I currently live in Chiayi, also spelled Jiayi. It's a smaller city in the south of Taiwan. There are good and bad things to be said about Chiayi, so let's take a look.
I like the place. The weather is much better than the soggy north. It doesn't rain anywhere close to as much as the north. People are generally friendly, but also generally more reserved as country people often are. Children will stare at foreigners, and sometimes adults will too. That's kind of a naive thing though - they still haven't seen a lot of us big noses. There are some interesting and beautiful old buildings that people haven't had the money to demolish yet, which is great. The food is excellent and cheap. The specialty of Chiayi is turkey rice, which is simple but can be delicious. Turkey, rice, and gravy. Happy Thanksgiving.
The population is comparatively small and old. Young people, especially educated young people, often leave to get jobs in Kaohsiung or in the north. It might be boring for young people - there are limited opportunities to go out at night and things like foreign food are less common than they are in the north. The streets are wide and often feel empty. That's nice. The population grows over Chinese New Year as everyone returns to see grandma, but for the most part there isn't a lot of traffic. I usually ride a bike, slowly, and enjoy a different pace. Things still cost less. You encounter people who don't really speak Mandarin. There are beautiful mountains on the horizon, and tea is everywhere. The air pollution can be bad because there are some factories and farms burning whatever horrible things they like to burn. It's not a super rich city, but apparently there are homes belonging to the richest of the rich.
All in all a nice place. I'm old and married and a dad now so I don't do much anyway. Rents are low, but buying property is ridiculously expensive, as it is all over Taiwan. It's mostly made for people who have owned a home here for a long time to retire.
I like the place. The weather is much better than the soggy north. It doesn't rain anywhere close to as much as the north. People are generally friendly, but also generally more reserved as country people often are. Children will stare at foreigners, and sometimes adults will too. That's kind of a naive thing though - they still haven't seen a lot of us big noses. There are some interesting and beautiful old buildings that people haven't had the money to demolish yet, which is great. The food is excellent and cheap. The specialty of Chiayi is turkey rice, which is simple but can be delicious. Turkey, rice, and gravy. Happy Thanksgiving.
The population is comparatively small and old. Young people, especially educated young people, often leave to get jobs in Kaohsiung or in the north. It might be boring for young people - there are limited opportunities to go out at night and things like foreign food are less common than they are in the north. The streets are wide and often feel empty. That's nice. The population grows over Chinese New Year as everyone returns to see grandma, but for the most part there isn't a lot of traffic. I usually ride a bike, slowly, and enjoy a different pace. Things still cost less. You encounter people who don't really speak Mandarin. There are beautiful mountains on the horizon, and tea is everywhere. The air pollution can be bad because there are some factories and farms burning whatever horrible things they like to burn. It's not a super rich city, but apparently there are homes belonging to the richest of the rich.
All in all a nice place. I'm old and married and a dad now so I don't do much anyway. Rents are low, but buying property is ridiculously expensive, as it is all over Taiwan. It's mostly made for people who have owned a home here for a long time to retire.
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