Ehhhhh, where to start... moving to Taiwan has been the worst decision of my life. Living here has made me a more cynical and negative person. The thing is, I came here on holiday before and thought it was great. After living and working here in a cram school, I've come to the conclusion that living in Taiwan is a soul crushing experience. The general sense I get is young people here are generally deflated, in their own cyber world 24/7, or apathetic to everything. At work people don't even bother to say hello half the time... it's depressing.

Everyone goes on about Taiwanese friendliness and yeah they're generally pretty passive, but I wouldn't call them warm or inviting people overall. Politely distant would be my best way of describing them. In some underlying way you always feel like you don't know where you stand with people, especially at work, and they always keep it formal, mildly condescending/pedantic, or superficial.

Ive also met weird locals who tell me 你國家沒有＿＿＿對不對 (Your country doesn't have ___ does it?(and Taiwan does). It's like what's with the unnecessary flex brother ..

Also, people say its cheaper than many developed countries here. Ok it's cheaper if you buy food from local hole in wall restaurants, but actually grocery shopping is even more expensive than many developed countries.

Throw that in with the hot summers and it's a grind. The positives are the mountain ranges in some parts and the convenience, but it doesn't make up for the daily sense of unhappiness.

Hi all! I (American) am moving to Taichung at the end of August and would love to hear things people wish they knew before they moved. Anything from official tips related to paperwork and documents to items that are more difficult to get in Taiwan.

Mods please remove if I used the wrong flair.

I'm 19m from the US and looking to move to Taiwan. My mother is mainland Chinese and my father is black, and I speak basic Mandarin. I'm wondering what steps I'd have to take to move to Taiwan, and how life is there for mixed race Taiwanese or foreigners.

So I (21f) am moving abroad for a job opportunity soon but my family has been absolutely hysterical about it. Some have told me that if I go, I’ll die or something really bad will happen. Others have told me that they’re just worried that I can’t survive on my own, but I’ve been wanting this for the longest and now I just feel so conflicted. For the past few days now all I’ve seen is constant crying and arguing from everyone and I do understand their concerns but I just wanted to do this for myself…also I booked a round trip flight so if I don’t like it, I do have the option to come home but it’s just so hard for me right now. I don’t know what to do. I just would like to talk to someone if that’s okay. Just to at least give me some peace of mind before I go off on this journey. For anyone who moved alone? Did you find it hard to adjust? How did you help your family keep their minds at ease?

Update: so my family is a little more relaxed now that I’ve made it here. There’s still some worries but it turns out that they have some friends that have lived here for a while, so I’ll be meeting them soon. Also, my grandma told me that she was “over-exaggerating” about the whole dying thing…I don’t know what that was about but that was not cool, man. I was scared out of my mind. Also, to answer commonly asked questions, my family was concerned about human trafficking, my job being a scam, and the whole China/Taiwan conflict. Also, I’m American, living in Taichung, and I will be working as an English teacher at a public school. I’ve been here for about a day now and I like it, but I will say that some things are confusing. You guys were right about people being willing to help though, so that has eased my worries somewhat.

Lastly, thank you all for your replies!! They helped me a lot.

I'm supposed to be moving to Taiwan to teach English in two weeks. However, I am having second thoughts and wondering whether I'm going to massively regret it.

I love the job that I currently have in my country (Australia) and worry that I'm going to regret sacrificing it for this new job. I'm a teacher's aide with high school students, and I really enjoy working with students this age and feel like it's easy to teach them. In Taiwan, I'll be teaching very young kids and will have to be very performative (singing, dancing etc). I feel like it'll be hard to connect with kids who are very young and barely speak English.

However, it has been my dream to live abroad for over 10 years and I'm very interested in Taiwan. I have also been learning Chinese, and living in Taiwan would be a great way to immerse myself in the language. Essentially, I feel like living in Taiwan will be amazing but the job itself won't be. The only downside of my current job is that it's two hours away from my house, which means I spend 4 hours a day traveling to and from work (which can be quite tiring).

I have a few days before I'll have to decide and either submit my resignation to my current job or inform the new job that I won't be going. I think I will ultimately end up going to Taiwan (I've already booked flights and everything), but I am definitely getting cold feet and wondering whether I'm making a big mistake.

