Travel
Information
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Taiwan
Taiwan's total land area is only about
36,000 square kilometers; it is shaped
like a tobacco leaf that is narrow at
both ends. It lies off the southeastern
coast of mainland Asia, across the
Taiwan Straits from Mainland China-- a
solitary island on the western edge of
the Pacific Ocean. To the north lies
Japan and Okinawa, to the south is the
Philippines. Many airlines fly to
Taiwan, helping make it the perfect
travel destination.
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Taipei City
Taipei is Taiwan's largest city as well
as its economic, political, and cultural
center. It is a modern cosmopolitan
metropolis with a lively and diversified
face, filled with exuberance. Its
buildings provide much of the diversity,
and visitors who are fond of historic
sites and old streets will not want to
miss the work of traditional master
builders evident on Dihua Street in the
Dadaocheng area or the Longshan Temple
in the Wanhus district, as well as other
places. The internationally renowned
National Palace Museum has an
inexhaustible collection of precious
historical Chinese arts and artifacts
that no visitor can afford to miss;
Taipei is also home to many other fine
museums, including the Taipei Fine Arts
Museum, National Museum of History, and
Postal Museum. On the city's outskirts,
the Yangmingshan National Park has
unique volcanic terrain, a rich variety
of forest vegetation, and an extensive
network of hiking trails, making it a
popular destination for visitors from
the Taipei area and elsewhere.
Yangmingshan is one of the places in the
Taipei area where you can indulge
yourself in a hot mineral bath; for the
pleasure of relieving the exhaustion of
a day's travels, you can also go to the
hot springs of Beitou or Wulai. Taipei
also has the largest zoo in Taiwan,
where you can see the rare Formosan
black bear, cuddly koalas, and stately
king penguins. The city's comprehensive
rapid transit system takes you quickly
to the zoo or just about anyplace you
might want to go in the metropolitan
area.
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People
Taiwan has a population of 23 million.
The larger part of the island's
inhabitants are the descendants of
immigrants from the various provinces of
mainland China, but in particular from
the southeastern coastal provinces of
Fujian and Guangdong. Because the
different ethnic groups have fairly well
integrated, differences that originally
existed between people from different
provinces have gradually disappeared.
Some 360,000 indigenous people, the
original inhabitants of Taiwan, still
live here; they can be distinguished
into 12 different tribes.
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Language
The official language of Taiwan is
Mandarin Chinese (Guoyu), but because
many Taiwanese are of southern Fujianese
descent, Min-nan (the Southern Min
dialect, or Holo) is also widely spoken.
The smaller groups of Hakka people and
aborigines have also preserved their own
languages.
The most popular foreign language in
Taiwan is English, which is part of the
regular school curriculum. However, to
be on the safe side, when taking a taxi
in Taiwan it is advisable to prepare a
note with your place of destination
written in Chinese to show the taxi
driver.
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Nature
Formosa (beautiful island) is what the
Portuguese called Taiwan when they came
here in the 16th century and saw the
island's verdant beauty.
Located along the southeast coast of the
Asian Continent at the western edge of
the Pacific Ocean, between Japan and the
Philippines and right in the center of
the East-Asian island arc, Taiwan forms
a vital line of communication in the
Asia-Pacific region. It covers an area
of approximately 36,000 square
kilometers (14,400 square miles) and is
longer than it is wide. Two-thirds of
the total area is covered by forested
mountains and the remaining area
consists of hilly country, platforms and
highlands, coastal plains and basins.
The Central Mountain Range stretches
along the entire island from north to
south, thus forming a natural line of
demarcation for rivers on the eastern
and western sides of the island. On the
west side lies the Yushan Mountain Range
with its main peak reaching 3,952
meters, the highest mountain peak in
Northeast Asia.
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Cultures
If this is your first visit to Taiwan,
you will most certainly be amazed at the
diversity of things this beautiful
island has to offer, as a rich
historical background has provided
Taiwan with a multifaceted culture.
People from many different places and
backgrounds, such as Taiwan's indigenous
people, the southern Fujianese from
early China, Hakka immigrants, the
Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese, and the
recent immigrants from mainland China
have all played a role in Taiwan's
development. While gradually developing
a new culture indigenous to Taiwan, they
also held on to their respective customs
and traditions; as a result, you will be
able to sample indigenous, Taiwanese,
and Chinese cultures and even find
traces left by the Dutch and the
Japanese when traveling in Taiwan.
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Climate
Taiwan enjoys warm weather all year
round. The strongest fluctuations in
weather conditions are during spring and
winter, while during summer and autumn
the weather is relatively stable. Taiwan
is extremely suitable for traveling, as
the annual average temperature is a
comfortable 22˘XC with lowest
temperatures ranging from 12 to 17˘XC
(54-63˘XF). Therefore, with the exception
of a few mountain areas where some
traces of snow can be found during
winter, no snow can be seen throughout
Taiwan.
