Taiwan - Which City? Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, etc.

[auperne]

Hey,

I've almost got everything in order to head out to Taiwan and now I'm debating which city to settle in.

I've heard great things about Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung but I was hoping to get some opinions on the above mentioned cities as well as other ones.

Right now Im pretty set on heading to Taichung as it has a considerably lower cost of living than Taipei and the weather is supposedly much nicer as well.

Input would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.
-Rob

[ESL Teacher]

Yeh, I think the air is better in Taichung than Taipei. My last visit to Taipei I got seriously sick. Don't know whether it was from the mosquitoes that attacked me at night whilst sleeping or the unhygienically prepared food I ate.

Taichung is nice with easy access to Taroko Gorge. Sanchung is also another alternative which is just outside Taipei. It's a modern technological city. The east coast probably has the most nature in Taiwan.

Keelung is also great with it's spectacular coast, but there is surely more work to be found in Taichung.

If I were you, I would choose Taichung due to it's central location, lower cost of living and proximaty to nature.

[Antonio]

Taichung is your safest bet. Kenting is surely nice, but it will be harder to pickup privates if needed.

[bryanr]

I recently returned from the U.S. on China Airlines and thought of the same question of "where to live in Taiwan" myself, so i decided to ask the flight crew, who were all from Taiwan, where the best place to live is.

The number one answer was Ilaan (I may be spelling that wrong and I know nothing else except that is lies on the eastern coast)

That's just what they said.

-RilinJuH!

[Brian]

Originally Posted by bryanr

The number one answer was Ilaan (I may be spelling that wrong and I know nothing else except that is lies on the eastern coast)

Ilan is coastal city located on the north east coast, pretty much at the top of the island. It is a relatively small city as Taiwan cities go and certainly has it's followers among the foreign population in Taiwan. With the pending opening of a large tunnel project Ilan offers good opportunities even for those working in Taipei.

Currently travel between Ilan and Taipei takes about two hours and involves traversing one of Taiwan's most infamous mountainous roads. With the completion of the tunnel project travel time will be cut down considerably and travel will be much safer.

Ilan is certainly worth a look if you don't want to be in one of the four big cities.