Chi Du Branch | HESS EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION

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If you want to live close to the city but not be in the city (with all its’ noise and pollution), then come to Chi Du. Chi Du is 40 minutes by train to Taipei and 20 minutes to Keelung City, so you can still do big city stuff if you want to. Chi Du has more relaxed, rural and natural surroundings. And its quiet at night! Chi Du has clean air, quiet country roads and some nice walks into the mountains and along the Keelung River. There is a great market where local farmers sell their fresh produce. Chi Du is a great place to save money because rent and expenses are so low. Chi Du is 40 minutes to the best surfing beaches in Northern Taiwan.

The Chi Du, Leo Du and Bai Fu settlement is in a valley between 2 sets of hilly, forested mountains, along the Keelung River. Buildings are mainly low-rise apartments with a few factories and businesses. It is not a highly developed area. A lot of people live in Chi Du and work in the city because rent is cheap here. There are a lot of small subsistence workers who work plots of land in the hills. There are also a lot of motorcycle spares and maintenance stores!

Chi Du has a feeling of being rural and industrial at the same time. Very few people in Chi Du speak

The kindergarten offers an awesome play area with a naturistic backdrop that large cities can't offer.

English. There are no Western-type restaurants, bars, movie theaters, cafes or department stores like there are in Taipei and Keelung.

The office area includes a small library for our young readers to browse.

It is difficult to find furnished apartments in Chi Du and if you do, they are normally very expensive. You can find cheap unfurnished apartments with 1 to 3 bedrooms with bathroom, kitchen, lounge/dining area in a security complex for about NT$7-8,000. You will have to pay 2 months rent as deposit and 1 month’s rent upfront when you sign your lease. It is easy to have furniture delivered from stores such as Ikea or Carrefore. Teachers that are leaving usually have a lot of furniture and appliances that they want to sell or pass on to new in-coming teachers.

There is a train service to Taipei and takes about 40 minutes. To Keelung it is about 20 minutes and to Fu Long Beach it also takes you 40 minutes. There are various buses, and the nearest MRT Station (Mass Rapid Transit Subway System) is one hour away by bus.

Chi Du Language School and Kindergarten are both really small. The schools are more intimate than some of the bigger branches so the Chinese staff is very caring. There are 5-6 kindergarten classes and 1-2 Young Scholars Classes. We have 3 full time kindergarten teachers and 1 full-time language school teacher. There are 12 Chinese members on the staff. The 2 branches are separate from each other and the kindergarten has an awesome outdoor play area.