home international passport The peculiarity of the Taiwanese soul. What language is spoken in Taiwan: features and interesting facts

The peculiarity of the Taiwanese soul. What language is spoken in Taiwan: features and interesting facts

Population

About 22.8 million people. The vast majority of Taiwan's residents are Chinese (up to 98%, "Han"), also living indigenous people(“Goashan”, up to 350 thousand people). About 90% of the island's population lives on the western coastal plain.

Political state

Democratic Republic of Chinese Taipei (Republic of China). The head of state is the president. The head of government ("Executive Yuan") is the Prime Minister. Legislative branch - unicameral Legislative Yuan ("Li-Fang-Yuan", 225 seats - 168 deputies elected by popular vote, 41 elected by proportional representation from political parties 8 are elected from representatives of overseas Chinese communities, 8 from representatives of ethnic minorities. All deputies are elected for a three-year term) and a unicameral National Assembly (300 delegates nominated by the country's main political parties), assembled only to make emergency decisions.

Language in Taiwan

The official language is Chinese, from the many dialects of which the northern (Beijing) dialect has been chosen as the “national language”. But in everyday life, locals use the Fujianese dialect. Most Taiwanese speak fluent English (it is taught as a first foreign language in many schools), while the older generation speaks Japanese.

Religion in Taiwan

The most widespread and officially recognized religion is Buddhism (it is professed by about 4.9 million people). Also widespread are Taoism (3.64 million), new religious movements (over 1 million), Protestantism (over 374 thousand), Catholicism (296 thousand), Islam (52 thousand people). Confucianism retains a strong position as a moral and ethical teaching, although there are also temples of Confucius.

Taiwanese cuisine

Taiwanese cuisine is a rather unusual combination of many traditions, primarily Chinese. But if we take into account that even in mainland China there are literally countless styles and traditions in cooking, then the island cuisine, which for a long time developed in isolation from the main territory, can be considered an example of traditional Chinese cuisine. Many Taiwanese believe that it is here that the culinary traditions that the Chinese used more than 2 thousand years ago have been preserved. But the abundance of immigrants from all corners of China has brought here many variants of modern Chinese cuisine - here you can find many restaurants and cafes representing Cantonese, Hunan, Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai, Yanzhou or Sichuan variations of the Chinese tradition.

Among the national features, one can note the widespread use of rice, soybeans and vegetables. A variety of porridges made from rice, kaoliang, corn or millet are used both as a bread substitute and as the main “carrier” for other dishes. Soy, the main meat substitute on the Chinese table, is also used to prepare butter, soy milk, salted soybean paste, doufu or tofu cottage cheese (there are dozens of types) and numerous sauces. No less popular are products made from flour and dough - dozens of varieties of noodles and vermicelli, flatbreads and crispbreads, dumplings and ravioli, mantou dumplings and baozi pies, wontons and numerous battered products.

Vegetables play a huge role; they are served in various combinations with many dishes, as well as pickled, salted in soy sauce, fermented and dried. Particularly popular are young bamboo shoots (served boiled, side dishes and as an independent snack), all kinds of cabbage, sweet potatoes, potatoes, radishes of various varieties, green onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, spinach and green beans, as well as dozens types of vegetables and herbs for which there are simply no names in Russian. There are also quite unusual combinations of products, such as bean curd in red sauce, eggplant in soy sauce, boiled rice with the blood of some animal, omelet with radish, pancakes with onions and peppers, the ubiquitous “tea eggs” - “cha-e-dan” ", a classic Taiwanese dish of congee, vegetables and roots, rice balls in bamboo leaves "zong zi", pickled cucumber salad "sao huang kwa liang ban" and other snacks ("shiao chief").

The meat is extremely popular, but due to its relative, until recently, high cost, poultry and pork are mainly used. Popular dishes include Taiwanese steak, always served “straight from the fire” with noodles, grain side dish and carrots, traditional Peking duck, chicken marinated with onions, beef with oyster sauce, fried and boiled pork in sweet and sour sauce, minced poultry with gingko nut sauces, noodle soup with poultry "ji-si-tang-mian", fried noodles with vegetables or meat "chow mein", fried egg "dan chao fan" with rice in dozens of variations , Chinese vermicelli with pork "ma yi shang shu", meat in a sauce of butter, seafood paste and soybean paste "huguo", fried chicken "gongbao" or specially fried chicken "san pei ji" (served in three separate pots with different sauces), "Mongolian barbecue" from various types poultry, meat and vegetables, fried meat with radish balls and soy sauce, salt baked chicken, ham with honey, dumplings with pork or vegetables "jeng jiao", boiled pork with greens "dongpo rou" or the country's simplest dish - “zhu-yu-ban-fan” (rice balls with lard and soy sauce). Poultry meat is often replaced with frog, fish and other unusual ingredients (including insects), without detracting from the other advantages of the dish.

