Taiwan

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Quick Facts

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Capital

Taipei

Population

22,603,000

Government

Multiparty Democratic Regime

Religions

Mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, Christianity

Languages

Mandarin

Calling Code

+886

Nationality

Taiwanese

Local name

Táiwān

Time Zone

UTC +8

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Introduction

the fan in the temple

© All Rights Reserved chyidean

Though Taiwan is technically part of China, a festering animosity, with the help of lots of arms, between Taiwan and the mainland gives the island a genuine independent flare. Chinese Communist influence is not exerted particularly strongly; this is a place where thousands of Chinese fled to for refuge when Mao took to the helm on the mainland.

That said, Taiwan still bears the stamp of Chinese culture. Its cuisine, music and practice of Chinese medicine reveal just how closely Taiwan's culture is tied to that of China's. Taipei, the megalopolis at the island's northern tip, has that distinctive mixture of tradition and economic boom that characterizes so many of the Far East's big cities. Smart travellers get away from Taipei and venture into the eastern reaches of Taiwan, where the mountainous landscape has rendered it an impossible area for development. Here, there are some beautiful, unadulterated wildlife areas offering up a striking contrast to the toxic air of Taipei.

Brief History

Geography

Regions

• Central Taiwan includes the Central Mountains, Sun Moon Lake and Taichung city.
• Eastern Taiwan is separated from the rest of the island by mountains and is home to the famous Taroko Gorge.
• Northern Taiwan includes the capital Taipei and the Yangmingshan National Park
• Southern Taiwan is a more tropical, beachy area including the second largest city, Kaohsiung and the old city of Tainan.
• The Outlying Islands include Green Island, Kinmen (Quemoy), Matsu, Orchid Island and Penghu.

Cities

• Taipei
• Tainan
• Taichung
• Kaohsiung

Sights and Activities

Taipei

Taipei 101

Taipei 101 Building (2)

© All Rights Reserved bobrk607

Taipei 101, officially known as the Taipei International Financial Center is still the highest completed building in the world at 508 meters above the ground level (it is expected that in 2008 Dubai will have this claim). The high skyscraper is located in the Xinyi District of Taipei and is rich in symbolism. For example, it was designed to resemble bamboo rising from the earth and bamboo happens to be a plant recognized in Asian cultures for its fast growth and flexibility. These are ideal characteristics for a financial building. On top of that, the building is also made up of eight sections and eight happens to be a number associated with prosperity in Chinese culture. For more details you can check the Taipei 101 website.

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall recently renamed as the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall is more or less in the middle of Taipei. The grounds in front of the hall are flanked by both the Taiwan National Theatre and The National Opera House. The hall itself has a museum on the first floor and the second floor used to be the home of a large statue of Chiang Kai Shek. There is also a frequent changing of the guard that is well worth watching. If you are in Taipei visiting the hall is a must. The hall has its own subway stop so getting there is easy.

Tainan

Taiwan has several large cities with high rise modern buildings and although Tainan has some of these modern buildigns as well, it is the closest thing to being an old in Taiwan. It used to be the capital during imperial times and is famous and visited because of its temples and other fine historic buildings. The eternal golden fortress is a 19th century coastal fortress and particularly interesting. Other buildings include Anping Fort and the Chikan Towers. Other highlights include the nightmarkets and nearby mangrove forests. Still, all the modern amenities can be found here as well and the city is currently the fourth largest city on the island with a population over 760 000 inhabitants. A good place to base yourself and explore things in several days.

Kenting National Park

Taiwan is not all about large cities and development. Much of the island is covered with mountains and dense forests. One of the highlights is Kenting National Park, located in the southern tip of the island. The main features in this fantastic park include beautiful beaches and lush vegetation and there are some great walks or multiple day hikes in the park. Of course, swimming and other aquatic sports can be arranged as well.

Other sights and activities

Boats

© All Rights Reserved lucid

• Sun Moon Lake - clear waters in the mountains.
• Alishan - forests in the central parts of the country.
• Taroko Gorge - near the east coast.
• Yushan - the highest peak at almost 4000 meters above sea level.

Events and Festivals

Weather

Taiwan has a tropical monsoon climate with rainfall almost everywhere over 2000 mm a year at low levels. In the mountains though, these figures can easily double. Most of the rain falls in the period May to September than in the rest of the year. Some of the heaviest rain falls from July to September and are brought by the typhoons of the South China Sea. The typhoons move northwards towards Japan and bring strong winds and heavy rain to most of Taiwan during this period. Rain, high humidity and high temperatures makes this time the least pleasant for a visit. Average daytime temperatures are well above 30 degrees Celsius, but can reach highs of 38 degrees! Nights are around 24 degrees.
In winter, lowland areas have mild weather but occasionally temperatures can drop below zero at night, especially in the northern parts of the country. Of course, this applies to the mountains as well, where snowfall is usual in winter.
Still, temperatures are normally around 20 degrees during the day from December to February and around 12 degrees at night. The north and east during this time has much more cloud and rain than the south. The south is warmer as well in winter, with average daytime temperatures close to 25 degrees Celsius and lows of 10 degrees are rare. Mostly it's warmer. In most of the country, the period from October to April is a better time for a visit, compared to the hot and muggy conditions in summer.

