After talking with some expats in Shanghai, it appears that Taiwan may be the best place to have our first overseas adventure in the Orient. I'm not completely sold, yet, but there were some great points that they mentioned that I wasn't aware of.
One major thing is that was brought up was that Shanghai is three times more expensive than Taiwan. Also mentioned was that Taiwan was a lot more "foreigner friendly". Of course, that's a subjective reason, but several of the expats mentioned this. Another reason, and it's a big one for me, is that Taiwan has awesome night markets. I assumed that Shanghai would have awesome night markets, too, but was informed that the night markets in Shanghai are a pale comparison to the ones in Taiwan. I watched a few videos on YouTube that seem to bear out this assertion. The Taiwanese night markets are a lot more lively, and seem to have a lot more shopping options. The Shanghai night market seemed to be a lot smaller (if you're unsure of what a "night market" is, check out some videos on YouTube).
So, anyway, at this early stage it's easy to change our mind. Nothing has been committed to, yet. I'm going to do some more research on both Shanghai and Taiwan and get a general consensus from expats in both areas before making a concrete decision. Either way, in October 2017, we're going to be in the Far East. Exactly where is still up in the air.
On a related note, several friends have expressed an interest in joining us. I'm all for having a large group of friends travel with us. The more, the merrier! Right? Hmm... group discounts?
Top 10 Night Markets in Taiwan
Night Markets in Taiwan (Wikipedia)
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