aTRAVELdirectory	| CONTACT |

Taiwan Tourism - Travel to Taiwan

        

Taiwan is an island, approximately the size of the Netherlands or Florida, located across the Taiwan Strait from mainland China. More than 20 million people live on the island, so it is generally quite crowded. Taiwan can refer to the Republic of China (ROC): the political entity currently governing Taiwan, the Pescadores, Quemoy, and Matsu.

Table of contents

1 Regions 2 Cities 3 Understand 3.1 Economic conditions 4 Get in 4.1 Visa Information 4.2 By plane 4.3 By boat 5 Get around 5.1 Not getting lost 5.2 By bus 5.3 By train 5.4 By taxi 5.5 By scooter 5.6 By car 6 Talk 6.1 Getting Online 7 Buy 8 Eat 9 Drink 10 Sleep 11 Learn 12 Work 13 Stay Safe 14 Stay Healthy 15 Respect 16 Contact

Regions in Taiwan

The Taiwan Area can be divided into six regions:

• The North. There are some great beaches at the coasts here, as well as the Yangming Mountains.
• The West. Western Taiwan is mostly coastal farming land and industrial parks.
• The South. This area is more tropical than the rest of the island, with many beaches and coconut palms.
• The Central Mountains. This region includes Taiwan's highest mountain, Jade Mountain and many others.
• The East. This area, cut off from the rest of the island by mountains, contains Taiwan's most striking natural scenery, including the famed Tailuge Gorge.
• The outlying islands of Penghu (the Pescadores), Matsu, Kinmen and Green Island.

Cities in Taiwan

• Taipei, the seat of government of the Republic of China and center of hipness. Taipei is located in a basin between the Yangming Mountains and the Central Mountains.
• Keelung is a center of transshipment in the north. It is located to the northeast of Taipei, on the coast.
• Chiufen is an old mining town, now a tourist destination, on the northeast coast.
• Taoyuan is the location of Taiwan's main airport, CKS International.
• Hsinchu is a center of technology and industry.
• Taichung is the third city of Taiwan, with lots of interesting culture.
• Tainan is the oldest city and the capital during imperial times, and contains many temples with very long histories.
• Kaohsiung is the second-largest city on the island. It is a major port.
• Taitung is home to many aboriginal people.
• Hualien is near Taroko Gorge, and is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Taiwan.

Understand Taiwan Tourism

Taiwan has been populated for thousands of years by more than a dozen aboriginal tribes. However, recent history begins with the colonization of Taiwan by Han Chinese immigrants in the past few hundred years.

In the early 20th century, the Nationalists and Communists fought a major civil war in China. Although the two sides were briefly united against Japan during World War II, they quickly began fighting again after the war was over. Eventually, the Communists were victorious. The Nationalists and hundreds of thousands of their supporters fled to Taiwan. From Taipei, they continued to assert their right as the sole legitimate government of all China. Since the 1990s, there has been a movement which sees Taiwan as more separate, and the current government tends to be independence-leaning.

Taiwan society is rather polarized by political allegiance between supporters of the pan-blue coalition and pan-green coalition, although there are large numbers of people who are either centrist or who don't care. To simplify a complex situation, pan-blue supporters tend to be more favorable toward the idea of reunification with the mainland and pan-green supporters tend to be more favorable toward the idea of establishing an independent Republic of Taiwan.

Although there are some correlations, it is highly unwise to assume anything about a particular persons political beliefs based on what you think you know about their background. Also, the very brief sketch of Taiwanese politics obscures a large amount of complexity.

Unless you know your listener well, it is unwise to say anything (either positive or negative) about the current government, about historical figures in Taiwanese history, about Taiwan's international relations, or about relations with Mainland China. Some figures such as Sun Yat-sen are generally seen positively, but others Chiang Kai-shek and Lee Teng-hui in particular arouse very polarized feelings.

Some people will get very offended if you imply that Taiwan is part of China. Other people will get very offended if you imply that Taiwan is not part of China. Referring to the PRC as 'Communist China' or 'Mainland China' rather than simply China will tend not to offend anyone. Referring to the Republic of China as a whole as 'Taiwan Province' will draw a negative reaction from most Taiwanese. 'Greater China' is another more politically neutral term to use. Keep in mind however, that there are so many subtleties and complexities here that if you are talking about these things, you've already wandered into a minefield.

