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What is the best way to approach Taiwan?

in Taiwan by @zoxel | 1yr 1yr | 4 comments

We have never been in Taiwan (a couple of travelers) and I am just wondering is possible to find there some quite clean place to hang for a while? How it is better to start? Are there any website’s for short and long term rentals? It looks like AirBnB is not that popular there. So it seems that usual tactics - rent hotel or airbnb for short term and then look for long term just driving around might not work. It looks like everything there in Chinese - so if there are any tips how to overcome this - that is more then welcome Overall just interested in any suggestion - where best to go first? Also is it hard to extend your stay there - we are digital nomads - so working for some company overseas and probably will be extending as a tourist (If we like there).
Sorry for so many questions - but this is really some terra incognita for me

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@kaspernikolaj | 12mo 12mo

No worries … The whole CorVis19 is causing issues in the whole region… maybe better to stay put in the short term

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@kaspernikolaj | 12mo 12mo

I’ve been in Taiwan for nearly a year … 3 month visa runs etc. How long are you staying for … and my experience is Taipei… so cant speak for the rest of the country much

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@zoxel | 12mo 12mo

Well we decided to go to Vietnam for now - not yet having any certain plan for Taiwan

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@naathaan | 1yr 1yr

I can offer my experience at least. I stayed at Meander hostel a few years back in a private room. It ended up being a great choice, it wasn’t crazy expensive and I was able to meet up with a lot of travelers just by chilling in the common room. Everyone was so friendly, I remember just sitting there and random people would start chatting with me and within minutes we were all taking a walk to the nearby night market. In addition to all the social aspects of the hostel, I had my own private room so I was able to stay productive. I only stayed for around 2 weeks though. Hope this helps!

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Where to stay for a month in Taipei?

in Taipei, Taiwan by @gnefkow | 4yr 4yr | 7 comments

Hello,

My girlfriend and I will be heading to Taipei for a month in February, and we’re trying to figure out where to live. Any advice on…

How to find a place? Are there any websites where we could find a place for a month?
Area of town - which district should we try to stay in?

We’re on a budget, looking for something that would be around $400usd per month if possible.

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@mikezliu | 3yr 3yr

RE: SIM card
If you ask in 7/11 in English they can point you in the right direction if they don’t stock them. There’s a 7/11 near Taipei main station that has them. I got mine while inside the MRT area in Taipei main station from some cell phone accessory shop next to the 7/11. I think $10 or something for every 1gb refill, with first 3 days unlimited data. You need to bring your passport.

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@remotelifestyle | 4yr 4yr

Your best bet is to look at places on AirBnb. There are a few hostels that have listings on there that are pretty cheap. I recently found a website for a place called InnApartment that looks pretty good too (innapartment.weebly.com) and I’m planning on staying there when I visit in March.

But overall, Taipei’s accommodation websites are local-focused and most sites are going to be in Chinese, which makes it hard to find places online.

Similarly, the coworking spaces are more focused on local startups and creatives, and again, most sites are in Chinese. Though I’ve heard of an up-and-coming coworking space called http://futurewardcentral.com/ and the founder seems to want to attract more digital nomads. There are also a few other options but I haven’t checked them out yet.

On the plus side, Taiwan has amazing infrastructure, fast internet, and you’ll be able to work from anywhere as it’s pretty much the coffee shop capital of Asia.

Oh and the food is other-wordly too. So more pros than cons

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@jessicaliske | 4yr 4yr

Hey! Did you end up staying at Innapartment, how was It?!

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@gnefkow | 4yr 4yr

Actually, we ended up looking on AirBnB, found a place with a good price and rented it for a month.

It was my girlfriend and I, so we had a few things we were looking for in particular… a private room big enough for both of us, a desk (since we were both working remote), decent internet, etc…

Lots of hosts on AirBnB give a discount for a month, so the price was pretty reasonable, about what we would have payed to rent a place on a student facebook group that we were trying to find something on. More importantly, getting our exact dates to line up with someone else’s exact dates ended up being impossible.

We stayed in Da’an, which we really loved. We were in a nice neighborhood right next to a night market and super close to the MRT (metro).

Taipei was our first stop, and afterwards we ended up using AirBnB to book month-long places in Japan (Osaka), Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand.

I would say that if you’ve staying for several months AirBnB may not be the best option price-wise, though you probably can send people messages to get further discounts. Since we were only staying a month, AirBnB was perfect.

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@gnefkow | 4yr 4yr

Also, since it was mentioned…

We didn’t end up getting a co-working place, but it may have been nice to have. Compared to other places we went in Asia, it was REALLY hard to get a SIM card in Taiwan since neither me nor my girlfriend speak Chinese.

That said, people are really friendly. If you’re staying for a bit, it may be worth finding some other (Chinese-speaking) foreign people / Taiwanese people to help show you around and help you get a SIM card

Taiwan was great, though, I can’t wait to go back. PM me if you have any other questions!

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@iamjamesrodgers | 4yr 4yr

+1 to get a notification when a good response is given.

Nothing on Agoda

This Hostel Seems like a viable option for you guys:

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@jonnaro | 4yr 4yr

Currently in Taipei for 3 months. Key is to be walking distance to an MRT (Metro) stop, as it is very fast and convenient. Honestly in that range I think it would be tough. I believe you can definitely find places in Taiwan in that range, but will be further away from the city center of Taipei. There might also be more options in other more Southern cities like Tainan.

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Taipei or Kaohsiung for May?

in Taipei, Taiwan by @autumnflame | 4yr 4yr | 5 comments

My partner and I are looking at staying in Taiwan for the month of May, and were wondering if Taipei or Kaohsiung is better for living and working in? Our primary purpose will be working, so cheap food/accommodation (that’s relatively easy for a foreigner to find and obtain) and fast internet are our biggest priorities, but some sightseeing and nightlife would be nice. (I know Taipei has the latter, not as sure about Kaohsiung.) Thanks!

