If you want to make friends in Taiwan as an expat, whether your company sent you, you took a local job, or you work remotely from a laptop, the first few months tend to look the same: you have colleagues during the day, then nobody to call after six, and no plan for the weekend. This post covers the usual ways to meet people in Taipei first, then why darts is an easy social game for starting conversations, and where AI DARTS fits in as one option.
How to make friends in Taiwan: the usual places to start
You don't need anything exotic. The dependable categories are just these:
- Mandarin classes: most people in the room are new here too, so you already have something in common.
- Sports and fitness groups: running, ball sports, climbing, anything that meets at a set time. Sweating together beats making small talk.
- Hobby meetups: board games, hiking, craft workshops. A clear theme gives you something to talk about.
- Coworking spaces: worth a look if you work remotely, if only so you see the same faces every day.
- Your own colleagues: invite a local coworker to dinner after work. They usually know which places are worth going to.
Which one suits you depends on your personality, but they share one rule: keep going back to the same place. It works better than trying ten places once. Friendships come from repeated meetings, and almost nobody clicks on the first one.
Why it's easier to meet people when you do something together
Plain conversation puts pressure on both people to keep finding topics, and that's harder when your language skills don't match. When there's an activity, the topic is already in front of you, and quiet moments don't feel awkward. That's why sports and games usually work better than a bar where all you can do is talk.
Why darts makes conversation easy
- You take turns. While one person throws, everyone else has a moment to chat or laugh, so nobody has to keep inventing topics.
- You don't need Chinese first. The rules are simple, the scoreboard shows what's going on, and you can play fine without a shared language.
- Cricket works for groups. With more people, turns keep everyone in the game. The rules are in how Cricket and 501 work.
AI DARTS is one option in Taipei's East District
If you live or work around the East District, AI DARTS is worth adding to your list. It's open 24 hours, every day of the year, with no minimum spend, and it runs Phoenix electronic dartboards. It's a short walk on the Bannan Line, between MRT Zhongxiao Dunhua and Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall stations. For how to start talking once you're there, see this post.
Beer is NT$100 a bottle (Taiwan Beer, Budweiser or Heineken). There are cocktails too; what's available is whatever the bar has on the day. See the full menu here.
To be honest, this isn't an event venue for expats, and we can't promise you'll meet anyone on your first visit. It's a place with dartboards, food and drinks, open whenever you feel like coming. Whether people end up talking depends on the night and a bit of luck.
A taste of home helps
When you live far from home, a familiar flavor helps more than you'd expect. Hotdogray, the hot dog stand inside AI DARTS, started in 2017 as a small cart in Taipei's Zhongshan District, and its first customers were Americans and other foreigners living in Taiwan. The menu is American-style hot dogs and chili. The signature seared cheese and meat sauce hot dog is NT$100, and you can take the chili home by the bag. The full story is in this post.
The Hotdogray kitchen runs on a schedule, so if the food is what you're after, ask on LINE before you come.
Making friends takes time, and no single place can guarantee it. The practical move is to pick one or two spots, go back a few times, and let people get familiar on their own.