The Taitung County Government has its share of reviews on Google Maps. Below are 5 good and 5 bad reviews I found there. The 5-star reviews tend to be tourists passing through the county, while the 1-star reviews tend to be either locals or people disappointed with their visit. Below each review I humbly offer "My Two Cents."
1. (five stars)
"Good government in the East"
My Two Cents: IS it a "good government in the East" though? It's certainly more keen on development than the Hualien County Government, but all of this development comes at a cost. The Taitung County Government, for example, doesn't seem especially concerned about protecting the local environment.
Some of the recent infrastructure projects are, I freely admit, things that local people want and moreover things that local people voted for, but one gets the feeling that wealth speaks volumes in this town, and if someone has the magistrate's ear and money to invest odds are that whatever project they have in mind will get pushed through regardless. Witness, for example, the "Beautiful Bay Resort" and its continued existence.
2. (one star)
"Garbage trucks are allowed to park outside the school for several days every year, then come back and scold people who dump trash, refusing to collect it because there's too much trash. Are we paying them to go on a safari with our tax dollars? Are they just like elementary school students who want to park outside the school? What is the county government doing? Garbage trucks bully the people of Taitung, and the government just sits back and does nothing? Especially recycling trucks who curse people who dump trash everywhere! It's okay if they don't collect the cardboard boxes; we can sell them and keep the money. We give you the boxes, but the money goes into your pockets, but is it really giving back to society?" 垃圾車每年都可以校外觀摩好幾天，回來就罵倒垃圾民眾，垃圾多就不收，我們納稅錢是給他們出去玩的嗎？他們像小學生一樣要校外觀摩是嗎？縣政府在幹什么？垃圾車欺負臺東百姓，政府坐視不管嗎？尤其是資源回收車隨地罵倒垃圾的民眾！不收紙箱沒關係，我們也可以拿去賣，得到錢算是我們的，我們紙箱給你們，結果換來的錢進你們口袋有回饋社會嗎？
My Two Cents: This guy's a major league complainer. His Google reviews read like a list of ways in which various service workers have let him down. The staff at one restaurant were rude to his mother, the workers at a 7-11 neither greeted him nor said "Thank you" after his purchase, the garbage man dared to ask him why he had so much trash to dispose of.
I can't say that I've ever felt bullied by the sanitation workers of Taitung City, and I dumped A LOT of trash in those trucks just before Chinese New Year.
3. (five stars)
"Thank you to the county government team and all the staff at the New Year's Eve event for your hard work! ❤ Thank you to the county magistrate for his gracious demeanor and for not putting on a show; that's a big plus! 👍 Giving the stage to the performers 😊 This kind of county magistrate is admirable. He even praised tourists from other counties for their good taste; it's the best way to promote tourism." 謝謝縣府團隊，跨年現場工作人員都辛苦了❤謝謝風度滿滿的縣長不刻意作秀，很棒加分👍把舞台讓給藝人😊這種縣長很讚，還誇外縣市遊客好眼光，最好的觀光傳播
My Two Cents: The "he" in the English translation was inserted there by Google. The current County Magistrate is a woman, Rao Ching-ling by name. If I ever meet her I really want to ask her about the restrictions she helped lift on the development of mountain areas.