APCChE2010 will be held in early
September, and
during that period Taipeiˇ¦s mean
temperature is 26 ˘XC, average high is 31
˘XC, and average low is 23 ˘XC. The mean
relative humidity is 77%, and
precipitation is 225.3 mm.
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Cuisine
The culinary culture of the Chinese
people goes back a very long time; and
while Chinese food can be enjoyed in
every large city in the world today,
true gourmets know that only in Taiwan
is it possible to enjoy fine authentic
cuisine from all the different regions
of China. In Taiwan, where it seems the
people live to eat, it is said that
there is a snack shop every three steps
and a restaurant every five. These
establishments serve all kinds of
Chinese food, from the roast duck,
smoked chicken, lamb hotpot, fish in
wine sauce, beef with green peppers, and
scallop and turnip balls of the north to
the camphor-tea duck, salty fried
chicken with spices, honey ham,
stir-fried shrimp, dry-fried eggplant,
and spicy bean curd of the south. As the
island's economy has developed rapidly
in recent years, its culinary culture
has expanded beyond the traditional
Chinese foods to Chinese-style fast-food
chains, thus bringing greater complexity
than ever before to the art of Chinese
dining. Foreign foods from all over the
world have also made their appearance in
Taiwan, and the island is now filled
with eateries serving American
hamburgers, Italian pizza, Japanese
sashimi, German pig's knuckles, Swiss
fondue, and just about everything else.
All of this makes Taiwan a veritable
paradise for gourmands. Taiwan's own
native cuisine has also become known
around the world, and if you try it just
once you will remember it forever.
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Attractions
Taiwan is known for its towering
mountains, and is reputable as a
"Mountainous Island". The island is
spotted with numerous mountains over
3,000 meters. It is also home to
Northeast Asia's highest mountain,
Yushan Mountain, which is nearly 4,000
meter in height. Besides mountains,
beautiful coastal scenes are also part
of Taiwan's great natural asset.
Starting from the northern tip of the
island is the North Coast & Guanyinshan
National Sccenic Area and Northeast
Coast National Scenic Area that features
various sorts of coastal geography.
Traveling all the way down from here,
one will first arrive at the scenic East
Coast National Scenic Area and East Rift
Valley National Scenic Area, and then
the Tapeng Bay National Scenic Area
blessed with sunshine and tropical
touch. Alongside the mountainous areas
is the Maoling National Scenic Area,
where a lot of aborigines live and place
one can check out the world of
butterfly, Lukai stone-made houses and
Natural scenes in Taiwan. Legendary
tales depict subtle beauty of Alishan
National Scenic Area, where you can
enjoy the relaxing scene of sunrise and
the cloud sea. Natural setting of Sun
Moon Lake National Scenic Area ,
eagle-spotting at Bagua Mountain, home
of fruit-Lishan can sacred Buddhist
sanctuary- Lion Mountain, can bring to
you the many faces of the island's
beauty. Penghu National Scenic Area,
comprising of sixty-four islets,
scattering around the Taiwan Strait.
Flat landscape makes it different from
Taiwan Island. It is blessed with the
most spectacular view in Taiwan. Located
in Pacific Ocean southeast of Taiwan,
Lanyu and Green Island offer the
enjoyment of nature environment, whale
spotting and scuba diving. Matzu
National Scenic Area comprises four
townships on five islands. Most of the
tourist sites are located in Nankan.
Peikan has its stone houses and fish
noodles. Chukuang has its fishing port,
as well as a lighthouse designated as a
Class 2 historic site. In Tungyin one
will find fantastic rock formations and
the Tungyin branch of the Matsu
Distillery. Southwest Coast National
Scenic Area is the 12th national scenic
area. The scenic area's main attraction
is a varied coastline that consists of
sand dunes, sand banks, marshes and
wetlands, offering precious ecological
habitats for wildlife. Taiwan now has 6
National Parks - Yamingshan National
park in Taipei suburban, which is famous
for its volcanic landscape; the Shei-Pa
National Park, acrossing Hsinchu &
Miaoli counties and famous for special
fish species-formosan Oncorhynchus masou
; locating in Hualien county adjacent to
Li-Wu creek, Taroko National Park is
known for its lofty canyon landscape;
acrossing many counties in central
Taiwan, Yushan National Park is famous
for its bright sunshine; locating in
south tip, Kenting National Park gives
you a total touch of Southeast Asia;
last on the list is Kinmen National Park
which is known for legacies from the war
decades ago. In addition to the
beautiful natural setting provided,
above six National Parks also offer
great ecological environment for
tourists. Besides, National Palace
Museum, located in outskirt of Taipei
City, is home to essence of the
five-thousand-year Chinese history. It
has the finest collections of Chinese
Arts, providing an eye-opening
experience of Chinese culture. Taiwan is
somewhere you can experience the
amazement of Chinese culture.