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@derekmurphy | 4yr 4yr

They’re pretty similar, but Kaohsiung has better weather, will be cheaper and have a better scene since it’s a little smaller and easier to meet people. People are more friendly also - Taipei’s a big city, a little self-absorbed, everything is too spread out so you never feel like going anywhere. If you go to KH, spend a few days checking out Tainan for the history.

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@linzjub | 4yr 4yr

Great question my BF and I are also looking into these 2 cities in May, as well, and leaning more towards Kaohsiung as it appears Taipei has more rain in May (but Kaohsiung is hotter, which we don’t mind). We have similar priorities/plans as it sounds like you do. Nomadlist does not list Kaohsuing as having very fast internet, but I wonder how accurate that information is.

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@autumnflame | 4yr 4yr

From the few accounts I’ve heard, they were able to get fast internet. Maybe it just depends on being able to find the right place? I think we’re leaning toward splitting out time between the two cities, not quite sure yet.

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@haiko | 4yr 4yr

I just stayed in Taipei for a month and visited Kaoshiung for four days. It seemed to me that many restaurants close very early in Kaohsiung and it was harder to get around because there are only two metro lines. They have a bikesharing system like Taipei, but it doesn’t work with the payment card for Taipei, so I didn’t use it. So overall it didn’t feel as “easy” as Taipei.

Regarding the internet speed; I guess it depends on what you define as “fast”. The wifi in the hotel I was staying in was worse than 4G on my phone. But I had the same in Taipei in a few places as well. And 4G was good enough for video calls, which is the most demanding use I had for my internet connection. If you need high bandwidth to transfer large files, this might not work for you.

Personally, I would probably get bored staying a whole month in Kaohsiung. If you haven’t been to either, I’d say go to Taipei and do a weekend trip to Kaohsiung. It’s super fast to get there by bullet train.

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@jessicaliske | 4yr 4yr

Did you end up staying at both Priscilla? Any word of advice?

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Best co-working spot in Taipei?

in Taipei, Taiwan by @william23 | 4yr 4yr | 2 comments

Thinking of dropping by Tawant for a bit - any friendly co-working spots in Taipei?

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@levelsio | 4yr 4yr

Yes try CLBC Flagshipb or CLBC Da’an! Say Pieter sent you and ask for Betty

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@william23 | 4yr 4yr

Thanks, dropped by both CLBC locations. A local that works for AirBNB turned me on to CIT, which is a bit far out from central Taipei, but is a very cool space. I can recommend that one as well.

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Any renting advice for a longer stay in Taipei?

in Taipei, Taiwan by @sanderversluys | 5yr 5yr | 0 comments

I’ll arrive in Taipei in april and need a place for at least couple of months but I’m not eager to rent something from seeing the online listing alone.

Any advice on good price points, location or trustworthy real estate companies and such is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

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Post review

To increase honesty, reviews are anonymous. You can only add one review per city or it replaces/edits your old one. Reviews with URLs or emails are removed. If you're writing about data being wrong, please don't do it here as it'll be removed but leave feedback in the bottom right of the frontpage.

The Middle Ages meet industrial-age pollution: this is a grimy tropical backwater with none of Taipei's vibrancy, efficiency or even politeness. Cycle or hike in the quote-unquote national park north of the city for marshes, dengue fever, junkyards, stray dogs, and massive concrete jetties obstructing ocean views.

1 year ago

Tainan is cheaper than Kaohsiung by a fair bit, not sure why it's being reported as costing more per month

⭐️ Overall Score	2.95/5 (Rank #687) 233 reviews
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: €1,778 / mo
📡 Internet	🏎 Fast: 15Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Good
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🌞 Perfect: 23°C73°F (feels 23°C73°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 74%
💨 Air quality (now)	😷 Unhealthy for some: 124 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Good: 61 US AQI
👌 Safety	Good
🎓 Education level	High
💰 Income level	Medium
❤️ Liked by members	👍5 likes vs. 👎0 dislikes
🙊 English speaking	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Great
✌️ Peace (no pol. conflict)	Okay
🚦 Traffic safety	Okay
🏥 Hospitals	Great
😄 Happiness	Good
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Good
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Okay
🗯 Freedom of speech	Good
🤚🏿🤚🏻 Racial tolerance	Okay
👩 Female friendly	Good
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Region	Asia
🚩 Country	Taiwan
⏱ Average trip duration	5 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	15 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	☀️ 23°C 73°F + 😊 Comfy (74%) = feels 23°C 73°F
💨 Air quality (now)	😐 124 US AQI = 🚬 🚬 / day
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	😐 61 US AQI 🍃 good
🔌 Power	115V 60Hz
🚕 Best taxi app (in country)	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
📱 Best wireless carrier	Taiwan Mobile
💸 100 TWD in USD	USD 2.95
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	TWD 10,000 = USD 295
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless society	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
☕️ Best coffee place	Masa Loft
🚰 Safe tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	10% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	1,900,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per Capita	$24,577 / year
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Ambiguous
💻 Online electronics shop	PCHome
🏠 Apartment listings	AirBnb
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	EVA
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Air Asia

💵 Cost of living for nomad	€1,778 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	€1,023 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	€1,654 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	€473 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	€329 / month
🏢 Coworking	€128 / month
🏨 Hotel	€1,761 / month
🏨 Hotel	€82 / night
🏠 Airbnb (226 listings)	€2,314 / month
🏠 Airbnb	€76 / night
🍛 Dinner	€1
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	€1
🍺 Beer (0.5L)	€1
☕️ Coffee	€2

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