Posted by John on Apr 8, 2011 in Taipei Living Guide | 0 comments

Here is a quick rundown of how I present Chinese terms and proper names on the site and in the book. A lot of extra blood, sweat and tears—and probably carpal tunnel—went into adding Chinese characters and Romanizations for EVERY single Mandarin word I present. I have done this to help Mandarin learners to 1) correctly pronounce Chinese words and 2) learn how to write them, and also to help native speakers in case you fail in either one or two. In such cases, your Taiwanese counterpart can simply look at the Chinese charactes on the page to figure out what you are talking about. But for the sake of actually learning the language, I highly suggest that you at least try their hand at saying the word first.

Posted by John on Apr 8, 2011 in Taipei Living Guide | 0 comments

As you would imagine, addresses and phone numbers work a little (in fact, quite a bit) differently in Taiwan than they do back home. Here is some essential address and phone number info you will need to get around in Taiwan. Fortunately, the Taiwan system is pretty easy to get used to once you’ve been here for a few weeks. Good luck!

Posted by John on Apr 8, 2011 in Taipei Living Guide | 13 comments

To legally work or study in Taiwan, you must get the right kind of visa. If you are smart (i.e. you are not like me), you will come into Taiwan on a 60-day tourist visa. This is the ONLY visa type that can be later changed into a resident visa. But if you come in on a landing visa like the aforementioned idiot, you will have to leave the country again and obtain a tourist visa at one of the TECOs listed in the Appendix before being able to get a job in Taiwan. Here’s the scoop…

Posted by John on Apr 8, 2011 in Taipei Living Guide | 1 comment

Assuming you already have your tourist visa squared, it’s time to pack for your trip. Otherwise, go back and complete the instructions in the previous post before you even begin thinking about packing! Fortunately, you don’t need to bring very much with you as Taiwan is a modern, industrialized nation where you can find just about everything you could possibly need. There are, however, a few items that are hard to find and are worth bringing with you. Some of these may surprise you…

Posted by John on Apr 8, 2011 in Taipei Living Guide | 0 comments

Although credit cards are accepted at major stores and restaurants, Taiwan is a cash-centric society and it is a good idea to carry some spending money with you. Pick-pocketing is not that common, so you don’t need to be as paranoid about carrying cash as in Italy for example, but it is still a good idea to carry a money belt (especially until you get used to your surroundings). If you get to the airport during normal working hours, the money exchange booths should be open. The rates at the airport are more or less comparable to banks in the city, so you might as well exchange money at the airport for the sake of convenience. It is a good idea to exchange at least 10,000 NT as this gives you enough for the shuttle bus, cabs, food, and any other unexpected expenses you may encounter your first week.

Posted by John on Apr 8, 2011 in Taipei Living Guide | 0 comments

Getting into to town from the airport will be your first linguistic and cultural challenge (or shall we say “opportunity”), but the following information should help things go more smoothly no matter how jet-lagged you may be…

If you lack the teleportation skills of Hiro Nakamura or don’t travel with a portable helecopter, you are left with three main transportation options from Taoyuan International (a.k.a C.K.S. International) Airport to downtown Taipei: a ride from a friend (ideal, but with an hour plus drive each way, you will owe them quite a few rounds at the pub next time), a lift in a taxi (more expensive obviously), or an airport shuttle bus (the most common, cheapest option).