[DVY]

Zhongxia Dunhua MRT station is where luxy is (right across the street from my hotel). Its was like having luxy girls all night in every direction.

[DVY]

@Beyond Borders- yes, you will might want to experience it. But first, come during the months when its not raining to build your social network, girls and tastes up. Then you will have stockpiled enough girls and friends to survive w/out too much boredom. Yea, SEA has monsoon season too.

[Vacancier Permanent]

I read this thread from start and it also sold me about a potentially great little city, which is surprisingly, not very well covered here. Btw, here's another perspective on Taiwan from Winston Wu. Warnings, they are not positives and we all know, the reception and vibe one gets from any given place is a combination of both the place, the people and social dynamics there as well as the person visiting and going there. So here's the perspective of an older, Asian American.

10 Reasons Taiwan is not good for social life, fun, romance
http://www.happierabroad.com/forum/viewt...hp?t=17214

Taiwanese - Cold, Unfriendly, Inhuman, No Eye Contact
http://www.happierabroad.com/forum/viewt...hp?t=13779

What are you guys thoughts on what Winston wrote about Taiwan and the social life aspects of living there?

[Soma]

His #1 con of Taiwan is:

Quote:

Hard to find good Western food outside the big cities, especially Mexican or Italian food. Since Mexican food is a favorite of most Americans, it's depriving not to have it in Taiwan.

I've never heard of the author before, but that certainly doesn't inspire my confidence in his opinions.

[DVY]

Depends on the city, language skills, looks, dress and confidence.

Ill give it a shot....

1. It is very hard to meet people, as they are not open with strangers but very closed in nature. Social interaction is usually restricted within closed exclusive cliques. - [b]TRUE, but people are very friendly and will help you. Case in point, was lost walking down a street. Some dude on a motorcycle stopped and tried to help me. Compared to Thailand, I would say the people are slightly less friendly initially, but very friendly after the first 1-2 minutes. No ladyboys, hookers or dirty beggars either.


2. The only appropriate way to meet people is to be introduced through friends or groups, or have a connecting routine such as school, work or organized activity. FALSE- Clubs/bars/streets/restaurants/streetfood/MRT are all places to meet girls. Easy of pick-up is better than China worse than Thailand. Overall girl quality is better than both though (IMO). But daytime, it can be quite tough day-gaming

3. Young adults in Taiwan are painfully shy, insecure, nonassertive, and lack confidence and social skills (especially females)- TRUE- Girls are submissive and respect men. Girls will never openly reject you. They will save face and continue to talk to you even if they have a BF. They will excuse themselves and minimize a scene. Pretty weird coming from the States Nightlife. Dudes are very friendly and would probably be lumped into the BETA category. They are very friendly for the most part. Abudance mentality, maybe?

4. If you like meeting girls, or are seeking a date or girlfriend, there are a multitude of major obstacles against you.--FALSE

a) First, Taiwanese females simply do not like being introduced to male strangers (unless they are desperate, but if that's the case, then they are likely older and/or unattractive). Instead, they prefer to meet guys through the clique of friends that they grew up with, or the clique at their school or work. So if you didn't grow up in their "circle", then you are pretty much "out". And if you are "out", the bad news, as you might have guessed, is that their "cliques" are NOT inclusive at all. ---FALSE, taiwanese people are very friendly and interested in foreigners and where they come from

b) Second, Taiwanese people are reluctant to introduce females for some reason, probably because their females are not comfortable with it (or they are too picky). Although Taiwanese often like to joke about introducing a single female to a single male, they rarely follow through with it. In this regard, they are "all talk and no action". However, even if you are introduced to a female, suffice to say, females who need to be "introduced" tend to not be attractive or even fun to hang out with. TRUE- all action depends on the dude. If you like a girl, you go up and say hi to her. Proximity, smile, and #-close. Not much different than thailand. Clubs/making out is a bit more liberal when drinking, due to minimal prostitution.

c) Third, Taiwanese young females are not very open or relaxed at all. They are uptight, stiff and closed, as well as painfully shy. And they are also very insecure, fearful and lack confidence. Thus they are not even comfortable with meeting guys. Such traits are huge obstacles to single heterosexual males no doubt, but unfortunately, these are the usual traits of Taiwanese females. There is even a social rule in Taiwan that "girls don't talk to strangers, especially male strangers". ---TRUE, thats why you introduce yourself. Say that you are visiting from XXX. Ask them if they are students. Where are they going? Become a friend. Bonding 101...

