Low-paying jobs are also available, common fields are production and elder care. Usually, labour-exporting countries’ agents – mostly in Southeast Asia – will arrange the business, but direct hiring provided by the Taiwanese government is also available. It is illegal to work without a work permit and an ARC (or Alien Residency Permit), and legal work requires a university degree and usually a long (over two month) application process.
Major camps
Citizens of mainland queenwin casino China residing anywhere may transit through Taiwan from either Nanchang, Chongqing, Kunming or anywhere outside the mainland with only Mainland Chinese passport required. Quite a few people, especially in Taipei, are proficient in Japanese due to the high number of Japanese visitors and the history of colonial rule. Staff at tourist attractions such as the Taipei 101, museums, hotels, popular restaurants and airport shops speak Japanese in addition to English, Mandarin and other local languages.
SIM cards
- Most payphones work with telephone cards (電話卡) which are available at all convenience stores.
- To do this, you will need to show your passport and obtain a tax refund application form from the store.
- Because most Taiwanese trace their ancestry to Fujian, it comes as no surprise that much of Taiwanese cuisine was derived from the cuisine of Fujian.
- In the face of increasing loss and the need for cost containment, NHI changed the payment system from fee-for-service to a global budget, a kind of prospective payment system, in 2002.
- Hotel beds in Taiwan are generally much harder than in the West because of the old Asian tradition to sleep on a wood board.
- As many as 51 people were reported injured in the heavy rains and flooding in Taiwan as of Wednesday morning, according to the National Fire Agency.
Taxi drivers are generally friendly towards foreigners, and a few of them take the opportunity to try their limited English skills. They are most likely to ask you about yourself, and are a patient audience to your attempts at speaking Mandarin. If you are traveling with small children, don’t be surprised if they are given candy when you disembark.
For many years, Taiwan was under martial law, with political opposition suppressed. It is possible (even normal) to obtain a driving license in Taiwan without ever having driven on the roads, and this may be a reason (along with the overcrowded roads) why courteous or defensive driving is definitely not the norm. The guiding principles seem to be that the right of way belongs to the larger vehicle, i.e. trucks have the right-of-way over cars, cars over motorcycles, motorcycles over people, etc. Despite traffic’s chaotic appearance, it is viscerally intuitive to yield the right-of-way to a much larger vehicle barreling towards you. Local drivers regularly cut in front of moving traffic into spaces that seem too small, try to change lanes regardless of the fact their destination is already full, etc. Drivers routinely enter a junction when their exit is blocked, and are therefore frequently still there long after the lights change, blocking traffic traveling in other directions.
Donating to local charities is fine if you don’t need them, but if some strangers ask for them, treat it as begging. In addition, people can apply for an E-Invoice (電子發票, dianzi fa piao) on a carrier (載具, zai ju). Stores offer Unified Invoices, therefore, will ask if you have a carrier on E-Invoice by saying “發票要存載具嗎？” (fa piao yao cun zai ju ma?). The main carriers are Mandarin Airlines, a subsidiary of China Airlines; and UNI Air, owned by EVA. The domestic airport in Taipei is Songshan Airportdead link, which is in the north of the Taipei and easily reached by MRT or taxi. Other domestic airports include those in Taitung, Hualien, Makung (Penghu/Pescadores), Kinmen, Taichung, Nangan and Beigan.
For example, Tainan, the city known for delicious foods, has no Michelin star restaurants there yet. As of January 2025, there are 3 three-starred Michelin star restaurants in Taiwan. Taiwan is a food lover’s paradise, and a popular culinary tourism destination for East and Southeast Asian tourists.
More on Climate from Asia
If you are planning on staying in Taiwan for a longer time, you should consider opening a Taiwanese bank account. While many of the large foreign banks such as Citibank and HSBC have branches in Taiwan, they often require huge deposits in order for you to open an account, so you might wish to consider one of the major local banks such as the Bank of Taiwan instead. You will need to bring your passport and UI number in order to open an account.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong also summoned the Japanese ambassador to China that same day to express their unhappiness. While the intent of Xue’s remarks “may not be clear”, they were “highly inappropriate”, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters on Monday. Since then, foreign ministries on both sides have lodged serious protests with the other, with Beijing summoning the Japanese ambassador.
