I’d have to strongly disagree with you there, at least where the Washington DC area is concerned.
Keep this in mind when driving here;
Traffic here is a like a shoal of fish moving in unison. A scooter dashes out of a side street and all 4 lanes of traffic packed 5 deep manage to swerve over a metre to accept the new situation.
This is one of the biggest dangers for foreign drivers. We tend to think our lane and the space in front of us are rights of passage than can not be impeded upon. They can and are, when you accept that and go with the flow it is okay. Not fun but just okay.
Just how easy did you think it would be? You can get non-Chinese food all over the city at various locations. Even in Muzha I can drive to City Super in 15 minutes, Costco in 20, Breeze center in 30, and Jason’s in about 20. These are all high end supermarkets with mostly imported products. Hell, even my local Wellcome has imported fruit, veggies, rice, meats, cereals, pastas, etc.[/quote]
In TienMu you can walk to almost everything in the time it takes you to drive it.
Regarding the traffic in Taipei, you need to compare it to LA, NewYork, Chicago, DC and other big cities. If you compare to those, Taipei traffic can be considered better in terms of its movement! I was amazed at the STANDSTILL traffic when I returned home to Washington DC a couple of months ago. The people back home follow the rules so much so, that it makes the traffic worse. When the traffic is bad in Taiwan, 1 lane might become 2 or 3 lanes of traffic, but it still moves.
Regarding the dangers of the traffic, it is crazy, but easy once you learn the way things are here, but I never get to know it well enough to not be pissed off by selfish agressive drivers, or crazy stupid ones. It gets safer the more you drive here because you learn to anticipate everything, but you still might get angry and can never relax.
As for pollution, no matter which major city in the world you are in, when you are on a scooter and behind a bus, or walking along a major thoroughfare, the vehicle fumes smell equally bad! So a lot of people providing their opinion of the pollution in Taipei have a distorted view as they have never lived in such a crowded city before or never walked around a such a crowded city, and most likely never rode a scooter in a big city before, etc. Compared to a lot of other Asian cities, Taipei pollution is not that bad, sure it is not as clean back home, but then hardly any place in the (Insert your home country here) is as crowded as here.
I just left Taipei on Wednesday morning and am now in Shanghai. I was shocked, hmmm, is that the right word, yeah, let’s go with “shocked” by some of the things I saw in Taipei but compared to Shanghai, Taipei is rather comforting. I am here a few more days so I need to give it more time but Pudong isn’t the peaceful, “western suburb like” area it is described to be on various websites. I knew I wouldn’t be able to wrap my mind around either place until I got here but WOW!
On a more important note: why in the hell has my nose been running more than usual? This has got to be a pollution problem.
Regarding traffic: Yes, D.C. traffic is bad but comparing ANYTHING having to do with traffic in the US to what’s going on over here is a joke.
Regarding Taipei people: nothing bad to say here. they seem a lot happier than Shanghai people. a LOT.
try new york lol
Ok, Tempo Gain, maybe NYC IS bad. I haven’t been there in forever but the attitude here seems to be “f**k it! I’m taking it!” Just tonight, this dude behind our driver was honking his horn a lot, not in the “normal” Shanghai way. He was obviously fed up with our lack of speed. We get to a red light and after a couple of seconds, he pulls from around us and just goes through the red light. A woman on a bike and a couple of cars scooted through right after him. Did I mention it was truck with a bunch of men standing in the back of it? I don’t think I’ve seen that in NYC. Well, maybe in the Village but other than that, NO! 
however the point is that the truck in question was actually able to move at a respectable rate towards its destination 
of course there are many different ways of accomplishing that end and no doubt there is a lot more “creativity” displayed here in that regard. all in all i would rather have a few morons nipping at my heels than forever be facing the potential of a truly mind numbing sit-wait-inch ahead-repeat
Ha! I know what you’re saying. I like the creative use of the shoulder if the regular lanes aren’t moving along as you think they should. It ain’t for sissies.
[quote=“meow”]I just left Taipei on Wednesday morning and am now in Shanghai. I was shocked, hmmm, is that the right word, yeah, let’s go with “shocked” by some of the things I saw in Taipei but compared to Shanghai, Taipei is rather comforting. I am here a few more days so I need to give it more time but Pudong isn’t the peaceful, “western suburb like” area it is described to be on various websites. I knew I wouldn’t be able to wrap my mind around either place until I got here but WOW!
On a more important note: why in the hell has my nose been running more than usual? This has got to be a pollution problem.
Regarding traffic: Yes, D.C. traffic is bad but comparing ANYTHING having to do with traffic in the US to what’s going on over here is a joke.
Regarding Taipei people: nothing bad to say here. they seem a lot happier than Shanghai people. a LOT.[/quote]
I know you must be busy, but I’m sure we would enjoy an account of what you found shocking and some feedback on how good or bad of a job we did in trying to prepare you.
With regard to the traffic in Taipei - I’ve never understood why they haven’t really used roundabouts much. With all the traffic lights, all the driving is stop/start and not smooth flowing at all.
There are a few but all the major roundabouts I know of in Taipei do have traffic lights, and one could only imagine what if they didn’t …
There are a few but all the major roundabouts I know of in Taipei do have traffic lights, and one could only imagine what if they didn’t …[/quote]
the end result could not likely be characterized as “smooth flowing”
So, I think the forum did a good job of trying to prepare me BUT I had to see to really understand. What I found shocking and things that could be described as just a tad short of shocking:
1)Lots of what I’d call “squalor” that apparently, isn’t really “squalor” (I guess. Actually, I don’t know. Like, coming from the airport. That’s one helluva an ugly ride. Are those apts. considered “squalid” or middle class or what? I have no reference point)
2)The dirtiness of many of the buildings. I was told they use tile to combat humidity but they only get cleaned every 30 yrs. or so. The age of many buildings.
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Lots of old men without shirts.
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In Shanghai: how the gains made in technology/modernizing the city have far surpassed the sophistication of the populace. It’s like, an aerial view along the river looks modern and new, but when you zoom in to street level, most of the people look like they just road their bikes in from the country. Again, that squalor thing. Is it or ain’t it? The sheer number of people. The “driving”.
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BAD TEETH! (especially in Shanghai) YIKES!
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How my Taiwanese masseuse kept belching. I’m going to specifically ask for that at my next American spa visit.
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Went to some great restaurants but find it “shocking” that truly gross food is never too far away.
There’s more but I don’t want to be a bore.