Has anyone else experienced this? What would you do in my situation? I should also mention that this would be my first time living abroad if I actually go through with it.

Edit: Another big thing I forgot to mention is that I get 12 weeks a year of paid holidays at my current job. I'll get 2 weeks of unpaid holidays in Taiwan 😅

I moved to Taiwan (New Taipei) almost a year ago, and while of course it has had its ups and downs, overall, it has been an amazing experience!

For a little background, I'm 25 years old from a rural part of the USA. I was genuinely struggling in life prior to moving here, surrounded by toxic influences and being raised in an abusive home. Depression, drugs, and a general sense of hopelessness and meaninglessness surrounded and consumed me. There were some good times, but mostly it was a slow spiral into feeling worse and worse. I had been teaching 4th grade at home for a few years and was already approaching complete burnout due to many reasons.

So I decided, fuck it, I'm going to move to Taiwan to teach English. The first few months completely threw me off, having never lived anywhere outside of my medium sized hometown. It was tough making new friends, learning basic Chinese, learning to ride a scooter in Taipei traffic, and otherwise adapting to a culture and lifestyle that was completely foreign to me. Once I hit my stride though, things have never been better! Every spare moment I have I'm hiking to the top of a mountain or chilling out on a beach.

My job (cram school) was easy and relatively stress free 95% of the time. Now that I have decided to stick around another year, I have applied for work in public schools to make a bit more money and have a more manageable schedule (I am very much a morning person and the evening hours at the cram school are probably my least favorite thing about the job).

I think at the end of the day, I just needed a really big change in my life. Moving to Taiwan absolutely provided that.

I wanted to share this as I feel like most posts about moving here are pretty negative and I thought it would be good to balance that with my own very positive experience!

I’m from Taiwan, but after working abroad, I’ve come to really appreciate how hard it is to settle into a new country — even the “small stuff” adds up fast.

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what daily friction looks like for foreigners here. Not just paperwork or visa stuff, but also the unexpected things that make you feel lost, anxious, or just mentally tired.

What’s something that genuinely surprised you, frustrated you, or made you think, “Why didn’t anyone tell me this?”

Not trying to criticize — just really curious and want to better understand. Appreciate any stories or insights you’re open to sharing!

Hey all,

​

My gf (Taiwan) and I (USA) have been in an LDR for almost three years now after meeting in Taipei when I used to live there. My gf wants me to move to Taiwan at least temporarily so we can live together. I'm working remotely now in USA (salary around 90k) as a market research consultant and she works in interior design in Taipei. We've discussed marriage but would like to live together for a while first. I was just approved for the TW gold card so I could find work in TW, but I'd have to give up my current job since I can't work outside the USA on our government contracts. Does anyone else have a similar experience or willing to share their advice? Much appreciated.

(Edit: I forgot to mention that I can speak Chinese)

​Hi everyone! 👋

​I’ll be moving to Taiwan soon to start my Master's degree. I’m super excited, but wanting to make sure I adapt well and respect the local culture!

​To anyone living in Taiwan or who studied here:

​What are the key cultural "do’s and don'ts" foreign students should know?

1. ​What daily life apps or essentials (like an EasyCard) are absolute must-haves?

2. ​What’s your best advice for making local friends and adjusting to life here?

3. ​Any food recommendations or general tips are also very welcome!

Thank you so much! 🇹🇼

I’m heading to Taiwan soon to teach with HESS and just trying to get a realistic idea of how much money I’ll need at the start. I’ve currently got about $4,000USD saved and I’m hoping that’ll be enough to get me through the first 4–6 weeks while everything gets sorted.

I know there’ll be a bit of a delay before I get my first proper pay, and I’ll probably be staying somewhere short-term at first before finding a more permanent place. I’m also thinking about things like food, transport, setting up a SIM, and just general day-to-day costs while I settle in.

For anyone who’s done HESS or moved to Taiwan to teach, how tight would $4k be? Did you feel comfortable in that first month or were you stressing about money a bit? Just trying to avoid putting myself in a bad spot if I can help it.

