Taking a Trip to Taiwan? What to Expect

1. Food, especially Xiao Chi: Taiwan is literally the paradise for gourmets. Xiao Chi particularly, in my opinion, stands out among other cuisines that are available in Taiwan, because Xiao Chi best represents Taiwan and its culture that's unseen elsewhere. Xiao Chi (Chinese for "snacks") includes a variety of food, or snacks, each known to originate in a different city in Taiwan but is now generally available everywhere. It's cheap and small portion, so you can enjoy many different kinds for one single meal. See pictures on the left for "samples." Mouth starts watering? Hey, I don't make my number one of the list for no reason!

2. Not particularly English-friendly environment: The official language spoken in Taiwan is Mandarin. There are a few other dialects such as Taiwanese and Hakka used by local people, too. English, though learned by all educated people, is not used in everyday life. Therefore, their English capability is limited to academic English, and is more writing and reading oriented. The general conversational English ability among educated Taiwanese people is between basic and intermediate, and much less for uneducated ones and older generations who didn't have the same learning resources that this younger generation has. Besides, in general, city is more English friendly than country.

One of the difficulties foreigners may face in Taiwan is that, though the directions or manuals are all printed bilingual now, they are not consistent. The translations of city name, street name, etc. are not consistent. For the same city, you will probably find both Jhubei and Zhubei, and perhaps other versions too. This can be very confusing for foreigners.

3. Nice, friendly people willing to help: If your interest in visiting Taiwan is discouraged by 2., then stay tuned and check out this one. If you don't have the ego issue of asking directions, you can rest assured that you can always ask. Local people are very nice and friendly and, in a densely populated place like Taiwan, are everywhere ready to help. Be sure to speak your English more slowly, and make sure they understand it. A problem with some Americans traveling abroad is to assume that everybody speaks English and, when they don't, despise them. This is terrible.

4. Crowds: Taiwan as a small island has a population of over 23 million. This means that wherever you go, there are people. You will experience this most when a department store runs a clearance sale and you are there, or on a special holiday such as Mid-Autumn Festival when millions of people all hit the road at the same time for family reunion.

Some like it and others don't. But crowds give you a sense of staying connected and moving together with everybody else. Some new immigrants to the America felt so disconnected because everyone lives so far away from each other and everyone goes so independently. Likewise, for Americans, living in Taiwan will take some getting used to as well.

5. Convenience: Taiwan is small. In cities, many stores and restaurants are all within walking distance and you still have many choices. How good is that? To say that walking can take you around all the city may be too exaggerated, but all you need is just a scooter to go everywhere in the city, including big ones such as Taipei. So, hungry now? Let's walk to the delicious Bian Shi restaurant just around the corner. Oops, forgot we are in the States!

6. Hard working people: Asian people are known for hard working, and Taiwanese are certainly no exception. Stores open late, often into 10pm, offering people a place to go at night. People work late; 9 to 5 is never heard of (well, I might exaggerate a bit). Hard working is sort of in their nature, and in the culture. But sometimes hard working is just for survival. In fast-paced and globally-competitive industries such as high-tech, this is particularly true.

7. Nature's beauty: Taiwan is a mountainous island. For professional mountain climbers, Taiwan is a paradise. There are many 3,000m and higher mountains around the island, mostly within an hour of driving or two. For casual hikers, smaller mountains are never in shortage either. Taiwan is also home to a variety of wildlife such as birds. In general, the nature is better preserved in the east than in the west part of Taiwan, where it's much more industrialized.

For tourism information, please go to http://taiwan.net.tw/.