d) Fourth, to make matters worse, modern Taiwanese females have difficult personalities and many hang ups. They will drop a guy for the smallest things at the drop of a hat. They are very judgmental, cold, unromantic, and act like flaky divas. Materialism has corrupted and spoiled them, making them more and more like American girls now. Deep down, they are childish and have terrible communication skills. Older generation Taiwanese often complain that young girls mumble and speak too fast, and are hard to understand. ---TRUE, but the taiwanese girls are very feminine. If you are a broke dude with no fund, goodbye. Status/Money and Class are interchangeable iin Asia. Girls need it for face... to show their friends and family. Not quite as bad as Western Girls tho.

e) Fifth, to make things worse, in the few nightclubs and discos that exist in Taiwan, guys always outnumber girls. Every girl is with a closed group of friends, male date, or "Jimmy" which is a male friend in her clique that shields her from outside strangers. This of course, pits the numerical odds against you. As in the US, there are many guys competing for a few girls. But these girls are not even open to talking strangers, as already mentioned. ---TRUE, thats why you go in the beginning of the night and lock down girls when dudes are sober and not grinding/annoying every hot girl. Hot girl's attention has limited timespan. Come on people, its not a grocery store! Things in demand fly off the shelves quickly

Moreover, even if you do find a partner in Taiwan, still, your options are limited in that you are essentially "taking what you can get" (aka "settling") rather than having a wide array of choices. Unless of course, you have low standards. ---BULLSHIT, unless you have no game, no looks, and no language. If you have one of the 3, its doable.

Now, this might sound bad, but it's true: Taiwanese females don't become open and friendly with strangers until they reach middle age (OR the age of 21 years old when they can go nightclubbing) - at which time they are no longer desirable and are most likely taken as well.(FALSE- they age 10x better than Asian-American girls or white/latin girls)

This is a classic case of Murphy's Law: When they are young and desirable, they are not open or friendly with strangers and not easy to meet at all. But when they are no longer young or desirable (and either taken or desperate if not) then they start to become friendly and more sociable with strangers. I know that might sound bad, but it's true. (If that offends anyone, then I apologize. No offense was intended. But please remember, I didn't make things the way they are. So please don't blame the messenger.)

5. The Taiwanese psyche is completely dominated by FEAR and GUILT. As a result of abusive psychological conditioning, Taiwanese emotions are suppressed and internalized. They are taught not to express themselves, but to be humble, submissive and obedient. ---TRUE, family unit is valued above individual. Kids are in school till 5pm, then go to tutoring till 8pm. Its like this in Japan too. Its a highly competitive society w/a heavy emphasis on family and work.

Deep down, they live in perpetual fear and worry about every little thing. While caution is a good thing, they overdo it and take it to the extreme, imagining the worst in every scenario even when it's unwarranted. As a result, they never truly live. You can feel the "fear vibe" of the Taiwanese masses when you are in their proximity. They also harbor constant guilt about not measuring up or not being "good enough". None of this is conducive to a "friendly and open" social atmosphere of course. ---TRUE, you would too if you lived next to Communist China proclaiming that Taiwan is part of China. Also family pressure to perform well in school, marry, find a good guy to have kids with is immense. This is less relevant in big cities

What you should know is that if you are in Taiwan long term, eventually the "fear energy" of the people will rub off on you and affect you negatively as well. Even if you are a person who does not believe in living in fear, like a hippie or New Ager, it will still eventually affect you, especially since you are eating their food, which is produced from "fear consciousness". (Remember that the thoughts, emotions and energy of the person preparing your food goes into the food as well.) ---TRUE, but its more like FML, why am I not working harder. I should be making more moneyssss!

This is a downside of Taiwan that is rarely mentioned, if ever, because people are in denial about it and are not conditioned to look deeper. Instead, they are conditioned to only care about working and raising a family, and other practical matters on the surface. ----CASE IN POINT!!!!!

6. Taiwan is a strict business-oriented and workaholic society which teaches that the only things that matter are making money and food. Personal happiness and feelings are seen as irrelevant and worthless. All that matters is work, productivity and conformity. People are conditioned to be stiff, repressed, and act like cold zombies without soul, heart or emotion. It's very sad and makes them almost inhuman and robotic-like. There is no free expression or creativity or thinking for yourself. It's all about conformity. The individual is nothing. The only "passion" one is allowed to have is passion for work and productivity (no surprise there). ----TRUE, but they like to drink too, and go traveling, if money allows, around the world to let loose

That's why it goes without saying that Taiwan is not a very fun place, since none of this is conducive to "fun" at all. Though the concept of "fun" is relative, the kind of fun I'm talking about is the highly festive free-spirited free-flowing heartfelt type of fun that exists in much of Europe, Mexico, Latin America, Russia, Philippines and Thailand. (If you've been there, you'll know what I mean) The fact is, Taiwanese are extremely uptight. They do not radiate warmth or emotion. Even when they are trying to have fun, you will never see them truly "let loose".

