These are my observations and opinions about Taiwan. Others may have varied experiences and different to mine. Prices and costs mentioned are in New Taiwan Dollars which today equals 1.1 Thai Baht so very close for making comparisons with Thailand prices.
I first visited Taiwan in October 2013 after my interest was sparked from meeting some Taiwanese guys who were in Australia for working holidays. FountainhallтАЩs forum posts about Taiwan with photos from Gay Pride parades and his description and directions to the naked male hot springs also made me more interested to explore Taipei and also the rest of Taiwan.
On my first trip to Taiwan I took a 5 day bus tour around the island and visited the major cities and sites of interest including Taroko Gorge and was impressed by the natural beauty and scenery in abundance here. We stayed in 5 star hotels, amazing value for the price. There was also the beauty of the Taiwanese guys seen all over the island which has been a good reason to keep returning here.
http://www.edison.com.tw/images/2014%20 ... %8B%B1.pdf
My two best Taiwanese friends with whom I was able to spend time with most days over the last two years when I have visited Taiwan have gone to study in Europe for an indefinite time so instead of staying here for a month my visits may be shorter and less frequent in the future. Finding friends like that is not easy and friends to socialise with are what you need if you visit Taiwan for extended periods. Finding guys to have sex with is not too difficult but finding 18 to 30yo guys that want to spend time with you for other activities is not so easy. Taiwanese guys are busy working long hours and or studying at university so there are not guys always available for fun or hanging out with like there usually is in Thailand.
After visiting Thailand over twenty five times Taiwan was a refreshing change with good looking and sometimes very hot younger guys 18 to 30 yo willing to have sex for free and also paying their own way if we went for dinner, a movie, club or other outings. It would be insulting to Taiwanese guys if I offered them money for sex or for time spent with me, in most cases it does not enter their thinking. Like most other places in Asia there are money boys in Taiwan but it is rare to get a message on the apps asking for money for sex. I did pay once when I was keen on a guy from Grindr, he asked for money before we met and he was very good but I met a guy the next day that was a 10/10 in looks and personality and better sex for free. The money boy asked for $5000NTD but I offered him $2000NTD which he accepted for a short visit which is equivalent to an overnight stay in Thailand.
If you visit Taiwan for a few days and expect hot young guys with six packs or whatever your type is to be available for sex from the apps you may be disappointed. I suggest that you do not offer them money unless they make it clear that that is what they are looking for. If you are a fairly good looking and in reasonable shape guy up to 45yo they will probably be very keen to meet you. This is not like Thailand where the guys are usually looking for money for sex. The hot younger guys here can easily meet other younger guys for sex without chasing older foreigners. But do not be discouraged, for us older guys and not always in such good shape there are some younger guys in a large Taiwanese population, twinks and others who are curious or just very horny and happy to meet an older guy for sex and possibly friendship, or maybe even to fulfil their тАЬdaddyтАЭ fetish. There are also male to male massage spas and saunas if the apps do not work for you.
Accommodation
When I first visited Taipei in 2013 I stayed in hotels. A good hotel for me was the Wonstar Ximen 2 which is a 3 star hotel in Ximen district near the Red House gay bar village at around $85AU to $100AU per night. 3 star hotels in Taipei are more expensive than Bangkok and Pattaya. No problems with visitors and the hotel never asked for ID, at your own risk but I have rarely left anyone alone in my room since I was robbed in Australia by a visitor many years ago. I find the Taiwanese are very trustworthy but we always need to be careful wherever we travel. Maybe the 5 star hotels like the W Taipei in Xinyi district near the 101 building are more security conscious, I do not know, way out of my budget range. For a first visit to Taipei I would recommend staying in or near the Ximen district because you are close to the gay bars, saunas, massage places and the Ximen walking streets which have many shops, restaurants, movie theatres, street performers and eye candy every night of the week when the weather is good.
