A hot topic among Taiwan’s foreigner contingent is “where to get a men’s haircut?”. There is no consensus on the best haircut place in Taipei but the question has been asked enough for us to know where to look.
The language barrier and varying fashion trends between Asian and western styles makes the whole process rather daunting. Too many times foreigners have walked out of a salon with a mismatching Asian hairstyle or rocking the same style as their barber.
Luckily this daunting process has been asked numerous times before, so we know a thing or two about how to tackle this situation.
Discount hairdressers
If you’re ok with a generic no frills haircut (get it!) then the cheap and easy discount barbers are your best option. You can find these discount barbers in underground MRT stations and shopping malls for around NT$100 – NT$150.
Getting a “number two on the sides and number 5 on top” is fine here but don’t expect anything more complicated than that. These cheap haircut places are not worried about crafting a hairstyle to your specifications and they are not interested in taking the time understand your broken Chinese.
Foreigners have indeed been known to get decent trims for a bargain at these places so if you’re looking for a quick and easy fix while in Zhongshan MRT station, then why not?
Get a local to translate
So many times have hairdo disasters been averted thanks to communication. An easy solution is to take your Taiwanese girlfriend or friend along to translate.
Drop fades, ducktails, or spiky fringes are easy enough if the hairdresser knows that’s what you want. Don’t rely on these barbers being able to understand English, because you’re more than likely go get yourself in a deep hairstyle doo-doo!
Understand clipper measurements
Many Taiwanese hairdressers don’t understand the “number one” or “number two” metric system for clippers. Local hairdressers are used to referring to clipper length in millimetres.
Clipper measurement equivalents:
Number 1 = 3mm
Number 2 = 6mm
Number 3 = 9mm
Number 4 = 12mm
Number 5 = 15mm
Number 6 = 18mm
So if you wanted a “number 3” on your burns, point to your sides and say “9mm”.
Best haircut districts in Taipei
Getting a haircut in a trendy shopping district is the best way to ensure you get a high quality cut. The best shopping districts in Taipei for hairdressers are:
#Zhongxiao Dunhua
This is an upscale area with top quality hairdressers. Zhongxiao is popular with influencer types as well as those looking for top quality trendy haircuts. You’ll also be forking out top dollar in this area – around NT$1,000 or more.
#Taipower Building / Shida
Popular student area with lots of reasonable mid-range priced haircut options.
#Zhongshan
Hipster area with a wide range of haircut options. You can find top priced haircuts here for NT$1,000 or more as well as good hairdressers for NT$500.
#Ximending
Popular high-school student area that also has good hairdressers at good prices.
Of course high prices doesn’t always equal high quality. If you’re looking for a great cut at a good price then you want to look for hairdressers around the NT$500 mark.
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