Same-sex marriage was legalised in Taiwan on 24 May 2019, making it the first Asian jurisdiction to do so. However, for gay and lesbian foreigners to get married in Taiwan, they either must be marrying a Taiwanese, or both partners must be citizens of countries where same-sex marriage is legal. Same-sex marriage between a mainland Chinese and a Taiwanese is also forbidden. The hotline provides 24-hour Mandarin, English and Japanese service, as well as Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, and Khmer service from 9AM to 5PM on working days.
It also helps if a friend sees you being picked up as taxis have visible license numbers. Because most adult private students want to practice English conversation, you don’t need Chinese-speaking ability. However, it is definitely a selling point, and Chinese speaking ability is worth mentioning in any advertising of your services. Also, once you have some regular students, remember that in Taiwan, as in most Asian countries, connections, or rather, guanxi, are very important. If your students like you, they will likely recommend you to their family and friends.
When reporting a major crime, it is advisable to contact the Foreign Affairs unit in addition to officers at the local precinct. Police stations are marked with a red light above the door and display a sign with the word “Police” clearly printed in English. Taiwan is very safe for tourists, even for women walking down the street alone at night.
People of Taiwan
Hehuan Mountain and Sun Moon Lake are beautiful natural attractions near Nantou, while the huge and ancient trees in Lalashan make for great hikes near Taoyuan. In fact, most of Taiwan is covered with mountains which offer breathtaking views, so hiking opportunities are very diverse. Most traffic signs are in international symbols, but many signs only show the names of places and streets in Chinese. All road directional signs are written in both Chinese and English, though the non-standardized Romanization means that English names can vary between road signs, making it rather confusing. The highways are in excellent shape with toll stations around every 30 km (19 mi). Tolls are charged electronically and you pay the rental company when you return the car.
Taiwan National Flag
When the People’s Liberation Army won the Chinese Civil War, much of the National Revolutionary Army retreated to Taiwan along with the government. The 1947 Constitution of the ROC reformed it into the Republic of China Armed Forces, making it the national army rather than the army of a political party. Units which surrendered and remained in mainland China were either disbanded or incorporated into the People’s Liberation Army. Typhoons are most common in July, August and September.271 During the winter (November to March), the northeast experiences steady rain, while the central and southern parts of the island are mostly sunny. Authorities have also issued orders to close schools and offices in the central and southern parts of Taiwan, including the coastal cities of Kaohsiung, Taichung and Tainan as well as Pingtung, Chiayi and Miaoli counties.
Mandarin Chinese
It has partial mutual intelligibility with Japanese Sign Language and Korean Sign Language, but not with Chinese queenwin casino Sign Language or Hong Kong Sign Language. The other branches of government are the Judicial Yuan, which serves as Taiwan’s constitutional court and leads the judiciary branch, the Examination Yuan, which administers civil service examinations, and the Control Yuan, which is responsible for auditing the government. “Taiwan is China’s Taiwan,” ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a press briefing on Monday, adding that China would not “tolerate any foreign interference” on the matter.
- Taiwan exports a wide range of products, with electronics and machinery being the largest categories.
- In smaller cities, they are only open certain nights of the week and may move to different streets depending on the day of the week.
- While Taiwanese themselves don’t generally hitchhike, foreigners will have it very easy to find a hitch.
- According to the sole water company of Taiwan, tap water is in general safe to drink.
- With full containment in July 2003, there has not been a case of SARS since.497 Owing to the lessons from SARS, a National Health Command Center fr was established in 2004, which includes the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
- The Nationalist government, remnants of their army, and hundreds of thousands of supporters then fled to Taiwan, but also retained control of several offshore islands of Fujian.
- You can find a lot of private students around universities with a Chinese teaching department — look for the areas where all the foreign students are and check the noticeboards.
These are often found on the first or second floor of buildings and equipped with very comfortable chairs and large screens. Although people do surf the Internet, most people primarily go there for a smooth experience of online gaming. They can be a problem in remote and rural regions, although they are far less numerous than in Thailand and Myanmar.