The dominant role of fish and other seafood, once a hallmark of Taiwanese cuisine, continues to be an important feature of the local cuisine today. The Taiwanese still place an important emphasis on dishes made from fish and other seafood, with a special reverence for oysters and an endless variety of soups. Worth trying are boiled fish with herbs, fried shrimp with cashew nuts, eel in pepper sauce, Xian Yu fish soup, fried small fish in peanut sauce, fish with chips or rice, stir-fry mushrooms with crab meat (often mushrooms are simply stuffed with the meat of some sea creature), fried eel "ningpo", jellyfish salad, the famous shark fin soup, a traditional appetizer in the form of an omelette with oysters, octopus or other representatives of marine fauna and other excellent seafood. Recently, the country has used many dishes borrowed from Japanese cuisine - sushi (sushi), sashimi (sashimi), wasabi, miso, teppanyaki and others.

Taiwanese cooking uses many ingredients that seem wild and exotic - dog meat, snake meat, insects, seaweed and so on. In principle, these are very colorful and completely safe dishes. The only thing you should pay attention to when consuming such products is the huge amount of spices that are not always familiar to the European stomach. It is simply useless to talk about them - every master of oriental cuisine makes his own sauces and seasonings according to his own recipe, therefore, although they are generally similar to traditional curry or soy sauce, local seasonings are noticeably different from their “ancestors”. And, of course, a huge amount of local and imported fruits are served on the table. Unlike mainland China, chefs in Taiwan are rarely used to prepare dishes yellow wine, so popular on the continent. Here, for boiling, frying and preparing sauces, they use clear and light rice wine, very similar to the Japanese “murin”.

The most common drink in China is green tea, which is drunk very hot and with almost no sugar. But the Taiwanese have a special attitude towards tea. Black and green tea are drunk much less frequently than various flower and herbal teas in all sorts of combinations with regular tea. A local invention is considered to be “foamy” or “pearl” tea, prepared from tea, milk, sugar and cassava or yuca (mainly from its starch). This tea is first brewed and then infused in the same container for half an hour, which gives it a special taste and color.

Vodka is in China traditional drink, but usually it is infused with various ingredients, has an unusual taste and has a specific smell, although it is quite strong. Light and strong rice or millet beer is very widespread - quite cheap and of high quality. Also popular are the alcoholic drink made from sorghum "Kaoliang" and rice wine "Shaoxing". Many types of imported alcoholic beverages are sold everywhere.

Customs and traditions of Taiwan

Local residents are extremely friendly and supportive, especially towards visitors. Taiwanese especially respect island visitors who are interested in their culture. As in mainland China, for the Taiwanese the basis of relationships between people is “face,” that is, reputation. A lot of things are built on this concept, from doing business in business to relationships between people on the street. Therefore, “to save face,” the Taiwanese try to minimize the manifestation of their emotions or openly express their feelings. Many guests of the island are also struck by the apparent deceit local residents- it is believed that they never say what they think. But this is not true - like the Japanese, in order not to upset their interlocutor with a refusal, local residents try not to say “no,” only in a more veiled form. But sincere smiles and amazing politeness are the everyday norm. Therefore, similar behavior is expected from tourists. When meeting, local residents, as a rule, shake hands quite Europeanly. When a group of people meets, the oldest ones are greeted first (the cult of respect for elders is generally very developed on the island).

This also leads to another feature of the Taiwanese - the absence of duplicity or grasping in real relationships. No matter how the two sides bow, no matter how they practice rhetoric, any issue is resolved in the correct form. If an agreement or transaction has taken place, its terms will be observed impeccably. As a result, this leads to the same prices in different parts of the city, the same exchange rate everywhere, or even paying in a taxi strictly according to the meter.

