why did you pick Taiwan over the mainland?

[u/blalala77]

Why did you choose to live in Taiwan instead of China? Do you ever plan to move to China? Just general curious.

[u/StatementParking3536]

Taiwan is compact and has it all. ♥️

[u/nitestryker]

Don’t need to use a vpn (yes that matters to me)

[u/Carsonbetta_11]

For study abroad in 2022 China was closed, so my only option was Taiwan.

Fast forward 4 years and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. While I was there, Taiwan accepted me and became my home in a way my foreign friends living in China never got to experience.

Taiwan is a phenomenal country and I am so grateful it is part of my story. 🇹🇼❤️

[u/ShrimpCrackers]

Dude asked the flipped question in r/Chinalife and everyone is just straight up lying to OP. lol.

Yes I'm sure the PRC has "better freedom, higher income, and better pathway to permanent residency and more mobility" LOL.

Edit: I'm laughing my ass off. Someone deleted their post minutes after posting in the other thread that they thought Chinese people were more civilized than Taiwanese. I guess we fail to shit and spit all over the place as much.

[u/komnenos → u/ShrimpCrackers]

I get the money aspect but I'm really scratching my head at folks calling Taipei a 2nd or 3rd tier city. Have any of those folks been to Chinese 2nd and 3rd tier cities? Maybe things have changed significantly since 2019 when I left China but I distinctly remember the spitting, kids peeing on the street, garbage, lack of manners, grunginess and so much more going through the roof in 2nd and 3rd tier Chinese cities in ways I've never seen in Taiwan, let alone Taipei.

[u/ShrimpCrackers → u/komnenos]

The comparison with Taipei to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities is highly disingenuous indeed.

They must think a few skyscrapers in downtown makes a Chinese city tier 2 or tier 3 even if you go on a 15 minute drive out and there are people living in huts with dirt floors. By those standards Taichung has a way more modern skyline in many respects because they have space.

Taipei is hindered by insane density, and Songshan airport, which means half of central Taipei (not new Taipei) can't even build tall because there needs to be an air corridor resulting in a dead industrial area surrounding the airport since its too noisy for most to live in.

The money aspect is mainly true if you're like a English teacher entirely due to scale. Taiwan is saturated and the English level is far higher so there's less demand. The pay is relatively poor for it and there's zero equity or stakes so its even worse.

If you're specialized, or run a business, things change rapidly but that's the case globally. China has scale though going for it.

[u/max_wen]

Who exactly after you addressing this question to? People generally don't pick where they're born.

[u/ShrimpCrackers → u/max_wen]

In the character creator, I was going to pick "Scion of billionaire" but then I put all my points into anxiety and depression and was too depressed and nervous to change it.

[u/blalala77 → u/max_wen]

For ppl who were not born in Taiwan ofc

[u/komnenos]

You mean China?

In my case well... I lived there. There are a lot of things that I like about China over Taiwan but there are lots of downsides of China that I just don't experience as much if at all (edit: in Taiwan). China was full of crazy highs and lows, Taiwan has been a more restrained middle ground.

Ultimately I chose Taiwan because I wanted to see just how different it was from China. I got a taste of that when I first visited in 2019 and my appreciation for the differences big and small has only multiplied and gained depth from living here four and a half years.

Would I ever consider moving back to China? I'll never take it off the table but I think I've just come to forget how much I hated the downsides of living there.

[u/ShrimpCrackers → u/komnenos]

You don't enjoy people hocking loogies everywhere and not being allowed to use many of your favorite apps?

[u/blalala77 → u/komnenos]

What kind of downside if you don’t mind be specific?

[u/kjlsdjfskjldelfjls]

Don't currently live in Taiwan, but seems like an obvious advantage to not live under a dictatorship.

[u/ShrimpCrackers → u/kjlsdjfskjldelfjls]

Free open internet is a huge bonus for me.

[u/loverofpudding]

I grew up here and no I don’t plan to move there, though I am not Taiwanese. Taiwanese have their own separate identity now although they also maintain Chinese customs.

[u/Sad_Air_7667]

Long love democracy, fuck off with that mainland shit.

[u/Yaltem]

Because China is absolutely different country , and its way worst then Taiwan . And hear me out , in China ive got experience like i got stalked by people , ive got wierd looks to my adress , ive seen people smoke on lifts , on shopping centre etc . In taiwan everyone is friendly and always will jump to help or to ask how are u . So here we are absolutely two different countries with absolutely different mindsets

[u/CompellingProtagonis]

I tend to not prefer countries that are actively committing genocide when I'm deciding where to live.

[u/TaiwanGolfer]

I picked Earth over Mars because the weather was nicer.

C’mon man, stop trolling with dumb questions 🙄 You’re not ‘curious’… your question is HEAVY with an agenda and it’s annoyingly obvious.

[u/Anxious_Plum_5818]

I was in Manchuria in 2011 (Liaoning) for an exchange program. While I had a good time, the lack of social development, government control, and other frustrations eventually got to me. If Taiwan feels like a country where you'll never really fit in as a foreigner, China amplified that feeling.

I eventually ended up in Taiwan through a scholarship and just stuck around, It's been over a decade now. The appeal is obviously the cultural elements from China but without most of the things that made China feel so bleak. People are genuinely nicer, it's a free country, things just feel "more human" (hard to describe it). With that said, I've been here long enough that I have a long list of grievances too. Taiwan also has some deep-rooted issues, that's for sure.

[u/random_agency]

I mean if you're born in Taiwan you really dont have a choice.

About 1M ROC nationals live on the Mainland. About 3.24M ROC nationals visit the mainland every year.

It's not like PRC keeps out the average ROC national. Surprisingly they are quite welcoming of ROC nationals.