Geographical location: Eastern Asia, north of the Philippines, off the southeastern coast of China

Capital: Taipei

Currency: Taiwan Dollar (TWD)

Weather: Subropical, with moderate temperatures in the north, where there is a winter season; Monsoon season: June to October

Best time to go: The fall, September to October, is the best time of Taipei with a cool temperature of 23ºC.

Transportation

• Buses
• Trains (Metro rail, light rail, high speed rail, general rail)
• Boats
• Pick-ups, Taxis and Minibuses
• Car & Motorcycle Hire
• Domestic flights are available through China Airlines

Languages Spoken: Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects

Sports/Recreation: The most popular sport in Taiwan is baseball, it is also commonly considered as the national sport for the Republic of China. Other Sports include cycling, basketball, etc.

Cuisine
Today’s Taiwan cuisine is a culmination of past influences blended with an abundance of local ingredients and creative cooking techniques.
Notable delicacies include: Chinese meatballs, stinky tofu, eel with yellow noodles, and rice with stewed ground pork.

Ethnicity: Taiwanese (including Hakka) 84%, mainland Chinese 14%, indigenous 2%

Population: 22,974,347 (July 2009 estimate)

Religion: Mixture of Buddhist and Taoist (93%), Christian (4.5%)

Economy

Capitalist economy
Major industries: exporting, trading, transportation and toursim
Exports include: electronics, flat panels, machinery, metals, textiles, plastics, chemicals, auto parts

Government: Multiparty democracy

Security: Low threat from terrorism. Small-scale petty crime affecting foreign nationals exists but is uncommon.

Popular Accommodations

• Delight Hotel – Taipei
• Debao Business Hotel – Taichung
• Han Wang Hotel – Kaohsiung
• Riverside Inn – Yilan
• Astar Hotel – Hualien
• Howard Beach Resort – Kenting

Tourist Attractions

• Metropolitan Park
• The Luce Chapel – Christian Chapel
• Fengle Sculpture Park – The most beautiful park in Taiwan.
• National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts
• Natural Museum of Science
• Taichung Park
• Dakeng Scenic Area – Dakeng Parkland has eight hiking paths. The total length of the footways is 11.87 kilometers. The parks are showcase different styles of landscapes and scenery.
• Confucius Temple & Martyrs Shrine
• Folklore Park -The first folk theme park in Taiwan, located in Taichung. On holidays, the park has on-site shows and activities including Chinese instrument performance, dragon and lion dances.

Visa Matters

Citizens from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the US may stay in Taiwan for up to 30 days without a visa and require a passport valid for at least six months from entry. For Americans, if passport is valid for less than six months then a visa is required, although a 30-day visitor visa can be obtained on arrival at Chiang Kai Shek or Kaohsiung International Airport for NT$4,400.

British citizens may stay in Taiwan for up to 90 days without a visa. If passport endorsed with other than British Citizen, a visa is required. Passports should be valid for at least six months from entry.

All other countries require a visa to enter Taiwan.

Flights

Taiwan Flag

• Uni Air flights
• Korean Air flights
• Shanghai Airlines flights
• Trans Asia Airways flights
• China Eastern flights
• Hainan Airlines flights
• China Airlines flights
• Philippine Airlines flights
• Qantas flights
• Cathay Pacific flights
• Cebu Pacific flights
• American Airlines flights
• EVA Air flights
• China Southern flights
• Shenzhen Airlines flights
• Mandarin Airlines flights
• Garuda Indonesia flights
• Shandong Airlines flights
• Japan Airlines flights
• Air China flights
• Sichuan Airlines flights
• Dragonair/Hong Kong Dragon Airlines flights
• KLM.com flights
• Continental Airlines flights
• All Nippon Airways flights
• Asiana Airlines flights
• Alitalia flights
• Thai Airways flights
• United flights
• Delta flights
• Air Macau flights
• Xiamen Airlines flights
• Air Canada flights
• Vietnam Airlines flights
• Northwest Airlines flights
• Lufthansa flights
• Malaysia Airlines flights
• Hong Kong Express flights
• Czech Airlines flights
• Singapore Airlines flights
• Jetstar Asia flights