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air quality in taipei? more like a smog-fueled singing contest

@Arthur Webb2/7/2026blog

so i started this post at 3am after 4 cups of that iced oolong from that one jianbai cube machine near xinyi station. my fingers are all sticky and i’m typing like a drunk on a train, because why not? let’s talk about air quality in taipei. i mean, who doesn’t care? everyone does. especially when you’re hacking up a lung after doing 10 pull-ups on a fire escape because you forgot to pack your inhaler.

here’s the thing: taipei’s air isn’t just bad, it’s a cat with a smoking gun. or maybe a toddler trying to eat cereal. pm2.5 levels? i looked it up. they’re like… 80? or was it 120? who knows. last i checked, the city was basically running a silent test on how much pollution we can inhale before we collectively lose our will to live. but here’s the kicker: nobody’s really complaining. or maybe they are. i overheard a street vendor yesterday saying the air was ‘so bad i thought my lungs were auditioning for a role in a horror movie.’ i don’t know if that’s true, but i screamed laugh with them.

let’s get some data in. you have to, right? okay, here’s the tea. according to the epa, taipei’s average annual pm2.5 is 35μg/m³. that’s not great, but it’s better than Beijing. i checked rent prices too-if you’re poor as f*ck, a studio in xinyi is about $400/month. if you want a place with a view of the sunset (which is actual smoke you’ll cough up later), you’re looking at $800. job market? tech jobs are booming. translation gigs aren’t. i saw a sign at tianmu station saying ‘no job offers under 30k’ and i left immediately. i only wanted to teach english for $1k/month.

but here’s the weird part: the air isn’t just bad everywhere. in Da’an, it’s like a sauna mixed with a horde of elderly people cooking. in anleg, it’s less intense. i walked by a park today and a dog was vomiting. not from heat. no. from inhaling diesel fumes. that dog’s name is Max. he’s a hero.

let me tell you about the weather. it’s not sunny. not rainy. it’s that weird gray thing where the clouds are like someone dipped their hair in ink and then threw them at a ceiling fan. my neighbor, who’s this 60-year-old woman who thinks bamboo steaming is a pyramid scheme, told me last week that the air was ‘so thick you could almost tie it in a knot.’ she’s either a genius or she’s just been inhaling recycled paper bags for decades. either way, she made a soup out of frozen tofu and called it ‘air detox.’ i tried it. it was okay.

if you’re here for the outdoors, here’s the tea: you can’t really run a marathon without a gas mask. people are doing park runs in linjiang and then coughing up black slime. i saw a guy yesterday doing yoga in a field with a net over his head. he was yelling at squirrels. i respect that.

here are some links because i’m not just gonna ghost this. go check tripadvisor for ‘best air purifying spot in taipei’-some guy posted a treehouse in yilan with a qi gong instructor. yelp has this café that sells ginseng lattes. i don’t know if it helps. maybe. and redditanswers.tw has a thread about whether taipei’s air is actually getting worse. spoiler: it is. and it’s boring.

oh, and artists. street artists here? they’re painting murals of wolves wearing respirators. i saw one last night. it was called ‘the howl of clean air.’ i told the artist i wanted one for my dog. he gave me a sketch. it’s a wolf with a tiny mask. i’m low-key crying about it.

back to data. i made a table somewhere. cost of living? rent’s high, pero is $1.50 a bag, and smog insurance isn’t real but people buy it anyway. i asked a taxi driver if he wore a mask when he drives. he said, ‘only when i’m taking me to a funeral.’ which is fair.

i tried to describe the air to my future self. i told them it’ll be like breathing through a balloon full of regret. or maybe a bag of expired snack chips. you’ll know when it’s bad because your nose will start a fight with your eyes. don’t worry. it’s normal.

yesterday, i fed a pigeon. it spat it out. immediately. turned out to be a conspiracy. the pigeon told me the air is being poisoned by secret agents who work for a yogurt company. i don’t know. sounds plausible.

so that’s it. air quality in taipei? it’s a vibe. chaotic. unpredictable. like a indie film that’s 90% smoke and 10% existential dread. if you’re coming here, pack a scarf. and maybe a gas mask. or just breathe extra hard. it might help.

p.s. if you’re reading this and you’re from taipei, tell me where to find the cleanest air. i’ll write you a check. or maybe a bag of sage. probably sage. it’s cheap.

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About the author: Arthur Webb

Coffee addict. Tech enthusiast. Professional curious person.

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