Economic conditions

Taiwan is considered one of the four dragons, and is a developed economy with a standard of living comparable to that of the United States or Western Europe.

Get into Taiwan

Visa Information

Citizens of the following counties may enter Taiwan visa-free for thirty days provided that their passports do not expire within six months: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA.

Travel to Taiwan By Plane

There are international flights into the Chiang Kai Shek International Airport in Taoyuan, and to a lesser extent, to the airport at Kaohsiung. The Sungshan domestic airport is located in Taipei.

Don't make the mistake of asking a taxi driver to take you to the Taipei airport if you actually mean C.K.S. International. CKS International is actually about an hours drive from Taipei, while Sungshan is located in downtown Taipei.

The Kaohsiung domestic and international airports are located in the same complex.

Local carriers include China Airlines and EVA Air. Cathay Pacific schedules many flights to Hong Kong as Taiwanese flights have to go to mainland China via a third destination.

There are four domestic plane companies, all of which have dinky little planes and get across Taiwan quite quickly. Flights are frequent, and it is usually unnecessary to book flights in advance. Taipei and Kaohsiung have regular services and links to most other domestic airports; however, it may not be possible to fly from one domestic airport to another.

The high-speed rail, scheduled to start in 2005, is supposed to give the plane companies a run for their money.

Travel to Taiwan By Boat

Get around in Taiwan

Not getting lost

In mid-sized and smaller cities, your main reference point is going to be the train station.

Travel to Taiwan By Bus

Buses run between most Taiwanese cities and are called ke-yun, as opposed to gong-che which run within the county and city. There are many bus lines, as well as a government-run line. Seats are usually pretty comfortable, the bathrooms are usually not too stinky and fares are usually quite good, but it seems like every few months, there is a story in the papers about a bus driver who had a bit to drink before driving. Be aware of this.

In cities, bus transportation can be great. The bus system in Taipei, though complicated, is quite thorough. It's possible to go from almost anywhere in the city to almost anywhere else taking only one bus. However, bus signs are almost entirely in Chinese; English bus maps exist, but can be hard to find. If you're staying at a hotel, have the clerk suggest some routes for you, and hopefully circle your destinations on the map. Show this to the bus driver; they will hopefully tell you when to get off when you get there. In other cities, bus service varies widely. In smaller cities, there is no bus service at all. There are usually taxis waiting at the airport and bus terminals, but these will cost more than a bus unless you have a big group of people.

Travel to Taiwan By Train

Taiwan's train system is quite good, and stops in most cities. In addition, the train system allows you to bypass the highways, which can become extremely crowded on weekends and national holidays. The fastest train is Zichiang, and the slowest is Pingkuai. There is often little to choose between prices and destination times for adjacent train classes, but the gap can be quite large between the fastest and the slowest.

For travel to nearby cities, you can travel on the electric train "dian che" which is something like a subway car on the tracks. These arrive very frequently (about once every ten to fifteen minutes).

You can order up to 6 tickets online - in English - at http://railway.hinet.net 2 weeks in advance, or 1 week in advance if you go directly to a train station. Train schedules, pricing etc can be checked at http://www.railway.gov.tw; however, the online services only work between 8am and 9pm or thereabouts. There is a small charge, NT$7, for online bookings. Children under a certain height go free, and taller kids get half-price tickets. If you get return tickets there is a small discount. There are also vending machines at the larger stations.

By taxi

Taxis are the primary way for outsiders to travel within a city. To hail a taxi, place your hand in front of you parallel to the ground. They also congregate around train stations and airports. Taxis are metered, and all are now a standard yellow with the badge and taxi driver identification in the inside and the license number marked on the outside. They generally are not fluent in English.

Taxis are also a flexible although relatively expensive way to travel to nearby cities. They have the advantage over the electric trains that taxis will run very late at night. Taxi drivers are known for their strong political opinions.

