my current situation appears to be this or move into a hostel in Taipei with all my stuff and start handing out CV’s. I like Taipei but I’m not sure if I’d like to live there, I’m quite happy with my weekend HSR runs to it.
Does anyone know anything about Jhunan, I’ve found clubbing in Taiwan pretty awful tbh I know there is no clubbing scene in Jhunan and that doesn’t bother me, but is there perhaps one decent bar to be my “local”.
What else is there to do? Beach? Gyms? Hiking access? And roughly how many expats or English speaking locals are there? or will I find myself constantly heading up to Hsinchu.
(also I know this forum has a terrible habit of saying nowhere is worth living but Taipei, but informed answers please, if you’ve never had any experience of Jhunan don’t comment back saying its crap)
I’ve only passed by, but there are nearby coastal bike paths, a little hamlet with a wind surfing club (I think parasailing too), you’re very close to the mountains which have great hiking opportunities and lots of excellent road cycling; and there’s a coastal park that’s the spring breeding ground of the migrating purple butterfly if you are into that sort of thing (entomology, not breeding with vagrant butterflies). Just east of Jhunan are some really beautiful and fun mountain townships for exploring like Emei, Beipu, Nanzhuang, Tai’an, etc. Hot springs not too far away. Etc.
It doesn’t look like much, but that’s the same of almost any small town. If you have a scooter and a willingness to explore you should be alright. Taipei and Taichung are not far by train.
Here’s the website for the windsurfing: spot.com.tw/
my current situation appears to be this or move into a hostel in Taipei with all my stuff and start handing out CV’s. I like Taipei but I’m not sure if I’d like to live there, I’m quite happy with my weekend HSR runs to it.
Does anyone know anything about Zhunan, I’ve found clubbing in Taiwan pretty awful tbh I know there is no clubbing scene in Zhunan and that doesn’t bother me, but is there perhaps one decent bar to be my “local”.
What else is there to do? Beach? Gyms? Hiking access? And roughly how many expats or English speaking locals are there? or will I find myself constantly heading up to Hsinchu.
(also I know this forum has a terrible habit of saying nowhere is worth living but Taipei, but informed answers please, if you’ve never had any experience of Zhunan don’t comment back saying its crap)[/quote]
You won’t be coming to Hsinchu, there’s no scene here either. I don’t think there’s many foreigners in Zhunan (except for loads of Thais). But if you like kite surfing you’re all set. There’s a nice American (?) guy who teaches kite surfing there who you’ll see about. I forget his name. As MM points out there’s some real nice country inland heading into the mountains.
I lived in Zhunan for about six months – but on the campus of an organization in the science park, not in the town itself (which is godawful ugly). Bars and clubs aren’t my thing, so I don’t know anything about them there. But I wouldn’t count on much, esp. if you seek the companionship of fellow Westerners.
By the train station there’s a temple with giant seated statue of a grouchy-looking god; but once you’ve seen it and the tea museum that’s about it for culture in the town itself.
As others have mentioned, Zhunan is a good spot for windsurfing. (They don’t have all of those wind-turbine power generators there for nothing.) The bike path along the coast is very good. And lots of the countryside of Miaoli is beautiful and well worth visiting (Tai’an, Nanzhuang, etc.).
[quote]From Hsinchu HSR to Zhunan by cab. Any idea of how long and how much?
Or would a TRA train from Taipei be quicker than HSR / cab?[/quote]
If you want to go to the science park in Zhunan, there are free shuttle buses from the Xinzhu HSR to the Xinzhu Science Park. And then there are other shuttle buses to the Zhunan Science Park. I found that taking the HSR from Banqiao to Xinzhu, then transferring to the science park, then transferring to the Zhunan science park was only about 5 minutes faster than taking an express TSR train to Zhunan and then catching a shuttle to the science park. But that is because there was waiting involved for both buses. HSR and taxi would probably be faster than a TSR express train; but I doubt it’s worth the extra expense and mafan.
[quote]From Hsinchu HSR to Zhunan by cab. Any idea of how long and how much?
Or would a TRA train from Taipei be quicker than HSR / cab?[/quote]
If you want to go to the science park in Zhunan, there are free shuttle buses from the Xinzhu HSR to the Xinzhu Science Park. And then there are other shuttle buses to the Zhunan Science Park. I found that taking the HSR from Banqiao to Xinzhu, then transferring to the science park, then transferring to the Zhunan science park was only about 5 minutes faster than taking an express TSR train to Zhunan and then catching a shuttle to the science park. But that is because there was waiting involved for both buses. HSR and taxi would probably be faster than a TSR express train; but I doubt it’s worth the extra expense and mafan.[/quote]
I’m not sure exactly where I’m going yet, the client hasn’t given me the full address yet. Cost is not an issue as I can expense the client for it, but time/speed is, as I have something on in Taipei the same evening that I’d prefer not to cancel.
I travel to Toufen pretty regularly and I’ve pootled around on a scooter as far as ZhuBei. ZhuNan is actually “merged” into Toufen, it’s hard to see where each starts and ends. Personally I like the place. It’s hardly a metropolis, but it’s not a sleepy little backwater either. There is a large, wide new boulevard (I forget the name - I’ll update later) lined with rather nice restaurants and bars. There are all the usual things that would make Taiwanese people say “so convenient!”. Possibly the only thing it doesn’t have is a nightclub, but it sounds like you’re not too bothered about that. I’m seriously considering moving there myself. Most people who live in Taipei end up living their lives in their own little area and never really making the most of everything a city has to offer; it’s just the security of knowing those things are there if you want them.
