Taiwan - FathomAsia

Fathom Asia’s Taiwan
Taiwan lies off the southeastern coast of mainland Asia,
across the Taiwan Strait from mainland China and on the edge
of the Pacific “rim of fire”. Continuous tectonic movements
have created majestic peaks, rolling hills, plains, basins,
coastlines, and other wonders. Because of it’s location,
Taiwan is perfect for either a stopover to many other
destinations worldwide, or indeed a destination in it’s own right.
Explore Taiwan, a new holiday destination just waiting to
be found, with fantastic scenery and fabulous places to
visit, such as Taipei City, the beautiful Sun Moon Lake, the
romantic Love River, sunrises at Alishan, the national
parks of Kenting and Yushan and the famous Taroko Gorge.
The diversity of Taiwan offers a rich historical background
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. This mix gives the visitor to
Taiwan a huge option of interests, whether it be folk art,
culture, history, architecture, temples or the type of shopping
you may be interested in. Taiwan will satisfy your interests.
The culinary culture of Taiwan.
The culinary culture of the Chinese people goes back a very
long time, so you can enjoy fine authentic cuisine from all
the various regions of China. In Taiwan, it seems the people
live to eat and 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. Try roast duck, smoked chicken,
lamb hotpot, fish in wine sauce, beef with green peppers,
scallop and turnip balls, camphor-tea duck, salty fried chicken
with spices, honey ham, stir-fried shrimp, dry-fried eggplant,
and spicy bean curd.
With the influx of other nationalities Western food and fast food
outlets have also become popular. All of this makes Taiwan a
paradise for food lovers. Taiwan’s own native cuisine has
become known around the world, and if you try it just once you
will remember it forever.
Adventure. Though small, Taiwan has much to offer in terms
of recreational activities, such as diving, snorkeling, surfing,
boating, river kayaking or canoeing, hiking, mountain climbing,
or even aero-sports, such as parasailing and hang-gliding. Just
ask about your interest. Taiwan is sure to offer it.
Shopping in Taiwan is a paradise for shoppers.
Taiwan has a huge range of large shopping centers. These
venues offer designer clothing, lifestyle products, food outlets,
bookstores, wholesale warehouses, and amusement centers,
providing the ultimate shopping environment.
Several theme streets are a must, exhibiting an exciting
blend of history and style. Other venues, including the
weekend jade markets and computer lane in Taipei’s
Guanghua commercial plaza, are very good places to find
great and unexpected bargains.
Try your hand at the local arts, crafts and cooking.
Taiwan has many unusual local arts and crafts that are a little
different to what you may be used to. Glove Puppetry is a
traditional performing art incorporating a range of skills. The
puppets are hand crafted and expertly made. Oil paper
umbrellas play an important role for the Hakka people who give
them away as a gesture of good luck. Dough figures are made
into characters from legendary stories. Blowing sugar figurines
from melted sugar. True!
There are many things one can experience or learn about.
Chinese knots, scented sachets, whipping tops, kites, pottery,
diabolos and calligraphy - the essence of Chinese culture.
ATMs and Credit Cards.
Most foreign cards are accepted 24 hours a day with
ATMs found in all major districts.
Most restaurants, hotels and shops accept credit cards. You
may not be able to use credit cards at small businesses,
markets or in rural areas.
Tipping.
Tipping is not customary however, a service charge of about
10% is often added to the bill in many hotels and restaurants.
VAT.
VAT is payable on goods and services. Fathom Asia includes
this in all tour packages. A foreign visitor rebate is given on
goods when departing the country if NT$3000 is spent on any
given day.
Getting Around.
MRT: Rapid transport systems in Taipei and Kaohsiung.
Bus: Scheduled buses run from the airports to all major cities.
Island-wide and regional bus companies operate intercity
services that cover the whole island.
Taiwan High Speed Railway: The THSR covers 345
kilometers, connecting Taipei and Zuoying The route passes
through 77 townships en route.
Railway: Trains on the ‘round the island’ rail network provide
extremely convenient services.