Ximen and entrance to the walking streets from the MTR station
Street performers at Ximen
This is my seventh visit to Taiwan since October 2013 and I have been staying for a month in an apartment which I rent for $36000NTD per month which is about $50AU per night. The room is located in Daan District with internet, cable television, laundry and close to the MRT Metro train station. This is expensive gauging from reactions from Taiwanese friends who pay $15000NTD to $25000NTD for their rooms per month. My apartment is setup for short term holiday stays or students attending language courses and mostly rented to foreigners so therefore the extra cost which I find is reasonable for such a good location and facilities. Sorry, I prefer to keep my apartmentтАЩs contact details private as it can be difficult sometimes to book this room and also you might get the room located over the karaoke bar which would not be good if you like to sleep before 2.00 am. You can search for your own place if you want to stay here for longer than a few days or a week, there are many on Airbnb and I have heard good reports about:
http://www.rentaltw.com/
Prices, food and shopping
Food is not expensive in Taiwan, similar prices to Thailand. There is fine dining if you want it but in general restaurants are very good value. There are thousands of restaurants and small hole in the wall food places all over Taipei city with possibly every type of cuisine available. McDonalds, Starbucks, KFC, 7 Elevens, Family Marts and all the usual food and convenience stores are in abundance. It is not easy if you are trying to lose weight with so many cake and pastry shops that are difficult to pass by. There is plenty of street food, night markets and food carts near the karaoke bars and pubs and I have never had any problems with food poisoning in Taiwan.
Bring your own condoms because they are expensive at $400NTD for a pack of twelve and usually in the smaller тАЬAsianтАЭ cock size of 52mm diameter. The only place I have found that sells the larger size condoms and also at $400 NTD was the first sexy underwear adult store on the left hand side as you enter the Red House gay bar area. I was in Vietnam recently and condoms were very expensive there as well. With condoms so expensive I can see another reason why the locals practice unsafe sex with their generally low wages they may not be able to afford to pay for condoms and lube.
Miramar Shopping Mall and Imax Cinemas
Cigarettes are very cheap in Taiwan $60 - $100NTD a pack. The locals love their cigarettes and obviously not worried about any relevant health issues. Most buildings do not allow smoking inside but some pubs and clubs do.
Bring your medical supplies and anything you might use on a regular basis that is easy to find in at home or in Thailand because it may take hours of looking around to find some items here if you can get them at all. It took me a couple of days just to find a store that sold a fibre supplement that I like to use. Cialis and other tablets we can buy over the counter in Thailand may not be so easily available or as inexpensive here. I always come well stocked to save the hassle of finding such items in Taiwan. I have never been able to find travel size goods in any supermarket or pharmacy in Taiwan.
Prices for alcohol at the gay bars and clubs are reasonable, more expensive than Thailand by around 30% but no tipping is required in the bars or restaurants. Tipping is not required for anything here except maybe a massage at a male to male spa or a tour guide and driver. I am sure though with the low wages in Taiwan if you have a favourite waiter, barmen or whoever provides a good service for you that a tip would always be appreciated if not expected as in Thailand.
Transportation
Taipei has an extensive Mass Rapid Transport Metro train system. Just purchase a ticket from a machine or for longer stays a rechargeable Easy Card is better value and saves time waiting to buy a ticket. The trains are inexpensive, clean, and fast and run on time. Stand on the right side of the escalators in the train stations or you will get run over the people racing up the left hand side. There are elevators and escalators if you need then to cart luggage or are disabled.
The Easy Card can also be used to hire a You Bike bicycle with many bike stations all over the city. Unless you can read Chinese writing you will need help from a friend or someone nearby to register your Easy Card at a bike station terminal before using the bikes for the first time. The sidewalks on the main roads in Taipei are wide and marked with bicycle lanes and very safe with pedestrians walking in your lane being the biggest danger. I really enjoy riding a bike along the riverside park bike ways which run for many kilometres. Great exercise with fresh air and very safe, the bike ways have lights all night and no one will bother you. Taipei is a very safe city although I do not walk down some dark alleys at night alone in any city.
Taipei Riverside and bike way
I recommend that you keep your earplugs out, music off and donтАЩt look at your phone or texting while riding a bicycle or even walking across the street intersections here. You need to be aware of the traffic because motorcycles and other vehicles will keep turning even when you have a green light to walk or ride across to the other side of the road. I always watch the traffic because I have had near misses, especially taxis by less than a metre as they turn across the pedestrian green lights.
There are taxis nearly everywhere here in the main entertainment districts at all hours and not expensive. I rarely use a taxi and prefer the MRT trains, You Bike or just walk.
If you like to travel outside of Taipei there is also the High Speed Rail which goes between Taipei and Kaohsiung in the south stopping near Taoyuan International airport and at the major cities along the way.