Also, Taiwan is not a place for one who values personal happiness either, since that doesn't even matter in Taiwanese culture. Besides, how can you be happy around people who are extremely cold and uptight and dominated by fear? I find it hard to relax or be myself around such people. Eventually, their vibes will affect you as well. ---this is more the case of Communist China than Taiwan. Beijing used to have that grimy communist feel. They really spruced it up for Olympics. Go outside big cities and its depressing.

Want to have a feel for Old China, go to Tianamen Square. Its all concrete and somebody got run over by a TANK!!!! how is that not more depressing!

Further, such a repressed workaholic culture will also not provide venues for you to pursue your "happiness", unless of course your happiness is derived from living a monotonous workaholic lifestyle with little interest in much else. ----Make money, f-ck bitches, living at 40% price of the western world/europe

In Taiwan, practically everyone is a conformist. Thus, they will conform to the workaholic culture with very little else to live for. How can that possibly be conducive to happiness? It can't. Trying to find an nonconformist in Taiwan is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Even if they exist, they will be silent and alienated, or they will leave the country. Finding an "outspoken nonconformist and freethinker" is a near impossibility. (Not to brag, but I seem to be the only one) ---Face, my friend. Its all about face in Asia. In private, people open up.

7. Taiwan is a very prudish and conservative culture in the extreme. No public display of affection is allowed, such as kissing between couples. And TV soap operas and dramas that are produced in Taiwan almost never show people kissing or showing any physical affection. ---TRUE, daytime PDA is minimal. Nightime in clubs, all bets are off. Alcohol has a liberating effect.

Flirting is a big taboo in Taiwan. It is considered dirty creepy behavior. Taiwanese females do not flirt back with males. They do not allow gentlemen to kiss their hand, like women in Europe do. ---EWW I am not kissing some broad's hands. She probably was plowing a potato field or something. And they do not greet people with kisses on both cheeks, like European females do.---Um cultural differences, my friend On the flip side, a Taiwanese American girl in Taipei wrote me once and told me that when she tries to flirt with Taiwanese guys, they do not reciprocate but instead get weirded out. ---Yea, Taiwanese dudes are beta-max.

Obviously, none of this is conducive to romance, love or passion. I don't even need to tell you that. In fact, if you observe Taiwanese couples, you will notice that they even act cold and uptight around each other. They do not appear "in love" or romantic, and they often eat together in silence with very little to say to each other. What this means is that even if you are in a relationship with a Taiwanese, it is likely to be dull and cold, devoid of warmth, romance or passion.

8. Taiwanese people have extremely COLD and UPTIGHT body language, demeanor and expression. I don't know about you, but I find it very hard to relax, be happy or even be myself around people who look so uptight and anal. It kind of "rubs me the wrong way" is how I would put it. I guess if you are cold and uptight yourself, you may not see anything wrong with it, since they are the same as you. But if you are not, then it can be very awkward to be around people who are, especially if you come from a culture where people are not like that at all. The point here is that being constantly surrounded by very cold uptight people is obviously not conducive to happiness, fun or relaxation at all. ---Face!

9. The frequent reckless, dangerous and rude driving on Taiwan's streets and roads is stressful and annoying to deal with. Taiwanese cities, even the small ones, are way too cramped and packed with too many scooters and vehicles. Driving is not an enjoyable experience in Taiwan, but a stressful one that can cause tempers to flare. It is also hard to park if you are driving a car. And if you are driving a scooter, then you are taking chances with your life because scooter accidents can be fatal. None of this is conducive to happiness, peace or relaxation. ---Mongolia is worse. Thailand is worse, Russia is worse, Italy is worse.

10. On top of all this, Taiwan is not even an interesting place or culture.---WHAT!!!! Taiwan is the bastion of Chinese culture and art. Mao Ze Dong destroyed most of the cultural accomplishment of Pre-Communist China. Chiang-Kai-Shek ran away w/gold, art, and the intellegentsia. sigh, maybe if you live on the countryside in Taiwan w/nothing but mangos and chickens. Taipei is a beautiful city w/lots of free musuems and tons of stuff to do and lots and lots of students. =).