- Almost all teachers apply for an ARC through their employers only after starting work and it is tied to their ongoing employment with that school.
- Authorities evacuated 8,326 people from their homes, the majority from eastern Hualien County, where a typhoon in September left 18 dead.
- You can also avoid the queues for long-distance tickets at major stations by buying your tickets from the automated ticket machines.
- The Lowland groups receive limited indigenous recognition today due to having largely culturally assimilated into the Han Chinese, and suspicion from Highland groups on whether they truly qualify as “indigenous”.
- However, it is definitely a selling point, and Chinese speaking ability is worth mentioning in any advertising of your services.
- A lot of the illegal teaching work that the majority of English teachers partake in is simply through private student tuition with payment being cash-in-hand.
- Domestic air travel in Taiwan is primarily for outlying islands, as Taiwan is fairly compact with a modern and efficient rail network.
The UI number is the number on the Alien Residence Card for those on long-term visas. Short-term tourists can obtain a “UI No. Basic Information Form” for free from the local Immigration Agency office, but it is not accepted by all banks. The larger banks will often have English-speaking staff available to assist foreigners. In fact, most large businesses prefer to do their banking outside of Taiwan due to the restrictive nature of the system on the island. It should be possible to rent a scooter by the day, week or month, depending on the city in which you’re staying.
Economic overview
There are no longer any west coast only routes as high speed rail has made them redundant. While Taiwanese themselves don’t generally hitchhike, foreigners will have it very easy to find a hitch. However, in rural areas people may not recognize the thumb in the air symbol, and you may try pointing your hand to the ground and waving towards you. So, instead of waiting for that one bus a day that goes by, just hitch a ride.
Population growth rate
Traditional Chinese art, including painting, calligraphy, and ceramics, is highly respected, and many Taiwanese artists draw inspiration from these traditions while incorporating modern techniques. In recent years, Taiwan has faced increasing pressure from China, which seeks reunification with the island. While Taiwan’s economy has been highly successful, it faces several challenges, particularly its dependence on global supply chains and geopolitical tensions with China. Taiwan’s political status is contentious, as China claims the island as part of its territory, leading to trade and diplomatic challenges.
Many restaurants and most small stores do not accept cards, 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. Its popularity rose greatly when the Taiwanese baseball team finished second in the Japanese national championships.
Economy of Taiwan
Therefore, if you look the part, it is very easy to find a school willing to take you on for at least a few days. In many schools, there is a prejudice against teachers applying for jobs who are not of white appearance, seen as the typical Western appearance in Asian countries. This is independent of whether or not the teacher has relevant teaching ability and citizenship of one of the permitted ARC countries.
The ongoing trade war between the United States and China has also affected Taiwan’s trade relationships, as both countries are key trade partners for Taiwan. Taiwan’s climate varies from tropical in the south to subtropical in the north. Taiwan is an island nation located in East Asia, situated off the southeastern coast of China. The island is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Taiwan Strait to the west, and the Bashi Channel to the south, which separates it from the Philippines.
American Express and UnionPay are between Visa and Diners Club, but they are close to the Diners Club situation. It’s easy to find billiard rooms throughout the country and there are also many championship-winning players in Taiwan, most of whom started training when they were still teens. Taiwan is an island of huge mountains (more than two hundred peaks over 3,000m) and there are many hiking opportunities. Taroko Gorge is popular for its incredible scenery, and serious hikers can trek Yushan or Wuling Sixiu, among many others. Even in Taipei and New Taipei there are a variety of trails to suit hikers of any level.
However, there are still street signs posted by city governments next to signs installed by the national government having different romanization conventions, as is the case for Kaohsiung, where Tongyong Pinyin, not Hanyu Pinyin, is the local standard. For example, Zhongshan, Chungshan, Jungshan and Jhongshan can easily refer to the same Chinese name. Lowland Taiwan has a marine tropical climate during the summer, with sweltering, humid weather (above 30 °C, 86 °F) from Jun-Sep.