By scooter

Motor scooters are the number one form of transport in Taiwan. Most families have at least one. They are often very polluting, and leave you exposed to the elements, but they are also cheap to maintain and nimble in Taiwan's alleyways. Travelling long distances by motor scooter could be dangerous, but people have done round-the-island trips by scooter.

Until recently - 2003 - it wasn't even possible to get a scooter above 150cc in Taiwan. Many of the scooters within cities are only 50 cc. The more powerful versions are known as junghsing (heavy format) scooters, are still extremely rare and terribly expensive.

Taiwan is not the place to learn how to ride a scooter; attempting to do so in the busier cities could easily be fatal. However if you know what you're doing, it should be possible to rent a scooter by the day or week, depending on the city in which you're staying. In Taipei, one place to try is the Bikefarm.

Another option is to rent a motorcycle. Many foreigners swear by their 125 CC Wild Wold motorcycles, and a trip around the island on a motorcycle can be a great way to see the island up close.

Travel to Taiwan By car

VIP Rentals in Taipei is quite happy to rent cars to foreigners, and will even deliver the car to a given destination. Be aware that you need an international driving licence, or a local driving licence (converted from the international) if you are going to drive in inner cities like Jiayi. A deposit is often required, and the last day of rental is not pro-rated, but calculated on a per-hour basis at a separate (higher) rate.

Taiwan Talk

A mix of Taiwanese, Mandarin, Hakka and other varieties of Chinese are spoken on the island, as well as many aboriginal languages. Taiwanese is the mother tongue of 70% of the population. In the north where there is a large concentration of Mainlanders, most people speak Mandarin as their primary language, but in the south of the island, Taiwanese becomes more standard. All people schooled after 1945 are generally fluent in Mandarin, although it is sometimes not the first language of choice. Some in the older generation are not fluent in Mandarin as they were schooled in Japanese or not at all. Some Mandarin speakers have been refused taxi service in the south for not speaking Taiwanese. Universally, however, the Taiwanese exempt foreigners from these intricacies and react with curiosity and admiration for trying the local tongue.

Especially in Taipei, many people are bilingual, speaking at least a little English. The children often understand more English than their parents, especially with the emphasis on English language education today. However, attempts to speak Mandarin or Taiwanese will be met with beaming smiles and encouragement, by and large.

Getting Online

Internet cafes are plentiful, although you may have to wander around before finding one. Most machines in the internet cafes are coin operated.

Buy

The currency of Taiwan is the New Taiwan Dollar, or NT$. As of mid 2004, the exchange rate was approximately US$1:NT$33. Thus the NT$, Taiwan's smallest denomination, is essentially worth 3 US cents. The simplest method of calculating exchange on the run is to multiply by 3, then divide by 100 for US$.

Taiwanese currency is fully convertible and there are no restrictions on taking currency into or out of the island. Currency exchange is possible internationally, although you will get a much better rate if you wait until you arrive at the airport to exchange currency at the 24 hour window. Most banks in Taipei and Kaohsuing will also exchange money or offer cash advances on credit or debit cards.

Most hotels will accept credit cards. Most restaurants and stores will not, and cash is the main form of payment. Because street crime is rare, it is common for people in Taiwan to carry large amounts of cash with them.

A meal at a streetside stall may cost NT$50; a meal at a Western fast food restaurant will run you about NT$100; a hotel room at a swanky hotel might cost NT$5000 or more.

As in many Asian countries, night markets are a staple of Taiwanese entertainment, shopping and eating. Every city has at least one night market; larger cities like Taipei may have a dozen or more. The most popular night market in Taipei is at Shilin, where one can dine on snake soup or even knock back a shot of cobra blood. Night markets are crowded so remember to watch out for your wallet!

Night markets are open-air markets, usually on a street or alleyway, with vendors selling all sorts of wares on every side. Many bargains can be had, and wherever prices are not displayed, haggling is assumed.

In the larger cities you will have a night market every night. Sometimes they are only open certain nights of the week so it's best to check their schedule.

Shops selling the same items tend to congregate in the same part of the city. If you want to buy something ask someone to take you to one shop and there will probably be shops selling similar things nearby.