Whether enough English is spoken to get around
If you are here for a few days or even a week then you will not have too many issues with English but if you stay for a month and visit Taiwan more often like I have been doing communication with the Taiwanese can become frustrating. My fault not theirs, if I could speak Mandarin Chinese I would probably live here full time but without the ability to speak Chinese language it is too difficult. In Taipei city most of the staff in restaurants, shops and pharmacies will speak very little if no English. Many restaurants in the food malls and streets have photos of the main dishes but the writing is usually in Chinese. I have noticed recently that at least one person speaks some English in the 7 Elevens, shops and bars near my downtown location so maybe the employers are trying to improve communication between their staff and foreigners. The English language announcements and signage at the MRT Metro train stations and on the trains have definitely increased.
My best time here was before my two best Taiwanese friends left to study in Europe. They took me to restaurants all over Taipei city, various street markets and places in the city and countryside that I would hesitate to go alone because the language problem makes it difficult to order food, drink or other goods like medicine. You will enjoy your activities and your meals in Taiwan and have a much better cultural experience if you have friends or a guide with you that can speak Chinese.
Most Taiwanese guys that I know speak good English and others who visit my room for fun the range is from very little to proficient in English language. I have used Google Translate to chat on the apps and to meet guys. I am sure some guys are scared to send messages to a foreigner because of their poor English. Many university and college students can speak some English. Do not put the language barrier stop you from visiting Taiwan. I have had similar problems in parts of Thailand and taken boys off from go go bars who could barely speak any English at all except тАЬwhat your name?тАЭ, тАЬwhere you from?тАЭ. I rarely get this one in Taiwan, тАЬhow much you give me?тАЭ
Anything similar to 'off' (referring to the photos of guys in the 2015 Taipei Gay Parade posted recently)- Meeting Taiwanese guys - Meeting foreigners
There are no gay go go bars here that I am aware of or boy bars where you can тАЬoffтАЭ a guy. Occasionally I get a message from a money boy on the apps but maybe only once a visit to Taiwan. Sex here is usually free and I would not offer payment unless asked and very keen to see the guy. There is no need to pay when most guys are willing to meet for free. The gay bars and dance clubs here are for socializing and having a drink with your friends, not for offing guys like the beer bars or go go bars in Thailand. You need to strike up a conversation with someone you like or try your luck on the apps if you want to hook up for some fun or to find a friend.
If you are using the apps to meet guys it helps to get on the MRT Metro train occasionally and go to different parts of the city as you may find guys interested in you but you need to be closer to them to appear on their Grindr, Hornet etc.
Red House Arts precinct and night markets
Red House gay bars at Taipei Pride time
I find it difficult to meet anyone here at bars or elsewhere except online compared to Thailand where I have met guys on baht buses, at 7 Elevens or just in the street. The Taiwanese guys tend to keep to their group of friends and are not easy to approach when alone or with others in public. They can look a bit bewildered if you enter their space in a social setting like the gay bars or in the street. I see plenty of Taiwanese guys hanging out with foreigners of all ages in pairs and groups at the Red House gay bars so maybe they met through work, language school or other ways that I am not aware of.
Thailand is definitely an easier place to meet locals and foreigners away from the online world. In Thailand I have many foreigner friends from all over the world that I have met in the bars or through Thai friends but in Taiwan none so far. I find most foreigners in Taiwan have little interest at all in meeting other foreigners for a chat, drink or to be friends unless they know them already from travelling together, work or language school for example. Maybe they want to be the centre of attention for the Taiwanese.
Red House gay bars are very busy during Taipei Gay Pride
There are male to male massage spas in Taipei but I have never tried them. The prices start around $1800NTD to $2800NTD for body to body over 120 minutes. There are also saunas. I did visit Han and Rainbow saunas near Ximen and had some fun at both. There were younger guys at Rainbow sauna than Han which caters for a more mature crowd. Be careful if you go in the dark rooms at Rainbow sauna because some guys are looking for unsafe sex.
A place where you could hook up with a Taiwanese guy is at a dance club. My favourite club is G Star and usually I have gone there with a friend but I have seen younger foreigners mingle with the locals on the packed dance floor and make contact for a hug and probably more later on. At the clubs the Taiwanese stand around tables in groups drinking mostly Budweiser beer or cocktails. Smoking inside is allowed but they do have good ventilation and air conditioning systems so it is bearable. Entry to G Star is $500NTD and includes two drinks. The clubs mostly stay open to around 3.00am to 4.00am.
G Star night club
G Star - the locals do synchronized dancing on stage around midnight
If you are happy to pay for sex, find sex quickly and see the guys on display before you purchase their services and enjoy the shows at bars then Thailand is a much better option than Taiwan. Still for a change of scenery, culture and to enjoy the food, sightseeing and eye candy then a visit to Taiwan may be also good for you.
