One year ago I knew little about Taiwan. It wasn’t even on our radar as a destination for our journey around the globe. while browsing through hotels on Trip consultant, tourism advertisements for Taiwan kept popping up.
After the tenth advertisement, Taiwan captured my attention and that i took my 1st look at the Taiwan tourism web site. Directly, i was fascinated by this small island nation that had way more to offer than i was ever expecting. Perhaps i was expecting factory after factory, producing toys for a lot of developed countries, stamping “made in Taiwan” on everything. Instead, I learned that Taiwan is home to wonderful hiking, modern cities, a wonderful food scene and a few of the world’s friendliest people. Taiwan interested us enough that we spent 2 wonderful weeks here, our final stop in Asia before heading south to Oceania. Here are some of the a lot of Funny facts and unexpected things we discovered while in Taiwan.
I used to think that Christmas was a public vacation worldwide (well, perhaps not in the Middle East). Even though you’ll see Christmas decorations all over in Taiwan, Christmas isn’t a public holiday in this island country. It’s not even a school vacation. Many Taiwanese do celebrate Christmas, however most don’t do so for religious reasons. They hold Christmas parties and exchange gifts.
Tipping isn’t a custom in Taiwan. The majority restaurants and hotels include a 10-percent service charge in their bills therefore there’s no need to tip. Some restaurants would even tell you that they don’t accept tips. Cab drivers don’t expect tips either, but I usually tell the driver to keep the change if he has helped me with my bag and stuff.
Many people wear masks when they ride public transportation or in crowded places. Some also wear masks when they are sick. I used to think that it had been weird for people to wear masks publically, but I’ve gotten used to seeing masked faces.
You can’t eat or drink, not even chew gum on the metro in Taiwan. If you’ve got a piece of gum in your mouth, don’t chew or you could get penalized.
When I 1st came to Taiwan, I had trouble crossing streets. Some streets don’t have traffic lights, as pedestrians are supposed to follow the car traffic lights. the problem is that generally cars making turn don’t appear to care if there are pedestrians crossing the road. so check and re-check the traffic before you cross a street.
Most stores in Taiwan have a no photography policy. If you’re undecided, raise before you take photos in a store.
Many Taiwanese people take naps after lunch. office staff nap at their desks, drivers nap in their cars and outdoor workers nap where they can find an empty area. It’s not uncommon to check people napping on sidewalks near construction sites.
With the presidential election coming up in less than 3 weeks, you’ll see all kinds of signs, shows, news concerning politics in Taiwan. I never paid much attention to politics when I was in Canada because Canadian politics is boring. Taiwanese politics, on the other hand, is extremely entertaining. Candidates yell at alternative|one another} in the face and dig up dirts of each other on a daily.
I’m not sure if garbage trucks in all cities play the same music, but those in my area play Fur Elise. Unlike homes in Canada where you leave your garbage by the curb side the night before the collection day, people take their garbage out when they hear the garbage truck music. Garbage collection happens once a day except for Sunday. Some apartments and condos, like the one I live in, have their own garbage room. instead of having to wait outside for the garbage truck to come around every night, we dump our garbage in the garbage space.
I’ve seen some public garbage cans on the streets of Kaohsiung, but I don’t suppose they exist on the streets of Taipei. You’ll notice them at subway stations or in public washrooms though.
Most Taiwanese girls and women have an umbrella in their bags. These umbrellas are for the sun and a few are even UV-resistant. Apparently, they don’t think it’s enough to wear sunblock. Many Taiwanese also wear a long-sleeve jacket backward to guard their arms from the sunlight when they ride a motorcycle. According to my Taiwanese friend who opens her umbrella as soon as she steps outdoor. Taiwanese girls don’t need to get tanned.
Another issue that I haven’t gotten used to and probably can never get used to is that many Taiwanese dump used toilet papers in a very basket or bucket (which you can find next to the toilet) instead of flushing them down the toilet. I was horrified after I saw a basket of used toilet papers for the first time. According to my Taiwanese friend, many places in Taiwan had bad plumbing in the past and flushing down toilet papers could clog the plumbing. Even though new buildings don’t have this problem anymore, many people still dump used toilet papers in baskets.
In Taiwan, 7-11 is more than a store. Many 7-11 in Taiwan actually have a dining area. You can buy frozen food and ask the cashier to heat it up for you and eat at the dining area. you can also get coffee or latte at 7-11. They’re much cheaper than Starbucks and are equally good. Most 7-11 have a machine called ibon, which you’ll be able to use to do things from buying high speed rail tickets to print documents!
I’m not sure about men’s washrooms, but most women’s washrooms in Taiwan have squat toilets. Some have both squat toilets and western-style toilets (thank you!!). Even though I’ve lived in Taiwan for almost 3 years, I still haven’t quite gotten used to squat toilets. My Taiwanese friends unbroken telling me that squat toilets are a lot of hygienic though.
Many homes and offices in Taiwan use toilet papers that come in packets of individual sheets (think Kleenex in plastic bags) instead of rolls. I still purchase them in rolls though.
Taiwan is an incredible island nation that’s nestled in the middle of the ocean off the coast of mainland China. It’s therefore unique because of its history and variety of unique cultural factors.
Taiwan is influence by Japan, Korea and mainland China. It also has a democratic system influenced by the West and the United Kingdom.