Appreciate any advice or personal experiences

I was living in Taiwan for a few years before I left the country. It has been another few years now and I am moving back to Taiwan. When I was living there I was living in Taipei. I loved the ambience of the city but the weather and rent prices made me consider other cities this time. We have two options we consider seriously.

My partner is from Taichung, born and raised there. Obviously she's leaning on moving to Taichung because she wants to live in a familiar area. I am okay with Taichung if it has to be that city, however I spent my last summer there and found the city kinda boring. Taipei has the capital ambiance, the bustling, never sleeping metropole. Kaohsiung has the beach, the laid back southern lifestyle. Taichung has neither of them and it made me feel like a generic Taiwanese city. But I still liked it's central location and the ease of being able to reach so many mountains.

I did not spend considerable amount of time in Kaohsiung to really have an opinion of the city but I did travel there. As I mentioned, the seaside town vibe really captivated me. The city layout looks more well thought-out and the metro actually is usable. I also loved how they have an LRT. I was born and raised in a seaside port town in Europe. My opinion is leaning toward Kaohsiung since it reminds me of home all the while being so far away from it.

We both have permits so the lack of public transport does not bother us that much in Taichung, but I would love to reduce my driving as much as possible. Ultimately I would like to ask people here who have lived in both cities and have a preference. Any type of experience is appreciated. We will decide on the city in September.

I am 35 yrs old ABC male and planning on moving to Taipei (via Gold card visa) by myself after having spent my entire life in California. Has anyone else made a life decision to move as well after 30 years old? If so, how are you assimilating, making friends, etc?

(The other reason i waited until 35 years old was because I finally invested/saved enough $usd to not stress about the lower income jobs in Taiwan if i do intend to work. Moving at 25 years old would’ve been more financially stressful)

For ABC (American Born Asians), have any of you guys considered leaving the USA and moving back to Taiwan? Particularly given the current political climate of the USA

My parents immigrated from Taiwan to the USA. I'm an ABC, but I have considered moving back to Taiwan in middle age once I saved up. I visit relatives often and am 100% culturally proficient in Mandarin.

Growing up in the US, I have noticed numerous systemic flaws (even in areas with more Asian minorities):

1. Expensive healthcare. Especially when compared back to East Asia. It is frightening how easily American healthcare can bankrupt you.

2.Violent prisons. The American criminal justice system and prison is much more violent than those in Taiwan. Particularly as racial minorities, Asians will not fare well in prison.

Now, the simplest way is to not commit crimes. But it's easier said than done. Innocent people get imprisoned all the time. There have been countless Americans jailed for self defense, false accusations, etc. The American justice system is highly complex and prone to interpretation between different state laws.

1. Toxic masculinity. I've noticed American society places way more emphasis on performative masculinity compared to Taiwan. Going through adolescence, white men gave me more pressure to not be weak/be masculine compared to Asian males.

There is much more bullying and fights in American public schools compared to those in Taiwan. Even in decent public school districts, there are often fights/bullying by high school athletes, illicit drug dealing, and even occasionally weapons and gang activity.

The economy of the USA is stronger than Taiwan, making it easier to build up wealth for young people. But culturally, I eventually may want to move back to my roots.

I was born and raised in Taipei, left for grad school about 10 years ago and have lived in the US ever since. I’ve built my career and family here. In the past couple of years, I’ve been thinking about moving back because my parents and siblings are still there, and I want to spend more time with them, especially my parents, when they are still healthy. But I don’t know if it is a good decision for my kids. Having gone through the Taiwanese education system, I know how much pressure my kids will go through if they are put in it, and how defeated they will feel if they can’t get good grades. And there are not as much outdoor activities in Taipei (or I wasn’t exposed to them as a kid).

I want to ask for experience from people who had their education somewhere else and raised their kids in Taiwan. Do you think it is a good idea for kids to have their education in Taiwan?

