Korean guy planning on visiting Taiwan. Please give me advice! Thanks.

[imcmad2]

Hello forumosa'ns

I am a 21 year old Korean guy in Seoul. this June or July I am going to travel to nearby countries, one of which destination is Taiwan.
I have never been to Taipei, Taiwan and I want to hear your feedback and opinions about travelling there.

little information on my side : I have lived in China for four years, two years in Shanghai and other two in Beijing. I go to Peking University
and am currently taking a year off in Seoul. I have visited Japan four times and Hong Kong twice before.
I want to visit a place which does not remind me of Seoul or other cities I have been in East Asia. if Taiwan is so similar to Seoul, then there is really no point
in travelling for me. Also, I cannot take noise so if there are cars honking all the time ( I hope this does not happen in Taiwan, after all its considered a developed nation), then I really cannot take it.

I also want to ask about the people there. are they kind? or similar to mainland people?
Roads clean like Tokyo or Hong Kong?
Prices cheap?

I do not sound fussy but it is true that the cities I have been so far are more or less similar to each other.(with the exception of Hong Kong being very international).

Do you think Taipei is a safe bet? and If there are any good places to visit in Taiwan, Please let me know.

thank you . xiexie.

[Dragonbones]

HI imcmad2, and welcome to Forumosa! I will move this to the "Travel in Taiwan" area of the forum for you.

[finley]

I also want to ask about the people there. are they kind? or similar to mainland people?

I love that sentence

They're just people. But definitely different to mainlanders. They wouldn't sell their grandmother to the Spam factory unless they were being offered a really, really good price.

Roads clean like Tokyo or Hong Kong?

Erm ... yeah, something like that. Apart from the trails of blood and guts which get routinely mislaid by scooter riders. Having said that, I've been in cars with Korean drivers and if it's possible, they're even more inattentive than the Taiwanese. They seem to get away with it because there are fewer cars (and no scooters) in Korea.

Prices cheap?

Not as good as it once was, but the cost of living is definitely lower than most places given the quality-of-life.

Do you think Taipei is a safe bet? and If there are any good places to visit in Taiwan, Please let me know.

Taipei looks a lot like Seoul, and quite a bit like virtually every other city. So if all you're going to do is wander around the city, you'll be disappointed. But once you get outside the city there are some very nice places - go to the tourist places like Taroko and Hualian, and soak up the atmosphere. Enjoy the lack of cars (and ambulances). Sample the food. You won't be disappointed.

[bababa]

I want to visit a place which does not remind me of Seoul or other cities I have been in East Asia. if Taiwan is so similar to Seoul, then there is really no point in travelling for me.

In my opinion, Taipei is a lot like Seoul and other modern East Asian cities. They vary in size, but not so much otherwise. I suggest you visit Taiwan's countryside.

Also, I cannot take noise so if there are cars honking all the time ( I hope this does not happen in Taiwan, after all its considered a developed nation), then I really cannot take it.

This depends on what you consider noisy. I come from a small Canadian city, and thought that Taipei was very noisy, but maybe not quite as noisy as mainland cities. However, I also found South Korea to be almost unbearably noisy, so Taipei might seem alright to you.

I also want to ask about the people there. are they kind? or similar to mainland people?

They are less rude than mainlanders.

Roads clean like Tokyo or Hong Kong?

I would say a little dirtier than Hong Kong and a lot dirtier than Tokyo.

Prices cheap?

Definitely cheaper than Tokyo!

[BigJohn]

Everyone I know who has been to both Taipei and Seoul thinks that Taipei is much greener and more relaxed than Seoul. The food here is great, and cheap, and you can get out of the city quite easily for day trips, to see the beach, mountains, etc.

[imcmad2]

Whoa

It seems that everyone had bad experiences in Korea.
It almost felt like a guy from a country which is far worse than Taiwan nitpicking about his travel destination and everyone here gets offended by this
rude hypocrite boy. whoa. ouch

Thank you very much for your information though.

[steelersman]

Maybe the shopping malls and buildings are similar. The people are definitely not the same. Taiwanese are a little more relaxed and don't make problems just because a local girl is with a foreigner.

[album1129]

I'm a Taiwanese. I am glad to be a free tour guide if you come to Yilan ^^

[imcmad2]

I guess everyone has different perspectives. personally I have met many who did not like taiwan and was just wondering how others are thinking because i really do not want to let others' perception affect me when i didnot even visit the place.
well if you ask me, there are plenty of places to go in seoul and suburbs where you can relax and have greens in mountains and islands. its just that its off beaten roads for foreigners..

and i now start to understand what (small portion of , I hope) nature of expat community in taipei is like after reading here.

thank you

[imcmad2]

and yeah nationalism in korea is bad. but I think it is getting more accepting slowly. you cannot expect things to change all of a sudden you know.

I want to visit taipei soon thank you