Popular things to buy include:

• Jade items. Although it can be hard to know for sure if the item you're buying is real jade or not, some beautiful objects are sold. Most cities have a specific jade market dealing in jade and other precious stones.

• Computers. Taiwan is a center of computer design and manufacture, so some places sell original equipment manufacturers' (OEM) items at good rates. in particular Taiwanese companies produce laptop computers under license to international companies and then sell the same items under different brands locally, effectively giving the same quality for much lower prices. Desktop computers and components however tend to be the same price in Taiwan as in other areas of the world. If you're buying domestic ít's best to go to tourist hangouts to buy your stuff as you might be saddled with Chinese documentation otherwise.

Eat - Travel to Taiwan

Generally speaking, the foods of Taiwan are derived from mainland Chinese cuisines. It is possible to find Szechuan food, Hunan food, Beifang food, Cantonese food and almost every other Chinese cuisine on the island. Taiwanese renditions of these cuisines tend to be somewhat greasy, though, and completely authentic mainland cuisines are rare. This is especially true for the Cantonese cuisine, as demonstrated by the lack of Cantonese speakers on the island.

Taiwan also has many of its own local specialties. Perhaps because of its long isolation from mainland China and distance from other parts of the world, most cities and towns in Taiwan are famous for special foods. For example, Hualian is famous for its mochi, a sticky rice snack often flavored with sesame, peanuts or other flavorings. Yonghe, a suburb of Taipei, is famous for its soy milk and breakfast foods. Taichung is famous for its sun cakes, a kind of sweet stuffed pastry. In Jiayi, it's square cookies, also called cubic pastry, crispy layered cookies cut into squares and sprinkled liberally with sesame seeds. Virtually every city has its famous specialties; many Taiwanese tourists will go visit other cities on the island only to try the local foods, then return home.

Taiwan also has remarkably good bakery items.

Taiwan is a vegetarian's delight. Vegetarian restaurants (called su-shr tsan-ting in Mandarin) can be found in abundance all over the island, and they run from cheap (around NT$80-$100) buffet style to gourmet and organic. All Mahayana Buddhists, which account for the majority of adherents in Taiwan, aspire to be pure vegetarian in deference to the Buddha's teaching of non-violence and compassion.

There are also the standard fast food places such as McDonalds and KFC, which are more expensive and whose quality of food is lower. In addition there are large numbers of convenience stores (such as 7-11) that sell things like tea eggs, sandwiches and drinks.

Drink

Don't drink tap water without boiling it. It's usually safe to brush your teeth with tap water.

Taiwan is a great place to find fresh fruit drinks. Vendors in sidewalk stalls are often available to blend watermelon, pineapple, kiwifruit, oranges and other fruit on the spot.

Soy milk, or doujiang, is a great treat. Try it hot or cold. Savoury soy milk is a traditional Taiwanese breakfast dish. It is somewhat of an acquired taste as vinegar is added to curdle the milk. Both sweet and savoury soy milk are often ordered with yutiao, or deep fried dough crullers.

Traditional alcoholic drinks in Taiwan are very strong. Kaoliang is the most famous alcoholic drink. It is extremely strong, usually 140 proof or more, and usually drunk straight.

Taiwanese people often drink beer on ice.

There are a lot of pseudo health drinks in Taiwanese supermarkets and convenience stores. Look out for asparagus juice and lavender milk tea for example.

Pearl milk tea is no longer a fad in Taiwan, but can still be found at nearly every coffee/tea shop. Just don't expect to see everyone in the homeland of pearl milk tea drinking it.

Sleep - Taiwan Tourism

Taiwan doesn't sleep - just look at the number of 24-hour stores out there. But since you have to....

Taiwanese hotels range in quality from seedy to very luxurious. Keep in mind however that hotels which cater specifically to Westerners tend to be outrageously expensive, while comparable and much cheaper hotels are usually available, and most taxi drivers can take you to one. In particular, the airport hotel at CKS International charges about three or four times as much as a hotel in Taoyuan which is a half hour cab ride.

Learn

There are many styles of kung fu taught in Taiwan, largely by masters who came here with the KMT in the late 1940's.