Getting there

By Plane

Taiwan has three international airports, of which Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) near the capital Taipei is the busiest one and therefore receives most international flights. The other two airports with regular international flights in Taiwan are Kaohsiung International Airport (KHH) and Taichung International Airport (RMQ).

The national airline is China Airlines which has international flights to many destinations in Asia, North America, Europe and Oceania. Another major international airline in Taiwan is EVA Air, serving slightly less destinations to the same continents mentioned.

By Boat

• Taiwan - Japan vv

The weekly ferries between Keelung and Kaohsiung in Taiwan and Ishigaki and Miyako in the Okinawa Prefecture have been suspended since 2008. The trip took about 18 hours and boats left Taiwan on Mondays and Okinawa on Thursdays or Fridays. There is talk of new ferries between Japan (either Okinawa or 'mainland' Japan) and Taiwan, but up until now (October 2009) there is no ferry.

• Taiwan - China vv

Since 2008, there are ferries between Xiamen and the Taiwanese island of Kinmen.

Getting Around

By Plane

There are a number of airlines flying between Taipei and several other airports in Taiwan. The carriers offering domestic services include Far Eastern Transport, Mandarin Airlines, Transasia Airways and Uni Air.

By Train

THSR has frequent high speed trains along the west coast of Taiwan between Taipei and Zuoying. The Taiwan Railway Administration has more trains across the whole country. The main lines are:

• Taipei-Taichung-Chiayi-Tainan-Kaohsiung (at least hourly)
• Taipei-Taichung-Sun Moon Lake (last leg of the journey is by bus)
• Chiayi-Alishan (spectacular mountain scenery)
• Taipei-New Hualian-Taitung (scenic coastal route)

By Car

You can rent a car from many local and international companies at airports, bigger cities and main hotels. Although you can rent one yourself, a car with a driver is recommended. Roads are well maintained and Taipei and Kaohsiung are connected by a highway. Congestion can be a bit of problem and not all signs are in English as well. An international driver's permit and additional insurance are needed.

By Bus

Long-distant buses are provided by Guo-Guang Bus Corporation, Union Bus, Dragon Bus, Free Go Bus Corporation and Aloha Bus and Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung are the main places where buses originate or terminate. There are also a number of more regional and local buses, providing services to somewhat smaller and relatively remote places and mountains.

By Boat

There are a few ferry services between the main island and several of the smaller island around Taiwan.

Red Tape

Citizens of the following countries can enter Taiwan without a visa and stay for 30 days (this period can not be extended under any circumstances):
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA.

All other countries require a visa and it's advised to go to your nearest Taiwanese embassy or consulate. Also, people who wish to stay longer to work, study or visit friends and relatives, need to apply for 60 or 90-day visa, which under circumstances can even be extended.

Money

See also: Money Matters

Work

Study

Studying abroad in Taiwan can be a great opportunity. There are several great universities with a very open atmosphere. The cities are much cleaner compared to those in China, which can be nice on the lungs. The major downsides are that Taiwan has become much more expensive in the last few years. If planning to study mandarin Taiwan might not be the best place because the Taiwan accent can be hard to understand by people from the mainland and in Taiwan they still teach complex characters. If looking to study Buddhism or the sciences Taiwan is also an excellent choice.

Language

Eat

Taiwan has an eclectic choice of food ranging from the dirt cheap to the outrageously overpriced. In the big cities international chains such as Friday's and Swensens provide some of the tastes from home. However, the true delight of eating in Taiwan is the night markets where an abundant choice of food (and other items) can be purchased. Of course the staple diet in Taiwan is rice and noodles and this is readily available from many of the street vendors that stand on the side of the road. To be honest, Taiwan is a culinary delight and any tourist that comes to Taiwan should at the very least be able to say they ate well. There is no excuse.

Food Courts

Every major department store and shopping center has a food court. Food courts are typically easy places to by food even if you don't speak Chinese since the menus typically have pictures (if not English) of the food on offer. The variety of food selections in the food courts vary widely with traditional Taiwanese and Chinese foods being intermingled with Korean, Japanese, Cantonese and Western foods. Food courts can become crowded during lunch hours and during the weekends but they are great places to sit down and have a bite (especially if you are in a hurry).

Sleep

Drink

Health

See also: Travel Health

Taiwan has an amazing health care system. Some of the best doctors in the world come from Taiwan. Even though the World Health Organization refuses to use Taiwan doctors under pressure from China, any traveller sound feel perfectly safe in a Taiwan hospital.

Safety

See also: Travel Safety

Taiwan is an extremely safe country regarding crime. All towns and cities are completely safe to walk around at anytime during night or day. Starting in the spring and going to early fall is the typhoon season (June - October). A typhoon is a large tropical storm which exactly like a hurricane. These storms can be very dangerous and can cause extreme amounts of damage. If caught in a typhoon find a safe place to wait out the storm. There are sometimes extremely heavy rains accompanying the typhoons, so be aware of floodings. Taiwan has the occasional large earthquake which can cause massive damage. These earthquakes can cause landslides and tsunamis so remember to move to higher ground and keep up to date on developments.

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

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