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How to come
to Taiwan
Taiwan's international flights are well
developed and there are two
international airports, Taoyuan
International Airport and Kaohsiung
International Airport. Thirty-four
Airlines fly to 56 major cities around
the world from Taiwan, and the average
flight time from Taiwan to major cities
in the Asia-Pacific region is only
two-and-a-half hours. A direct flight
from the West Coast of the U.S. to
Taiwan takes only 12 hours, and flights
are frequent. Visitors can take
advantages of the domestic flight,
Taiwan's island-wide railway system,
comprehensive highway network and
convenient bus services to visit the
beautiful island. The convenient
international airport for APCChE2010 is the Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan.
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Visa
for Arriving Taiwan
Foreign nationals may obtain visas from
embassies, consulates or
representative offices of the Republic
of China.
Visa Exempt Entry: 30 days (no
extension is permitted)
Thirty-day visa exempt entry applied for
citizens of Australia, Austria, Belgium,
Canada, Costa Rica, France, Germany,
Greece, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg,
Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden,
U.K., Singapore, and U.S.A. Requirements
for the entry are:
1. A passport valid for at least six
months.
2. A confirmed return air ticket or an
air ticket and a visa for the next
destination, and
a confirmation air seat reservation for
his (her) departure.
3. No criminal record of law violation.
Landing Visa: 30-Day (no extension is
permitted)
Thirty-day landing visas can be obtained
upon arrival at CKS airport. Passengers
with passports of the above listed
countries plus the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland and Switzerland are to
apply for landing visa. Requirements for
the entry are:
1. A passport valid for at least six
months.
2. A confirmed return air ticket or an
air ticket and a visa for the next
destination, and
a confirmation air seat reservation for
his (her) departure.
3. An application form with one photo.
4. Visa fee NT$ 1,500. (Approximately 45
US dollars)
5. No criminal record of law violation.
Visa for People Holding Passport of
Mainland China:
The necessary application form and
further information can be found on the
web site:http://www.boca.gov.tw
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Currency
The Republic of China's unit of currency
is the New Taiwan Dollar (NT$). Bill
denominations are NT$2000, NT$1000,
NT$500, NT$200, and NT$100. Coin
denominations are NT$1, NT$5, NT$10 and
NT$50. As of January 2005, the exchange
rate was quoted around NT$32 to one US
Dollar. Foreign currencies can be
exchanged at the airport upon arrival,
or at government-authorized banks,
tourist hotels, and large department
stores. Receipts are given when currency
is exchanged, and must be presented in
order to exchange unused NT Dollars
before departure. Traveler's checks in
major currencies may be cashed at some
tourist-oriented businesses and at most
international tourist hotels.
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Credit
Cards
Hotels, department stores, airlines,
large stores and restaurants accept
major credit cards. Cash is generally
preferred elsewhere.
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Banking Hours
Banks are open from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.,
Monday to Friday.
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Telecommunication Service
One local call from a pay phone costs
NT$1 for 1 minute, after which
additional coins are needed or the line
will be automatically disconnected. On
private phones, the overseas operator
may be reached by dialing "100." Direct
dialing is available to some phones,
after first dialing the prefix "002."
International direct dialing rates are
calculated every six seconds.
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Time
Zone
Taiwan is eight hours ahead of Greenwich
Mean Time (GMT) and does not practice
daylight saving time in summer. You can
check Taiwan's local time and the time
difference from your local time via this
link:
http://www.worldtimeserver.com/
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Electricity Supply
Taiwan uses electric current of 110
volts at 60 cycles, appliances from
Europe, Australia or South-East Asia
will need an adaptor or transformer.
Many buildings have sockets with 220
volts especially for the use of air
conditioners.
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Customs
Personal items are free of duty.
Visitors over 20 years old may bring in,
duty free, 200 cigarettes or 25 cigars
or 0.5 kg of tobacco, one bottle of
liquor and one used camera. Gold cannot
be exported without a permit issued by
the Ministry of Finance. Passengers
arriving with gold and silver and
planning to take it out at departure
must declare it and leave the items with
Customs until they leave Taiwan.
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Tipping / Taxes
Tipping is optional. It is usual,
however, to tip hotel porters and for
restaurant service. A 10% service charge
and a 5% value-added tax are added to
room rates and meals.
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Taxis
Major cities have an abundance of taxis.
Charges are NT$70 for the first 1.5km
and NT$5 for each additional 300 meters.
An additional NT$5 is charged for every
two minutes of waiting, and a 20%
surcharge is added to fares between 11
p.m. and 6 a.m., NT$10 dollars tip
needed for cab dispatched by phone and
for luggage placed in taxi trunk.
Basically, taxi fares in all major
cities are set by local city government
itself and are in a minor discrepancy.
Out-of-town or long-distance travels may
not apply to meter charge; travelers are
suggested to confirm charging method
before getting on taxi.
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