4. (one star)
"We made a special trip from Taichung to take our kids to see Doraemon's hot air balloon. The kids were so excited to see the hot air balloon point collecting game that they spent half a day scanning QR codes at various locations. Finally, we arrived at Luye Highland to see the hot air balloon. We thought we'd be able to complete the activity smoothly, but the staff said that the exhibition hall was closed due to the typhoon and we couldn't enter to scan the QR codes. They did say that the souvenir exhibition hall was open as usual. These little things were not worth much, but we felt like we were being fooled. The kids were also very disappointed. The giveaways were closed, but the vendors continued to operate regardless of the weather. How short of money is the Taitung County Government?" 為了帶小朋友看多拉A夢的熱氣球，特別從臺中跑來旅遊，小朋友看到了熱器球集點遊戲非常開心，也特别花了半天的時間去各個地點掃QR扣，最後到鹿野高臺看熱器球，本以為就可以順利的完成活動，但工作人員說因為颱風展場封閉，無法進入掃QR扣，但有說賣紀念品的展場正常開放，一點點小東西值不了兩個錢，但感覺就是被耍，小朋友也很失望，送贈品的封鎖，販物的不畏風雨持續營業，到底臺東縣政府是有多缺錢啊！
My Two Cents: This one sounds more like sour grapes. Taichung is on the other side of the island, and they should have done their research ahead of time. Expecting to go from Taichung, to downtown Taitung City, to Luye smoothly is expecting a bit too much. By their own admission a typhoon was either on the way out or had just left the area, and you can't assume a lot in that situation.
5. (five stars)
"Some of the decorations and equipment are very new. It is not far from the airport and next to Tiehua Village." 有些裝潢設備很新，離機場不遠，在鐵花村旁邊
My Two Cents: Actually the Taitung County Government IS far from the airport. It's on the other side of the city from it. It's also NOT next to Tiehua Village, which is several streets away.
6. (two stars)
"Green Island is a very relaxing and leisurely place, but there are more and more guesthouses, and the harbor is getting uglier and uglier. Besides, what era are we living in? The maximum speed limit on the two main provincial highways, Provincial Highway 9 and Provincial Highway 11, is still stuck at 60 km/h. No wonder it takes so long to drive to Taitung; people are too tired to even go… The most bizarre thing is that the newly planned Mahengheng Avenue has a slower lane that's larger than the faster lane! What's with that?! Is the slower lane for tanks?!" 綠島是一個很休閒、很放鬆的地方，但民宿愈來愈多，而且港口愈來愈醜；而且，都什麼年代了，二個最主要的省道台九線、台11線最高速限還停在60km，難怪到台東要開那麼久，嫌累的都不想去了…
最詭異的是，新規劃出來的馬亨亨大道，慢車道比快車道還大是什麼東西呀！？慢車道是給戰車開的嗎？！
My Two Cents: They seem to have conflated Green Island and the rest of Taitung County. I haven't been to Green Island in a while, but 60 km/hr. around Green Island sounds more than reasonable to me.
As for the rest of the county, yeah, speed limits and traffic stops are a problem. I'm all for safer roads, but the drive south from Taitung City to Daren is like a bad joke. The county depends on tourism, the Bureau of Transportation spends a lot of money to improve roads in the county, and once "improvements" are finished they impose the same old speed limits and install still more traffic lights and speed cameras on the newly renovated roads. It makes no sense.
I agree on Mahengheng Boulevard. I haven't seen any tanks on it, but it's a strangely designed road for sure.
7. (four stars)
"There is no Education Department, Culture Department, or Social Affairs Department in the government. Please don't make a wasted trip." 府內一級單位並無教育處、文化處、社會處喔，請洽公民眾別再白跑一趟囉
My Two Cents: I don't know why this person felt the need to tell us that the Education Bureau and other parts of the local government are elsewhere. A search on Google Maps would make that immediately obvious. Are people randomly setting of in search of government offices that aren't at this location? I kind of doubt it.
8. (one star)
"There are countless speed cameras throughout the county, and you'll be charged extra for a domestic trip to Taitung! Speeding tickets are issued on rural roads! Locals in the city park get away with illegal parking! Guanshan Water Park hasn't been developed or maintained in 3 or 4 years; it's a complete mess! And countless other places are still unmanaged! Is soaking in hot springs like soaking in tap water? No wonder the indigenous people all go to the US to play professional baseball! My advice to everyone is to never spend money in Taitung! Only help the indigenous people reclaim their original homeland! Taitung is despicable because you can't see the sunset! Only the sunset is infinitely beautiful! Being an official is even better!" 縣內多到數不盡的測速照相，去台東幫助你國旅要被臨時加價！要鄉間小路要罰超速！市區當地人違停不抓！關山親水公園3，4年都沒整理發展，亂七八糟！還有不剩其數的地方都沒整頓！泡湯是泡自來水嗎？難怪原住民都去美國打職棒！此生建議大家絕不進台東消費！只幫原住民討回原住地！看不到夕陽西下的太麻里隔鄙！只有夕 陽無限 好！當官更好！
My Two Cents: Speed cameras aside, there's a lot to unpack here.
