Details

• Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)
• BBE-18
• Undergraduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

When choosing destination, think first about your priorities and expectations for the exchange. Do you want to primarily be in a great academic environment, get brand-name university, learn country-specific language, or see new places? Then choose your partner uni priorities accordingly. Look also to the excel sheet with number of applicants vs number of accepted to the specific uni in the past years and strategize with that. The application process is straightforward. The best advice is to follow the outlined steps and be honest and clear with your motivation/submitted application as you may get asked about the provided information during the interview. Stress previous international experience and show you are proactive person. Be ready to explain the logic behind the partner uni priority ranking you submitted. As you get accepted, find out what you need to do before departure: visa, vaccination, course registration, accommodation. These information will be provided by the university. Do the things as early as possible, be in the know, and do not postpone anything. This is true especially for finding accommodation with which I would recommend starting as early as possible.

2. Accommodation

I started searching for accommodation by June (for fall semester starting in September) which was late and I would recommend starting earlier. The search thus was little stressful as a lot of the good offers were already gone. Among other options, I applied for the dormitory (cheap, close to campus) but did not get a spot - only around 30 % people do. Additionally, I used all of the websites the university recommended, some of the offers were ok but I was not 100% happy. Eventually, I tried Airbnb (would recommend, they also offer long-term rentals). Here I found newly-renovated 3 bedroom apartment with 3 bathrooms (attached to each room), dinning room, living room, little kitchen and two balconies. The place was in the first floor in Xindian district (south of Taipei) 5 minutes from the green line Xindian District Office MRT station, approximately 20-25 minutes to Taipei centre and similar time to the university. Although the flat was not in the centre, the area felt by no means like a periphery. It was bustling (not too loud though) and great place to stay with all the stores, restaurants, services, as well as river and parks nearby. Since two of my friends from WU were also going to Taipei, the three of us took it together. The apartment cost was roughly 6000 Euros for around 4 months = 2000/person = ~ 500/person/month. This is a little bit of overshoot for Taipei, you can definitely find cheaper places. But because it was already late June when we found it, we took it. And since it was all new, comfortable, spacious and in a great area, I think it was a good deal. Tips: start searching asap before the good places are gone, use all the platforms they recommend, try Airbnb, try FB groups, be careful and don't get scammed; in terms of area, look for something in Daan district or generally sth between blue MRT line and the university, the closer to MRT the better as the system works really well.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus is in the south of Taipei at the very edge of the city, sitting at a mountain foot. In terms of size it is similar to the one of WU. It includes teaching and admin buildings, libraries, sport facilities (gym, swimming pools, soccer field, baseball field, tennis courts...), numerous restaurants, cafes, convenience stores and a lot of green spaces. Generally speaking, the buildings are much older than the ones at WU and some of the campus parts would deserve renovation. Despite this, the campus feels lively and great to spend time at. It gives off vibes like if it was a hybrid between American high school and university in Asian settings. The academic culture is somehow similar to WU with some differences. I found it focuses little less on group-works as WU does and more on lectures. The required presentation skills standards and expectations are also much lower than in Austria with many local students purely reading written text when presenting. The attendance requirements are not formulated in the syllabus and differ from teacher to teacher which is sometimes confusing. Similarly to WU, assessment methods and dates are outlined in the syllabus. I also found the difficulty generally comparable to WU. The courses take place at the same time every week so it is easy to plan around. All the teachers were also really friendly, approachable and helpful and happy to have international students in class.

5. Every day life in the host country

Taiwan and Taipei is a perfect place for an exchange semester! The quality of life in Taipei is exceptional and comparable to the one in Vienna. There are numerous parks, greenery, cultural events, sport facilities, nightlife, quick access to nature and mountains. It's a global city that is safe and blends both international and local influences in this regard. The public transport, especially metro (MRT) and airport line, works really well, is quick and efficient. At the beginning it was only challenging to find the way around with buses as they are sometimes only marked by words rather than numbers. For public transport it is good to use an app called Bus Tracker Taiwan - more accurate than Google Maps. Take the opportunity to travel around the island and take the high speed rail (basically Shinkansen but much cheaper than in Japan). It goes every few minutes from the Taipei Main Station and serves as a good backbone for exploring Taiwan. The capital is highly international and there is many people with various interests and clubs you may join (e.g. through university). Be ready though for an excitement unseen in Central Europe - typhoon one week, 7.1 earthquake and Chinese military drill next week. During the 4 months, there were two typhoons, several earthquakes (including strong ones) and one China military drill.

6. Testimonial

Exchange at National Chengchi University was overall great! The teachers and staff were friendly, helpful and approachable. Taipei is a highly livable city that could compete with Vienna and an excellent base for trips within Taiwan and the whole East-Asian region.