You can rent things for pretty cheap compared to the purchase price, like the buy vs rent calculation there is so heavily skewed to rent that it's insane that people still buy property.

These are pretty inaccurate or exaggerated statements. Real estate in Taipei is expensive to buy, but reasonable to rent. To buy, price per square feet is comparable to a high priced US city (SF, NY). It rains a lot in winter and has typhoon season, but can be nice otherwise.

The 24/7 rain is exaggerated. I'd say it's getting quite rainy during the rainy season (I admit I also don't like this season much), but we have quite a bit of beautiful sunny days, especially when you head to south.

I've lived in places where people hide in their homes with the furnace for four months out of the year. I've lived in places where people hide in their homes with the A/C for three months out of the year. I've lived in places where it rains 24x7 for two months out of the year.

Each of these places has a stereotype. Each are amazing the vast majority of the year. Pick your poison for the rest of the year.