Styles include Ba Gua, Tai Chi, Wing Chun, Praying Mantis, Shway Shiao and various weapons systems. Many of the students are westerners in these classes, which has led to the rise of several NHB schools, as well as Ju Jitsu and Akido from Japan.

Some of the more famous teachers will provide you with the paperwork needed to extend a student visa twice.

Work

Many travellers coming to Taiwan pick up temporary jobs teaching English. Most Taiwanese people want to learn English, but due to the country's history, opportunities to use English are rare. English-speaking foreigners are most in demand.

It is illegal to work without a work permit, and legal work requires a college degree and usually a long (two month+) application process, but many travellers nonetheless manage to find managers willing to pay them under the table for short durations.

Stay safe - Taiwan Tourism

Taiwan is extremely safe, and women generally feel safe walking alone late at night. This is not to say that there is no crime, of course; you should always exercise caution and avoid dangerous neighborhoods. Unlike in many neighbouring countries, it is very rare to see drunks on the street, day or night.

Also beggars are uncommon, except in the vicinity of Buddhist temples, where they congregate with the hope that they will get donations from people seeking to increase their karma. Beggars are generally not aggressive, and one can safely give money to them without being worried about being swamped.

Women should not take taxis alone late at night. Although they are generally safe, there was one noted case of a prominent female politician being assaulted and murdered by a taxi driver several years ago. If doing so is unavoidable, it's a good idea to arrange to have a friend call you when you get home, and to be seen making the arrangements for this by the cab driver. It also helps to be seen being dropped off by someone as taxis have visible license numbers.

Stay Healthy While You Travel to Taiwan

You will have major problems in travelling if you have a fever. SARS is still a major worry and there are checkpoints at airports and in major tourist places which measure your temperature, and you will likely not be admitted if you have a fever.

Westerners should be cautious of relatively undercooked food. Many of the Taiwanese restaurants offer plates of raw, sliced red meat and uncooked seafood that are brought to the table and either barbecued or simmered in a pot of stock. As this constitutes a staple of the Taiwanese diet, any bacteria that may remain don't affect the locals, but can wreak havoc on foreigners. The best policy is to make sure you cook the food in a manner to which you are accustomed.

Drugs are available for minor ailments at drugists. Also the quality of the hospitals for major illnesses is also very good.

Respect

Common taboos are:

• Sticking your chopsticks straight up into your bowl of rice. This is reminiscent of incense sticks at a temple, and has connotations of wishing death upon those around you. If you want to put your chopsticks down, either put them on the provided porcelain chopstick rest (at fancier restaurants) or rest the chopsticks on the edge of your bowl.

Reportedly, one of the ceremonies for the dead involves sticking the chopsticks into a bowl of rice.

The Chinese are very superstitious about anything connected with dying - unlucky things should never be mentioned.

• Writing people's names in red. This again has connotations of death. When writing someone's English name, this is not a problem, but avoid writing Chinese names in red.
• Giving people umbrellas. "Umbrella", in Mandarin, has the same sound as a character meaning "break up". Friends should therefore never give friends umbrellas, as it has a connotation of going away or not wanting to see each other. Instead, friends will euphemistically "rent" each other umbrellas for a tiny amount (NT$1, for example).
• Giving people clocks. "Clock", in Mandarin, has the same sound as a character meaning "to terminate." If person A gives a clock as a gift to person B, person A wants person B to be "terminated." Watch out for Arnold Schwarznegger giving away clocks!

Contact

---

Note on Romanization

The Romanization of Chinese used in Taiwan is not standardized. Most place and personal names are derived from a bastardized version of Wade-Giles. Though the government mandated Tongyong Pinyin in 2002, local governments are free to override the order. Some local governments, such as that of Taipei City, have converted their street signs to Hanyu Pinyin. This article attempts to use the Romanizations most commonly used in Taiwan (on street signs, buses, tourist maps, etc.).

Article text and images are from WikiTravel.org and are licensed under a Creative Commons License. Travel to Taiwan - Taiwan Tourism Memphis Website Design Memphis Service Directory This website is part of the Dream Design Studios Network