently, when some have reopened with restrictions like limited numbers and plastic barriers. Quite a few restaurants have reportedly closed.
Bars (in the Taiwanese sense) are still closed, with the exception of those bars that are now pretending to be restaurants with the same restrictions as above.
How is that “functioning as normal”?
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Yeah I barely notice it now and have just got used to it
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Your experience seems to differ from mine then. The restaurants I’ve been to have been functioning at normal capacity and the plastic barriers have been moved to protect waitstaff, not separate diners.
I’ve been to several bars recently, and they’ve all been functioning normally. Plastic barriers have, again, been moved so you’re not breathing on the waiters, but not between you and your friends. I also haven’t had to order food to get a drink, so maybe this is a recent change?
Anyway, this back and forth seems futile. We seem to have had different experiences, so let that be that?
Yeah I was in bars the last few weeks.
If it helps, I bought one of those plastic molded mask inserts that kind of lifts it off your mouth a bit. I use it when I go to the gym.
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Wait, really?! I haven’t been to that many places, but everywhere I’ve been has at least had staggered seat opening and limited capacity. (New Taipei City / Taipei.)
It doesn’t personally affect my “normal experience”, since I normally go to restaurants for quiet weekday lunches anyway.
The kind of life I typically lead hasn’t been much affected by restrictions, beyond the annoyance of wearing something over my mouth and nose when cycling. But if I were still in my twenties and spending my life in bars, it’d be a very big deal indeed.
This isn’t about our “experiences”. I’ve been to bars recently too, but the main point is that between May and early August (or whatever it was) restaurants literally weren’t allowed to open for dine-in customers.*
Are you disagreeing with that?
*It might go that way again soon as well.
In an alternative reality maybe…I’ve been around Taiwan and I would say at MOST half of restaurants are allowing limited indoor dining. Some towns I visited had almost zero indoor dining just a few weeks ago.
Besides Taipei will shut everything down as soon as Delta breaks out. Which could be today or tomorrow. Or any day.
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Id do anything to be able to go to Taiwan right now, tbh
Is it fuck normal.
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