A separate aspect of local relationships is gift giving. Since, according to local norms, it must be deeply symbolic and reflect the respect of the donor for the recipient, the gifts themselves carry some kind of set of symbols. Accordingly, they are selected (and evaluated!) with special care. Some flattery, ostentatious self-condemnation and flowery rhetoric are a common part of gift-giving interactions between local residents. Together with “saving face,” this entourage creates the basis of “guanshi” (“connection”) - a system of bilateral obligations of two or more people, which is the unshakable foundation of local society. At the same time, both “face” and “guanshi” are fickle concepts. They must be constantly developed or nourished, otherwise a person’s “weight” in society decreases.

A gift should be given and accepted with both hands, in a slight half-bow (it is impolite to open a gift in front of the giver). Moreover, the very procedure of giving and accepting a gift is part of the “mian jie” (“exchange of persons”) ceremony, which is expressed in the persistence (sometimes excessive) of the donor. Based on the same principle, disputes constantly arise - who will pay the bill at a restaurant or a joint entertainment event (the one who paid has a higher reputation). Under no circumstances should you give handkerchiefs, as well as wall or table clocks, as this is a bad omen. However, any unsuccessful gift can be “evened out” with a coin - in this case, it is already a purchase and numerous taboos do not apply to it.

When meeting people, local residents show remarkable curiosity, literally bombarding the guest with a lot of questions, often of a rather personal nature. This is a sign of attention, and not a desire to interfere in private life, so such questions should be treated calmly. Reciprocal curiosity is also acceptable, which is usually pleasant (and understandable) to the Taiwanese himself. At the same time, the locals are quite funny, which also often confuses people. Laughter performs quite a few functions in local etiquette - it is sincere joy, and regret about a small failure, and the desire to make amends or soften some awkward situation.

The cult of food is an important part of the country's culture. Traditionally, Chinese lunch is served at a round table, in the center of which there is a flat circle on a rotating stand. Food is served on large plates and transferred in the required quantity onto small plates by the guest himself. First, cold appetizers are served, then hot dishes, and only after them the so-called main courses (“zhushi”). At the end of the meal, soup or broth is served. There is no dessert as such - fruits and sweets are on the table throughout the entire meal and are often even used in the main course. Eating also takes place in compliance with many rules and traditions.

Almost all dishes are supposed to be taken with chopsticks, although most restaurants have European cutlery and it is not forbidden to use them. After finishing the meal, you should not leave chopsticks stuck into food and under no circumstances sticking out of the cup. A bowl or plate can be brought to the very chin and eaten by weight. It is not recommended to knock chopsticks or cutlery against the edge of the dish. Do not point the spout of the kettle at a person. Bones can be placed directly on the tablecloth, under the edge of the plate - a dirty tablecloth is considered a sign that you liked the treat. The portion sizes are usually quite large, so it is recommended to order one for several people. As a sign of gratitude for the poured wine or tea, you can knock on the table three times with your middle finger. You can refuse this or that dish or drink, but in general it is recommended to follow the instructions of the owner of the table.

In most cases, clothing is quite informal. Most local residents dress in European style, and following fashion trends is not an empty phrase for them. Business attire and evening dress are subject to European etiquette standards. Many restaurants simply won’t let you in without a tie and jacket, although there are many lower-level establishments where entry in casual (but not sports or beach) clothing is not limited.

When entering someone else's house, you should always take off your shoes. Usually, slippers are prepared for guests in any home. But in in public places(except in some traditional restaurants) it is extremely rude to take off your shoes. Moreover, sandals or flip-flops are considered the shoes of a redneck and are unpopular in urban environments - many establishments simply won’t let you wear them (although there are exceptions).

A couple of years ago I visited Taiwan for the first time, but it was a very quick trip, only four and a half days. I saw a lot in that short time, but I realized that I wanted to explore the island in more detail. So this time I came for a week and a half, and during that time I looked around a little.

2. Temples are always guarded by statues of not quite lions (). For the Chinese, the classic lion must hold a stone ball in its mouth. These balls do not fit into the opening of the mouth; they are hollowed out from one piece of stone, already in the mouth of the statue.

But in Taiwan there are often others, without a ball. Japanese influence again?

3. The temples inside are all bright and colorful, there is no Japanese restraint here. The more colorful the better. Light bulbs, neon lights, and electronic displays are often found.

4. Look - it's Bowser, the main villain from the Super Mario games! I also got caught in the temple.

5. There are tables and stools in the squares in front of many temples; local residents come here to drink tea and have lunch. They combine spiritual food with ordinary food. Here you can meet large, cheerful companies.

6. Domestic tourism is developed in Taiwan, and the authorities support it in every possible way. In large cities there are tourist offices where both locals and foreigners will be happy to tell you about nearby attractions. There are also special stamps to mark your visit.