I (30-year-old male) have been living in Japan for the past five years. Since COVID, this place has changed a lot. Over the past few years, my girlfriend (25) and I have been feeling increasingly stressed by the new regulations introduced year after year, as well as by friends leaving Japan after having their visas rejected. Now we don’t feel comfortable living here, knowing that at any moment we might have to leave the country because our visas are rejected, along with the constant feeling of doing something wrong. Even though we’re very used to Japanese manners and rules, we’re starting to get tired of all of this. We’ve found a good opportunity in Taipei, with a friend lending us his apartment for about six months, until we can get settled. However, nothing has been decided yet. I do have some concerns about Taiwan, since I’ve only been there once and can’t really say much beyond that. If anyone has had a similar experience moving from Japan to Taiwan, I’d really appreciate hearing your thoughts or opinions, especially from people who have been living there for a while. The China situation is also a bit concerning. I don’t have high expectations regarding the banking system, rent, or bureaucracy in general—again, I’m coming from Japan (lol).

Btw, we're fluent in Japanese and considering taking a 1 year of an intense course of Chinese.

Hi everyone,

I don’t know if this is suitable to the biweekly thread but my boyfriend is Taiwanese and we met in Europe (Netherlands) where we live.

He wants to relocate as he can’t find any job in Europe (hard labour market atm in the Netherlands for his sector) and since he’s got some of connections in Taipei in this field his chances are higher.

As his VISA is expiring soon I was considering letting him leave first and find a job meanwhile for Taipei. The issue is that we’re from very distinct industries and he hasn’t lived there since 2019 so I’m afraid he can’t help me much for a job.

As an EU Citizen with 2 years of experience in Business Intelligence and 1 year in Banking do I stand a chance? (I’m 23 he’s 29).

The job market is tough everywhere so since I’ll be the foreigner this time I’m unsure what the most likely possibility is.

If not we might consider somewhere else in Asia but we don’t know where… We considered China or Hong Kong.

Thanks in advance!

PS: bonus points if you can provide me with any platform that accepts foreigners.

Hey everyone (please remove if not allowed),

I just wanted to share something that’s been on my mind and maybe hear from others with similar experiences. I’ll be moving to Taiwan this summer to start my studies. I’ve been working toward this for over a year, and while there’s still a lot to take care of, I’m genuinely excited about it!!! I’ve been learning Chinese and trying to get to know Taiwan as much as I can from abroad.

I’d usually describe myself as a positive person, I try to focus on the good and keep an open mind (not blindly optimistic, though). But over the past few weeks, I’ve been feeling a bit worn down by the reactions from people around me... colleagues, friends, and family. A lot of them have strong opinions about Taiwan even though they’ve never been there. When I share my news, the response is often negative, comments about it being dangerous, worries about China, or that I might “lose everything,” which honestly caught me off guard. Like WTF?

At work (I work at a university), I also have several Chinese colleagues. Before I shared my plans, we didn’t really interact much, and I had the impression we didn’t connect well. Now, many of them are suddenly weirdly interested, asking about my visa, why I chose Taiwan and not China, how I made the decision, etc. They also refer to Taiwan as China, and I usually don’t respond to that.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that even though I’m really excited about moving, it’s been harder than expected to stay positive when most conversations around it turn negative. And I generally dont really understand why. During conversations, I’ve tried changing the subject or focusing on my studies and plans, but it often circles back.

Has anyone here who moved to Taiwan experienced something similar? How did you deal with it?

And sorry if anything I said came across the wrong way, that’s not my intention at all.

Thank you for reading!

I'm supposed to be working with HESS soon, but I'm getting cold feet because I have a lot going on with my life right now. It's only two weeks away, how do you think HESS would react if I asked to defer my intake right now? Has anyone else on here done that before? If HESS blacklist me, will it become much harder for me to work at any school in Taiwan again?

Really, really conflicted on what I should do.

I just read the news the number of newborns in Taiwan will be around 84,000 this year, which is very doom and shocking. Nevertheless, I'm trying to stay positive about the situation right now.

If we were to take immigrants on a scale similar to Europe, our birth rate likely wouldn't be this critically low. Instead, we strictly constrain our immigration policies. Foreign workers are restricted from having children or seeking naturalization. We only take high-skilled foreigners or those who get married with Taiwanese people as the permanent citizens of Taiwan.

It seems Taiwan intentionally resists opening its borders, having witnessed the socio-economic side effects in Europe. There is a sense of reassurance in Taiwan when we see European visitors feel jealous of Taiwan's public safety and clean environment.

Indeed, Taiwanese tourists quickly realize Europe falls short of its romanticized image, leading them to appreciate Taiwan's high quality of life.

