Taiwan

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Revision as of 07:36, 14 October 2004

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.

Regions

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

• 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 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 in

===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.

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.

By boat

Get around

Not getting lost

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

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. . 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, though it's safe for brushing your teeth.

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 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.

Motels can be easily found in suburb of major city. A single room with attached bathroom will cost you about 40 to 50 USD each day.

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 is extremely safe, even for women late at night. This is not to say, however, that there is no crime, and you should always exercise caution. Unlike in many neighbouring countries, it is very rare to see drunks on the street, day or night.

Beggars are also very rare, except in the vicinity of Buddhist temples, where they congregate with the hope that they will get donations from generous-hearted practitioners. 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 in Kaohsiung 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

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.).