Night Markets
There are numerous night markets all over Taipei city and in the countryside. They are not only a good way to try the delicious Taiwanese food, drinks like bubble tea, snacks and for shopping but also very good for your eyes because there will be many young local guys at the markets with their friends and Asian tourists looking around there as well. Shilin is probably the biggest market and worth a visit at least once. I find the smaller night markets like Tonghua or those close to the universities like Shida night market to be more comfortable to get around without the large crowds of Shilin. You can try a different market every night when the weather is good, most are close to a MRT metro train station. A good day trip or for a few hours, easily reached by MRT Metro trains is to Tamsui north of Taipei on the coast to view the sunset, fishermanтАЩs wharf and Tamsui also has a large day and night street market.
Sports Centres
If you like to work out or just somewhere to relax most districts in Taipei have sports centres for public use with excellent facilities like heated 50mtr swimming pools for lap swimming at $100NTD entrance fee and fitness with machines and free weights for $50NTD for per hour. Lockers are available for $20NTD. There are also large spa areas which are monopolised by the local grannies and grandpas during the daytime till 2.00pm but very relaxing after a swim. The sports centres are a great place to see some amazing Taiwanese bodies but maybe better later in the day or on the weekends after the locals finish work or university.
I did have some fun at the Youth Park swimming pools change rooms which is very busy with gays on the weekend sun tanning around the outside pool but you would need to be very discrete because there are many families using the facilities as well. The swimming centres have been getting rid of the old plastic curtains from showers and installing shower stalls with doors in recent times. I am sure that the officials would be aware of what is happening with some of the guys having sex in the change rooms so be careful if you are tempted to have some fun there.
Day Tours, Elephant Mountain and Changing of the Guard
Two examples of day tours from Taipei that are fairly easy to do for a foreigner but better if you have a Chinese speaking friend or guide are:
Pingxi Train Line
You can buy tickets at the train stations or use an Easy Card for the entire trip but remember to swipe the card when entering and exiting at each station. Catch the train from Taipei to Ruifang for $50NTD and a 45 minute trip and then board the Pingxi Line for stops at places like the Houtong Cat Village, Shifen Waterfall and old town where you can paint some good wishes on a sky lantern and send it into orbit. A day ticket for the Pingxi line to stop at all stations is also about $50NTD. The trains leave hourly from the stations so plenty of time to look around and move on to the next stop. There is plenty of local food and drink at most of the major stops on the Pingxi Line. If you do not want to catch the train from Taipei to Shifen or the other nearby towns, a taxi will get you there faster from Taipei and much closer to the waterfall at Shifen. The waterfall is a twenty minute walk from the Shifen train station. I still prefer the train ride but many take a taxi from Taipei.
Shifen Waterfall
Shifen Railway Line
Wulai
Another easy trip, catch the MTR Metro train to Xindian station in the south and catch the number 849 bus outside of the station for $40NTD and a 45 minute scenic drive into the mountains to view the waterfall at Wulai. You can also soak your feet into the river but be careful the water can be quite hot. You may see some locals digging a bath in the riverbed stones to have a very natural hot spring experience. There are hotels near the river with hot spring rooms where you try a hot spring bath for an hour or so. It is very nice if you can have a bath with a friend. There is a cable car ride to the waterfall with an interesting and mostly abandoned amusement park at the top.
View from the cable car at Wulai
The Edison tour website and other local tour companies list some good day trips from Taipei but most you can do yourself using local trains and buses if you do some research. At Ximen walking streets there are often taxis parked in the mornings close to the MRT station with signs in their windows advertising day trips for reasonable prices to most tourist spots of interest which may be a better option.
http://www.edison.com.tw/aboutus.aspx
Elephant Mountain
Something to do in the city but only if you are reasonably fit is to walk the many steps up to the lookouts at Elephant Mountain. The trail starts a short walk through the park near Xiangshan MRT station but you may need Google Maps to find the location the first time or ask the locals. You will sweat on a warm day but will be rewarded with stunning views over Taipei city and the 101 building if the weather is clear.
That was a stunning view at Elephant Mountain on my last visit to Taiwan
Changing of the Guard
If you like to admire a man in uniform there is the changing of the guard hourly at three locations around Taipei at Sun Yet Sen Memorial Hall, Chiang тАУ Kai Shek Memorial Hall and MartyrтАЩs Shrine. It is quite a spectacular sight and so are the guards.
New Years Eve
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Originally Posted by Nirish guy