Credit/debit cards
The shared cultural origin as well as hostility between the rival ROC and PRC have resulted in national identity being a contentious issue with political overtones. The Pan-Green Coalition is mainly led by the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). As of Wednesday morning, Fung-wong was about 140 kilometers (87 miles) southwest of Taiwan in the South China Sea, moving northeast at 16 kph (10 mph). After wreaking havoc in the Philippines as a super typhoon on Sunday, Fung-wong — still holding tropical storm energy — brought record rains to the mountainous east coast and triggered floods with water level rising neck-high in places.
Taipei is a bustling and modern metropolis, with ancient yet lively streets, and world-famous landmarks like Taipei 101. However, it’s also home to the National Palace Museum, Zhongshan Hall, Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall and the beautifully restored Bao’an Temple. The large Longshan Temple in Lukang and the Confucian Temples of Changhua and Tainan are fine choices too. Tainan is the oldest city in Taiwan and therefore full of historic sites, especially colonial buildings, and including the Anping “Tree House” that’s being slowly reclaimed by banyan trees. If you’re looking for some deeper insights in Taiwan’s history and culture, there’s a wide range of museums to be explored, pretty much wherever you go. Mainline trains are run by the separate Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA, 台鐵), whose services are generally efficient and reliable.
- Taiwan is an island of huge mountains (more than two hundred peaks over 3,000m) and there are many hiking opportunities.
- Hong Kong and Macau residents who also have another passport (except BN(O) or a Portuguese passport obtained before the handover) must use the other passport (and apply for the correct visa, if required) to enter Taiwan and not their Hong Kong/Macau passport.
- China is especially touchy about Taiwan, the self-governed island that Beijing claims as part of its territory.
- The country is a global leader in technology, particularly in the fields of semiconductors, electronics, and information technology.
- For travel to Green Island and Orchid Island, the plane from Taitung saves several hours over taking the ferry which is notorious among Taiwanese for its rough ride.
- While a relatively newcomer to the scene, Taiwanese whisky (威士忌) has been making waves in the 21st century, with local whiskey brand Kavalan having emerged from obscurity to win numerous prestigious international awards.
Citizens of Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau
For Mainland Chinese citizens, they also need a Taiwan Travel Permit (往来台湾通行证) with a corresponding permission to leave Mainland China. As of December 2024, travel permission are not issued by Mainland authorities to Mainland Chinese citizens. They may, however, apply for permission to visit for business, education or family visits. Mainland Chinese citizens residing in Fujian residents can travel to Matsu for tourism. The Taiwanese dialect is a variant of Minnan, which is similar to the dialect spoken across the Taiwan Strait in South Fujian. Unlike in South Fujian, Taiwanese Minnan has some loan words from Japanese as a result of 50 years of Japanese colonization.
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. You can find a lot of private students around universities with a Chinese teaching department — look for the areas where all the foreign students are and check the noticeboards. Keep in mind that you can only get an ARC for English teaching if you are a ‘citizen of a native English speaking country’. Taiwan’s government defines these countries to be only the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa. 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. Therefore, if the teacher wishes to leave their employment, they will have to quickly find an alternative employer or lose their ARC and hence be required to leave Taiwan.
Taiwan does not have formal embassies in most of the world’s countries (due to the ‘One China’ policy of mainland China preventing formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan). Instead, Taiwan operates a “Taipei Representative Office”, “Taipei Economic and Trade Office”, or something of a similarly ambiguous name in most major countries, and these act as de facto embassies and consulates that can issue Taiwanese visas. Most older place names and personal names are derived from a simplified version of Wade-Giles. Some local governments, such as that of Taipei and Taichung, have already converted their street signs to Hanyu Pinyin and New Taipei is implementing the switch to Hanyu Pinyin.
If you can speak Chinese, you can ask restaurant staff whether the food contains common allergens like peanuts or shellfish, and depending on the chef, they may be able to make some adjustments to accommodate you. A serious soy allergy is basically incompatible with Taiwanese cuisine due to the prevalence of soy sauce as an ingredient, and gluten-free diets are very difficult to come by due to the very low incidence of celiac disease in Taiwan. Dairy is not commonly used in traditional Taiwanese cuisine, so avoiding it should be straightforward for lactose-intolerant people. 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.