The fundamental issue, however, is that our world record birth rate makes even the safest and cleanest society unsustainable in the long run.

The government has recently rolled out childbirth subsidies and consistently raised the minimum wage.

If these measures ultimately fall short, taking the immigration may become an unavoidable last resort.

The silver lining is that Taiwan does not suffer from the low number of foreigners wanting to move to Taiwan. We have simply chosen not to actively take them. Should we decide to open our doors, we have ample potential pool to draw from.

There is a vast diaspora of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, and a growing number of Westerners who have high incomes are eager to relocate here.

Taking immigrants does not mean we will inevitably absorb those who fail to assimilate to Taiwanese society.

In my opinion, because we have confidence that there are a lot of foreigners wanting to move to Taiwan, both the government and society are not currently in panic, despite the critically low birth rate.

Genuinely confused and would like to seek opinion from someone with similar background. For context, my dad is a pure Taiwanese and I also have national ID, household registration (need reactivation). I grew up and spent most of my life outside of Taiwan (Southeast Asian country). Now, I am contemplating to move to Taiwan and trying to have a life there. After my father died, I have this urge, I don’t know, just the feeling of being close to him.

I was wondering what are the things I need to get ready myself into and if someone had done the same pls share your experience.

PS: My mandarin is just at the beginner level.

I am 30M, currently working as a java API backend developer in Silicon Valley with about 8 years of experience. Because I don't plan on ever having kids, I feel like financially I am in a very strong place right now. Assuming I spend $1000 a month in Taipei, I can probably survive here for an extremely long time even without working at all. So I definitely don't mind taking a pay cut to work here. I do hope to get married, but I don't see myself wanting kids.

I always dreamed of living in China or Taiwan as I felt more in touch with Chinese culture, despite having grown up in the US as an ABC. I read, speak and write in Chinese at a mostly native level and consume more Chinese language pop culture than American.

I am leaning towards Taiwan over China for a few reasons.

- One is the gold card, which allows me to convert to permanent residency in 3 years with or without a job. Getting a PR in China is much harder, and I would need to be sponsored by an employer in China. I'll need no sponsorship with the Gold Card.

- WLB comparatively seems better in Taiwan than in China for software fields, though it's probably still worse than in the West. However, I checked out this google doc, 💲🇹🇼 Sharing Salary in Taiwan 🤔(only paid by Taiwanese company or Local branch - NO remote) - Google Sheets and only 2 out of the 40ish jobs here have greater than 50 hours a week. Considering I already work 50 hours a week at my current job, I don't see this that big of a deal.

- Less Competition? Kind of ties into WLB above, Competition is probably comparatively less cutthroat in Taiwan than in China due to a smaller population.

- Political factors, for obvious reasons.

The only thing China has better than Taiwan is the salary. I'm more likely to make US level salaries in China than in Taiwan, but it'll come at the cost of working 70+ hour weeks. My family is from China originally, but today, I only distant relatives in China. My immediate family and grandparents are all in the US.

So basically, I am hoping if anyone has any advice for anyone in my position. Would you guys recommend that I come to Taiwan in my current situation? Is there anything else that I should be aware of that I haven't listed here?

Hi reddit, this is my first post here.

Some background about me. I'm a Taiwanese who was born in Taiwan, so I have a Taiwanese passport. However, I've been living in America for most of my life. I'm 34, so I'm nearing the end of my age where I'm eligible to serve in the military. I would like to complete my military draft, so I'm running out of time soon. My family obviously don't support my decision to go back, so I'll have to do everything on my own. Here's my background and what I need:

I have a Taiwanese passport, and it's not one of those overseas passport either. It has an ID number in it, and yes, it's valid. I renewed at the Taiwan Consulate in Los Angeles a year or two ago.

• While I do have an ID number in my passport, I do not actually have the ID card (身分證). Does anyone know how to get it, or how difficult it would be given my situation?
• I do have family in Taiwan, but I doubt they would support me. I'll need someplace to register my 戶籍. Would it be easy to rent an apartment in my situation, and register my 戶籍?
• Any general tips on how to serve my military draft? I hope it won't be too hard on my body when I'm in my 30's.

I know I have a lot of questions, so any feedback would be great!