The only thing that’s annoying is the distance from the HSR. It’s about $500NT in a taxi to the TouFen highway interchange from the HSR station (25-30mins), so I guess $550 to ZhuNan. There’s a shuttle almost to XinZhu TRA station (why it doesn’t actually stop at the station is a mystery) and also to ZhuBei TRA station (right outside), so you could take a train from either one down to ZhuNan. Trains seem to run every 20 mins. However, it’s an awful lot of messing around. If you live in ZhuNan and have a scooter, it’s a nice straight road all the way to Hsinchu, should you feel a craving for department stores, multiplex cinemas, or a daytrip to the big smoke. Takes 30-40 mins.
That’s what I thought, although I haven’t tried it yet. I just like the HSR
[quote=“finley”]I travel to Toufen pretty regularly and I’ve pootled around on a scooter as far as ZhuBei. ZhuNan is actually “merged” into Toufen, it’s hard to see where each starts and ends. Personally I like the place. It’s hardly a metropolis, but it’s not a sleepy little backwater either. There is a large, wide new boulevard (I forget the name - I’ll update later) lined with rather nice restaurants and bars. There are all the usual things that would make Taiwanese people say “so convenient!”. Possibly the only thing it doesn’t have is a nightclub, but it sounds like you’re not too bothered about that. I’m seriously considering moving there myself. Most people who live in Taipei end up living their lives in their own little area and never really making the most of everything a city has to offer; it’s just the security of knowing those things are there if you want them.
The only thing that’s annoying is the distance from the HSR. It’s about $500NT in a taxi to the TouFen highway interchange from the HSR station (25-30mins), so I guess $550 to ZhuNan. There’s a shuttle almost to XinZhu TRA station (why it doesn’t actually stop at the station is a mystery) and also to ZhuBei TRA station (right outside), so you could take a train from either one down to ZhuNan. Trains seem to run every 20 mins. However, it’s an awful lot of messing around. If you live in ZhuNan and have a scooter, it’s a nice straight road all the way to Hsinchu, should you feel a craving for department stores, multiplex cinemas, or a daytrip to the big smoke. Takes 30-40 mins.
That’s what I thought, although I haven’t tried it yet. I just like the HSR [/quote]
Just as a note don’t forget there is now a train running from the Hsinchu HSR station (Liujia) to Hsinchu. So you could go HSR - train to Hsinchu - train to Zhunan. But its a pretty slow train.
If your trying to get from the Taipei to Jhunan I’d suggest HSR then transfering to the Luija line, (its easy its basically platform one downstairs on its own little mini station, theres a train every 20 minutes to Hsinchu, that takes about 20 minutes. Then theres regular trains, 10 minutes or less I think to Jhunan, they take about 25 minutes, I know this because I timed it too see how easy it would be to get back to Jhubei and see my mates by train. So you could probably do it all in about an hour and 10, add another 30 for HSR.
An easier option is to get the train from Taipei to Jhunan, would be cheap but take around 2 hours…I think
I was down there today on a photo assignment. I ended up taking the fastest TRA train which took 80 mins to get there, then a 10 minute taxi ride to the location.
Zhunan is great if you already have a active social life and girlfriend, but if you don’t have either of those things then it can be a bit of a drag. There’s a handful of ever-changing English teachers I never see who live there, and one Ozzie who owns his own school somewhere in the Zhunan/Toufen area. I don’t know anything about his school, but all of the other cram schools there are pretty much crap. It’s remarkably nice for a small Taiwanese town, and I think that’s because of the money from its little science park, as well as the Hsinchu science park workers who live in Zhunan and bring their money back with them. It’s clean, has tons of restaurants, at least three grocery stores, at least two stores that sell nothing but coffee beans and coffee making products, two book stores, several banks, a post office, and a bus station with buses that go all over Taiwan (國光), all of which are within walking distance of the train station. It also has 2 night markets, a nice beach, a fishing harbor where you can buy fresh seafood, and a large train station that gets both mountain and ocean line trains. There are some other nice things about living there, like cheap rent, little traffic, no big crowds, being quite, but lately I’ve been leaving most weekends and going to Taipei. Hsinchu (the nearest city going north) is really boring, and Miaoli (the nearest city going south) is even worse. If you want to live in a nice, sleepy coastal town, then it’s not bad, but like I said it’s terrible for a social life.
Zhunan definitely has some good aspects and it’s right up against some very nice countryside and near the coast too. It’s one of the richest parts of Miaoli. As I always say, if you want to live out in these places you should probably drive a car.
Hey! I’ve been in Zhunan for a while now working at one of the local chain buxibans. We had a solid posse of 10-ish foreigners, hanging out together quite a bit, but many have now left and we’re hoping to meet their replacements. We sometimes get together at the big 7/11 (across from what I think is the town hall) on Thursday nights after work. Lately, since the gang has thinned, we haven’t been going, but I’ll let everyone know to come next Thursday.
Zhunan is nice, pleasant, and Shitoushan is my favorite nature area in Taiwan yet, but… yeah it’s a pretty sleepy place. Toufen is a bit crappier.
hey there guys- wanted to add to this thread since i’m relatively new to the area (toufen, but use the zhunan train station weekly to leave but would LOVE to meet some waiguoren and chat/eat whatever… although i’m enjoying my job and the area, i haven’t met anyone and it’d be great to meet a few new friends… please let me know when and where you all get together… i’m often viewing films in Hsinchu by myself on weekends, which is fun but i’m craving some wit and slang. thanks!
but would LOVE to meet some waiguoren and chat/eat whatever… although i’m enjoying my job and the area, i haven’t met anyone and it’d be great to meet a few new friends… please let me know when and where you all get together… i’m often viewing films in Hsinchu by myself on weekends, which is fun but i’m craving some wit and slang. thanks!