[Wutang]

Type of girls you can expect to see in Taipei:



Gogo dancers:

[Wutang]

I have a cousin who is a Taiwanese native that worked for HP up in Taipei for about 4 years. He used to hit up the night life often for about the first 2 years he was there until he got sick of it. I was talking to him about the scene up there and here's some of what he shared with me:

1) Luxy is the prime destination for foreigners looking to score with the local chicks. There's two parts of Luxy, one is the hip-hop room and the other is the house/trance/techno/etc room with the foreigners usually hanging out in the the latter. Lots of people on E there and the club was actually raided by the authorities cause of that a while back. Also he told me apparently some local Taiwanese there will actually try to pretend to be ABCs (American Born Chinese) since it apparently gives them status which I found amusing.

2) A chick who has a drop of attractiveness in her will guaranteed to have 4-5 of beta orbiters around her. A lot of these guys are engineers and other guys who spend most of their youth buried in books thanks to the extremely tough educational system here (school followed by cram school followed by even more studying and homework and also studying for entrance exams to get into the most prestigious high schools and colleges) and as a result have no game whatsoever. These guys will buy these girls gifts, do her favors, and other actions that launches her ego to stratospheric levels in the hope of getting thrown a bone in the future. Of course this never works and does nothing except reinforce the mentality in these girl's minds that they are goddesses and more immaculate then the Virgin Mary. My cousin actually used the word "evil" to describe these girls.

3) This also applies to girls who are not originally from Taipei. My cousin talked about how he knew girls who were sweethearts in the beginning but after living in Taipei for a while they gradually ended up adopting the mentality of the typical Taipei girl due to all the massive attention they were getting.

4) My cousin also told a story that served as a pretty good example of how mercenary these girls can be. He once had a female co-worker that got married but did so in complete secret. Why? Because she had a harem of beta orbiters around her pinky and didn't want them to stop groveling in front of her so he kept the hubby a secret.

[icepick]

(01-17-2013 10:00 AM)Wutang Wrote:  

I have a cousin who is a Taiwanese native that worked for HP up in Taipei for about 4 years. He used to hit up the night life often for about the first 2 years he was there until he got sick of it. I was talking to him about the scene up there and here's some of what he shared with me:

1) Luxy is the prime destination for foreigners looking to score with the local chicks. There's two parts of Luxy, one is the hip-hop room and the other is the house/trance/techno/etc room with the foreigners usually hanging out in the the latter. Lots of people on E there and the club was actually raided by the authorities cause of that a while back. Also he told me apparently some local Taiwanese there will actually try to pretend to be ABCs (American Born Chinese) since it apparently gives them status which I found amusing.

2) A chick who has a drop of attractiveness in her will guaranteed to have 4-5 of beta orbiters around her. A lot of these guys are engineers and other guys who spend most of their youth buried in books thanks to the extremely tough educational system here (school followed by cram school followed by even more studying and homework and also studying for entrance exams to get into the most prestigious high schools and colleges) and as a result have no game whatsoever. These guys will buy these girls gifts, do her favors, and other actions that launches her ego to stratospheric levels in the hope of getting thrown a bone in the future. Of course this never works and does nothing except reinforce the mentality in these girl's minds that they are goddesses and more immaculate then the Virgin Mary. My cousin actually used the word "evil" to describe these girls.

3) This also applies to girls who are not originally from Taipei. My cousin talked about how he knew girls who were sweethearts in the beginning but after living in Taipei for a while they gradually ended up adopting the mentality of the typical Taipei girl due to all the massive attention they were getting.

4) My cousin also told a story that served as a pretty good example of how mercenary these girls can be. He once had a female co-worker that got married but did so in complete secret. Why? Because she had a harem of beta orbiters around her pinky and didn't want them to stop groveling in front of her so he kept the hubby a secret.

hahahah damn, sounds like taipei can be a hard place to pull? I pulled a girl from taipei while in NYC, she was pretty well off too, so I was hoping taipei might be easier, guess not... anyways I will be in taipei at the end of next month for about 6 weeks! I'm psyched! if anyone that wants to meet up, let me know!

[DVY]

@wutang- man thats ridiculous. I haven't heard stories like this, but I dont doubt it.

