I would say that Taipei is an international city, especially if you already speak Mandarin (which I do). And even though I have lived in several countries other than the US, they were when I was a child or when I was a student. It’s a completely different ball game with children.

The first question is, of course, childcare. Childcare ties into all sorts of norms about work and family and parenting philosophies. Luckily, being an international city means that even though they’re uncommon, it’s still possible to get (mostly) child-led preschools.

Finding preschool: Go to Google Maps, search for 幼兒園 (preschool) near where you are and go down the list to call and ask for availability and visitation (in Mandarin). Actually, many of them do run their own buses if that’s what you want, but we didn’t want our kids to have long commutes.

Finding babysitters for the nights out: Haven’t really figured this one out. Someone recommended a couple of Facebook groups and also a page called Bananny (which seems kind of like Care.com).

Finding housing: There are a lot of rental agents here. On the one hand, they charge about 1/2 month’s rent as a fee and you can save that money by not using them. On the other hand, they make sure the lease covers all the “basics” that an expat would expect and also help call to make appointments and even helped us take deliveries while we were in quarantine. So I guess it just depends on how much money you want to spend to save some effort. I felt it was worth it to not be dragging our whole family around.

Banking: Erm. After you get your ID, you need a bank account. Which takes a few days or even weeks. We went with HSBC because I already had an HSBC account in the US and the process was pretty smooth since I’m already “in the system.” I only got a ~US$1,700 credit limit for my credit card, but it’s enough for day to day use.

ID: This is just paperwork. We came in on resident visas so we were already qualified, and then we hired a lawyer to help us do the actual pick up so I wouldn’t have to do it while trying to figure everything else out. Look at the checklist. When in doubt, bring it. Expect to make multiple trips.

Healthcare: Figure out what you need. There are hospitals and there are private clinics. Hospitals usually have more extensive equipment, but is also a hospital–giant buildings, waiting in line, etc. The private clinics are usually faster and the quality varies. For a lot of things I still ask people I know or the Facebook group for recommendations, such as therapists, dentists, etc. So you have to not be shy about asking for recommendations. Also, privacy isn’t as big a thing here and a lot of the paperwork (name, address, etc) seem to be pretty open.

Resources: As I mentioned, there are Facebook groups. There’s Forumosa, though I don’t go on that a lot (the layout is all weird on my phone and the advice I’ve gotten there has been not as helpful). I’m also in a group for Gold Card visa holders. Basically, get to know people and just talk (which is easier said than done).