1) The Guanshan Water Park is definitely undermanaged. I don't know if its present state is more the fault of the County Government or the Guanshan Municipality Office, but a lot more could be done with that particular tourist site. It's like they can't decide whether it's a regular tourist site or some kind of ecologically protected area. I don't know what the answer is, but that park has only deteriorated in the years I've lived here.
2) "Is soaking in hot springs like soaking in tap water?" I have no idea what this is supposed to mean. Maybe the hot spring they visited wasn't hot enough? If so they should have named the place. They might be talking about the Journey to the East Hot Spring Resort in Zhiben, which I've heard is actually run on tap water, but without further information it's impossible to know. I'd like to emphasize the fact that I only heard Journey to the East is run on tap water, this may not be the case.
3) "No wonder the indigenous people all go to the US to play baseball!" This borderline racial/racist comment is nonsense. There simply aren't that many indigenous Taiwanese baseball players in the States.
4) "Despicable Taitung" made me chuckle. Not entirely sure what their issues with non-indigenous people in Taitung are, (maybe they don't really know, either), but they definitely had a less than enjoyable visit.
9. (five stars)
"It coincides with the 2025 Hot Air Balloon Carnival, and this time it is co-branded with Doraemon, so I came to check out the location to take photos with Doraemon, and also wish the event a smooth and successful success☺️☺️" 適逢2025熱氣球嘉年華，這次與小叮噹聯名，所以來踩點找小叮噹拍照，也祝福活動順利圓滿☺️☺️
My Two Cents: Yes, Doraemon was a big thing. I missed a lot of that because I was in Kaohsiung at the time.
10. (one star)
"I parked in the county government parking lot while attending a class. I didn't hear the staff ask about it. When they did, they immediately responded with the reason for parking. His tone was quite rude, indicating that he hadn't asked and kept skipping. Thank you so much." 來縣府上課停縣府停車場
只是沒聽到有管理人員詢問
聽到後馬上回覆停車原因 …
My Two Cents: There's a lot of parking-related rage to be found in the County Government's reviews. I can remember a time when you could find a parking spot anywhere, but those days are, sadly, long gone.
I strenuously avoid driving north up the coast during big holiday weekends. I'm also very careful about when I drive back to Taitung from Kaohsiung or other parts of the west coast. The tourist traffic is definitely predictable, but even so it can be a problem when you just have to get somewhere and it seems that half of Taiwan is driving the same way.
As you might imagine, the supply of parking spots downtown has diminished with the increase in traffic over the years. As a result there can be road rage, often directed at whatever power or powers seem to be responsible for the dearth of parking spots.
11. (three stars)
The Taitung County Government does what it can, when it can, for whom it can. Or it doesn't. Whether it does or it doesn't is for the residents of Taitung County to decide. Hopefully these residents vote accordingly and without fear of coercion.
My Two Cents: The above comment is extremely profound, and reflects both a deeper understanding of the Taitung County Government and its constituents. The author of the above comment should definitely write a blog about Taitung, perhaps including information on neighboring counties and cities into the bargain.
Oh wait, he already does! Here's the link:
https://acidolphilus.blogspot.com/
Have a great day?
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NOTE: If there's Chinese below the original comment that's because it was the language in which the comment was posted in. The English translations of Chinese language comments were cut/pasted from Google.