The chinese have this word for the girls in taipei- spicy sisters. That sums it up. Something nice to snack on, but if you have too many youll start crying, shitting yourself, and other unpleasantries.

Dont discount the orbiters though. Seemed like every group of girls had a few dudes hovering and trying to qualify themselves. This was almost comical to watch. It was like middle-school/beginning of HS boy infatuated w/girl scene. The fact is there are so few MEN here. Most dudes seem effeminate...that being said, it worked well for me.

I am 1/2 taiwanese, tall, decent-looking, and speak mandarin. That being said, even my buddy w/minimal chinese was pulling a decent amount w/dance game.

[DVY]

Taipei might be my favorite city for long-term living in the world right now...even above Las Vegas. Word.

Decently clean air, good logistics, hot women, bomb food, civilized and well-educated population, a culture that values hard-work, money, family and friends. Ohhh and bikini ladies nights during summer!

Cons- monsoon season. Hot as shit during summer.

[Loveless]

(01-18-2013 03:11 AM)DVY Wrote:  

Taipei might be my favorite city for long-term living in the world right now...even above Las Vegas. Word.

Decently clean air, good logistics, hot women, bomb food, civilized and well-educated population, a culture that values hard-work, money, family and friends. Ohhh and bikini ladies nights during summer!

Cons- monsoon season. Hot as shit during summer.

Las Vegas for long term living? Talk about hot as shit.

[DVY]

@Beyond Borders- missed some of your questions, but here goes.

Sugar momma potential- possibly, but language is a must. You have to look good tho (good threads would help a lot). Face is important in Asia.

5 years before I can go anywhere- Work. I just graduated dental school. Making 6 figs, but that license is only valid for Western United States. With the state of the CA economy/US taxation issues, big dental insurance companies muscling in on collections, rise of big dental groups under-cutting private groups, over-regulation, increase in paper-work and burdensome laws- the dental industry is going to shit.

A large percentage of older dentists are retiring, but young dentists don't have the free income to purchase these practices. Huge student debts, living costs, mortgages, etc. etc. These offices are being bought out by group owners/big dental groups.

I dont like to speculate on the future, but as a general dentist I foresee salaries declining at an increasing rate, with fewer private practices, and an increased stronghold on dental insurance (w/a possible push of federally mandated dental insurances after ObamaCare is fully implemented).

Anecdotally from friends and colleagues, collections have dropped about 25% in this recession which corresponds to a 10% decrease in profits. The collections (paced with inflation) are unlikely to increase (because of decreasing discretionary income), w/dental materials/rent/salaries of staff increasing while dentists income stays flat.

Considering high inflation and likely increasing taxation esp in CA, the long-term picture is anything but rosy.

[DVY]

If taxes reach above 60% cumulative its time to go. Right now its 35% federal (graduated of course),9% state, 1% city, FICA, unemployment, sales-tax etc etc, etc. All in all, its about 45-50%. And taxes are ever-increasing. You would shit bricks at the amount of income tax, middle-class wealthy are paying.

A little scary that I have about 10 years, maybe 20 years tops of earning potential.

/End rant.

[DVY]

@loveless- 0% state tax, good business laws, decent nightlife, good women, good food, not expensive. Hub city to fly to any major US city cheaply.

Other candidates, SF (amazing summer-time), Miami (Never been), Chicago (Never been), NY (maybe too expensive, high state tax as well).

[Wutang]

(01-18-2013 03:06 AM)DVY Wrote:  

@wutang- man thats ridiculous. I haven't heard stories like this, but I dont doubt it.

The chinese have this word for the girls in taipei- spicy sisters. That sums it up. Something nice to snack on, but if you have too many youll start crying, shitting yourself, and other unpleasantries.

Dont discount the orbiters though. Seemed like every group of girls had a few dudes hovering and trying to qualify themselves. This was almost comical to watch. It was like middle-school/beginning of HS boy infatuated w/girl scene. The fact is there are so few MEN here. Most dudes seem effeminate...that being said, it worked well for me.

I am 1/2 taiwanese, tall, decent-looking, and speak mandarin. That being said, even my buddy w/minimal chinese was pulling a decent amount w/dance game.

Yep I've heard about the "la mei". And yeah you are right about the Taiwanese guys - there's very little in the way of pickup there and pretty much the only way these guys ever get any action is social circle.

