Kaohsiung, Tainan & Beyond

Kaohsiung: Taiwan’s most liveable teaching city

Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s second-largest city (2.8 million people) and the one that experienced Taiwan teachers most consistently describe as offering the best work-life balance. The pace is measurably more relaxed than Taipei. The costs are meaningfully lower — shared rooms at NT$5,000–9,000/month vs Taipei’s NT$8,000–15,000. The weather is warm year-round (January average 19°C; summer hot but ocean-ventilated). And the beaches — Siziwan Bay, the Cijin Island ferry, Kenting National Park 1 hour south — add a coastal lifestyle dimension unavailable in Taipei or Taichung.

Kaohsiung’s cultural reinvention has been remarkable. The Pier-2 Art Center — converted warehouse district along the old harbour — is now Taiwan’s most dynamic contemporary arts hub. The Dome of Light (光之穳) at Formosa Boulevard MRT station is the world’s largest circular stained glass installation — an extraordinary public artwork that functions as the world’s most beautiful subway station. Lotus Pond in Zuoying district — with its pagoda islands and dragon and tiger towers — is one of Taiwan’s most iconic images. Liuhe Night Market is one of the island’s most celebrated.

Tainan: the oldest city, the best street food

Tainan was Taiwan’s capital for over 200 years under Dutch colonists and then Qing Dynasty administration — and the city’s historic character is visible in its ancient temples (Tainan has Taiwan’s highest temple density, most dating to the 17th–18th centuries), colonial forts (Fort Provintia, Anping Fort), and distinctive old lanes. Taiwan’s food culture claims Tainan as the island’s best city for street food — a claim disputed but taken seriously everywhere. The oyster vermicelli (蛙仔面線), shrimp rolls (藥吲), coffin board toast (椄松板), and milkfish congee (牦饻簧) are Tainan’s claimed specialities and they are genuinely extraordinary.

Tainan’s teaching market is smaller than Taipei or Kaohsiung but real and growing. The city’s universities (National Cheng Kung University — one of Taiwan’s top research institutions — is in Tainan) create consistent demand for English education. Living costs are the lowest of any major Taiwanese city. For teachers who want the deepest immersion in traditional Taiwanese culture, the slowest pace, and the best street food at the lowest prices: Tainan is the choice.

The east coast: Hualien and the Pacific

Taiwan’s east coast is separated from the western population centres by the Central Mountain Range — peaks of 3,000–4,000m that run the full length of the island. The east coast faces the Pacific directly, with coastal cliffs that plunge straight into the ocean, relatively undeveloped agricultural land, and the indigenous Amis, Truku, and Pangcah communities whose cultural traditions are distinct from western Taiwanese urban culture.

Hualien is the east coast’s main city — access point for Taroko Gorge — with a small but genuine teaching market. Teachers who take TFETP placements in Hualien County — sometimes in small rural schools serving indigenous communities — describe experiences that are unlike anything elsewhere in Taiwan: close community integration, extraordinary natural surroundings, and a depth of cultural exposure unavailable in any western city placement. These placements are not for everyone — they require genuine adventurousness and self-sufficiency — but for the right teacher they are transformative.

Taroko Gorge: why geography matters for teaching in Taiwan

Taroko Gorge (太魯險息園) is a 19km marble canyon in Hualien County — the Liwu River cutting through the Central Mountain Range over millions of years to create walls of white and grey marble rising 1,000m above the water. It is one of Asia’s great natural wonders, and it is approximately 3 hours from Taipei by train and bus — accessible as a day trip, better as an overnight, transformative as a multi-day hiking experience.

The Eternal Spring Shrine — a memorial pavilion above a waterfall inside the gorge. The Baiyang Trail to the Water Curtain Cave, where you walk behind a waterfall. The Lushui Trail with 180-degree gorge views. The Jiuqudong Tunnel — a hiking path through an old water supply tunnel directly above the gorge. Taiwan’s geography — the compressed variety of landscape in such a small island — means Taroko is just one weekend trip among many. Alishan (sacred mountain; Forest Railway; sea of clouds). Kenting (subtropical southern tip; coral reefs; beaches). Penghu (archipelago; Taiwanese Maldives; turquoise lagoons). Sun Moon Lake. All reachable in a weekend from any major teaching city.

Hsinchu, Keelung, Taoyuan & small-city Taiwan

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