I'm assuming the other 1/2 of you is American and from what I've have seen it seems being raised in the US is a pretty big status booster. My cousin actually was showing me some Taiwanese rap on Youtube the other day and one of the clips he showed me was a Taiwanese-American now based in Taiwan performing a diss song directed towards another rapper and part of the diss included him saying the guy wasn't a real American raised Taiwanese like he was claiming.

[Wutang]

And icepick - if you have any semblance of game I think you should be able to pull. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of these girls have NEVER met a guy who actually knew how to seduce a girl.

[icepick]

(01-18-2013 04:05 AM)Wutang Wrote:  

And icepick - if you have any semblance of game I think you should be able to pull. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of these girls have NEVER met a guy who actually knew how to seduce a girl.

I been looking through some of the club pics online and the guys seems to have decent style... maybe they only took pics of the most well dressed ones ha

For people who lived in Taipei, aside from housing, how much $ do you think I would need for 5-6 weeks, where would be the best place to do currency exchange? (at the airport or any bank in taipei or in U.S. b4 I leave?)

Also any recommendations on a decent/cheaper gym I can go to? I only need free weights mostly Thanks man

[Tony Snow25]

@ Icepick

I think you would need at least USD$2,000 for five weeks. This isn't including accommodation. It all depends what you want though. Do you want to eat at nice restaurants all the time? Do you drink a lot when you go out? Do you want to go to nightclubs more than three times a week? I think the best place to exchange currency would be at any major bank in Taipei. There is a gym near NTU(National Taiwan University) were you pay NT$50 every time you want to use it. It is pretty good.

[Beyond Borders]

(01-18-2013 04:05 AM)Wutang Wrote:  

And icepick - if you have any semblance of game I think you should be able to pull. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of these girls have NEVER met a guy who actually knew how to seduce a girl.

Hmmmm...begs the question of how they manage to reproduce. lol

[icepick]

(01-20-2013 10:47 PM)Tony Snow25 Wrote:  

@ Icepick

I think you would need at least USD$2,000 for five weeks. This isn't including accommodation. It all depends what you want though. Do you want to eat at nice restaurants all the time? Do you drink a lot when you go out? Do you want to go to nightclubs more than three times a week? I think the best place to exchange currency would be at any major bank in Taipei. There is a gym near NTU(National Taiwan University) were you pay NT$50 every time you want to use it. It is pretty good.

Thanks for the info!
$2000?! damn! lol I don't need to eat at nice restaurants, maybe once or twice just for the experience. I mean, I eat boiled chicken breast and frozen veggies mostly cause I want to stay cut and get bigger haha I also don't have to drink to have fun in club, so I don't anticipate I would need much money for drinks, if anything I can pre-game b4 I go out
I will be living at a dorm near Taipei Medical University, I'm hoping I can find a gym within walking distance.... I also will be interning/rotation at wan-fang medical center, so I think I can only go out on weekends except for the 1st week

Here's the dorm choices I was offered, anyone know how nice they are and if the location is good?
http://www.tmu.edu.tw/english/files/arch...2a490f.pdf

Cheers!

[Ray Carlton]

Any recommendation for a hotel/ place to stay?

I was looking on airbnd and the best deal i have seen was around 55$ for a small studio at a central place in Taipei. I will stay for a months, so it adds up fast.

[Beyond Borders]

TEFL jobs in Taiwan look like a good job for those going that route. They'll accept AA Degree + TEFL cert. Pay is pretty decent when compared to cost of living, allowing you to save money, and work hours are usually about 20 -25 hours a week, so you could supplement hours by teaching privately or doing freelance work (writing, editing, translating, web design).

To top it all off, it appears you only pay 6% in taxes as long as you're in the country for half the year or more! And that's with free health care...

This is all based on a few minutes of searching, so do your own research.

Of course, I invite experienced input on this.

[Vacancier Permanent]

What a coincidence that this thread has been brought back to the light. I'm looking at going through Taipei when I return to Asia and even stay a few days to scoop the place since I've been reading/hearing a lot of good things about it. Reading this thread, looks that Taipei deserves at least a look and if it's anything like what's being claimed in here, then it could be a good option for a place to set up shop for a while. Anyone in here who is currently based out of Taipei?

[icepick]

I will be there Tuesday, can't wait to check it out... from the looks of it, right on time for ladies night on wed. haha

[icepick]

my impression of taipei so far... been here for 3 days, people are friendly....went out twice.... it's not hard to get laid in taiwan if you don't only go for the hottest of the hot, you could find some1 every night if you wanted to, but quality might not be up to par.... i'm going to start only go for the hottest ones in the club and see what happens lol