7. Residents of Taiwan buy these cloth maps of the entire island.

8. And they put stamps on them in the places where they come.

9. It turns out to be a kind of passport for an internal tourist. Taiwanese are more willing to travel around the country collecting such stamps.

10. The main attractions of the country also have their own seals - for example, in the Taipei 101 skyscraper, where our office is located.

11. Like throughout Asia, overpasses are very popular here. Subways, highways and railways - everything is built on these elevated roads above the ground.

12. In some places you can come across crazy concentrations of these roads in the air.

13. Along the river embankment that separates downtown Taipei from the new areas is a high wall.

14. The island is located on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, in this region, and thus the capital is protected from tsunamis.

UPD: In comments vovachan suggests that the wall protects not from tsunamis, but from floods during typhoons.

15. To somehow brighten up this gray view, in some places a mosaic was applied to the wall with views of lawns and trees on the shore (all this really is on the other side).

16. Passage through the wall is possible with the help of these heavy gates, which close in case of danger.

17. It turns out there is a limit. This is how the lanes are fenced off, where two-wheeled beasts are not allowed to enter.

18. Surprisingly, Taiwan is perhaps the country in which I have met the fewest non-Asians. Outside the capital, there are none at all (maybe I saw about five in a few days of traveling), but even in Taipei, seeing a European face is a huge rarity.

19. The exception is the Taipei 101 skyscraper area, it seems that all the white people are crowded here.

Also, it’s interesting that now in the Taiwanese capital it’s almost 20 degrees Celsius, but all the locals dress as if the weather is almost zero. Look at the difference between this white guy's clothes and everyone else's!

20. Japan controlled Taiwan for half a century (1895 - 1945), and if not for World War II, it would most likely have integrated the island into its possessions forever. But even 70 years after the Japanese left these lands, their influence is felt in everyday life. Taiwanese people view the Japanese occupation much more calmly than those in mainland China, and willingly adopt various Japanese habits. For example, stores like 7-Eleven and Family Mart in Taiwan are much closer to those found in Japan.

21. And the "French" bakeries, which are so popular in the Country Rising Sun also settled down here. The temptation to run in and quickly grab some baked goods is very great.

22. But the main thing that came here from Japan are super-sophisticated toilets. It is known that . And in Taiwan you often come across shocks with heating, washing and God knows what else!

Except that I haven’t met it here yet.

23. In Taipei, transformer boxes are painted. Why just put iron boxes in the middle of the street if you can make them a little “prettier”?

24. Although I think they could have been decorated in a more interesting way. Get real graffiti writers involved in this cause.

25. Finding unpainted boxes in the capital is almost impossible, but I tried for you. This is the only place where they were just green. And even then, they hide under the stairs.

26. And these are mailboxes. Two different ones, and each has two slits. That is, four different options for leaving a letter. I've never seen so many.

The inscriptions on the slots (from left to right): Fast Delivery, Airmail, Local, and Outgoing. I don’t know what all this means and what the difference is between them.

27. Some of Taipei's main streets are beautiful leafy boulevards. There are many trees, paths and benches. It's nice to walk and relax.

Local residents walk their dogs here and go jogging.

28. Outside the cities, Taiwan has beautiful nature.

But I'll tell you about it another time.

I still have a few days left in Taiwan - if there is something interesting to see (or meet someone) in Taipei or beyond - write!

WITH a short excursion his stories.

Local residents are extremely friendly and supportive, especially towards visitors. Taiwanese especially respect island visitors who are interested in their culture. As in mainland China, for the Taiwanese the basis of relationships between people is “face,” that is, reputation. A lot of things are built on this concept, from doing business in business to relationships between people on the street. Therefore, “to save face,” the Taiwanese try to minimize the manifestation of their emotions or openly express their feelings. Many guests of the island are also struck by the seeming deceit of the locals - it is believed that they never say what they think. But this is not true - like the Japanese, in order not to upset their interlocutor with a refusal, local residents try not to say “no,” only in a more veiled form. But sincere smiles and amazing politeness are the everyday norm. Therefore, similar behavior is expected from tourists. When meeting, local residents, as a rule, shake hands quite Europeanly. When a group of people meets, the oldest ones are greeted first (the cult of respect for elders is generally very developed on the island).

When entering someone else's house, you should always take off your shoes. Usually, slippers are prepared for guests in any home. But in public places (except for some traditional restaurants) it is extremely indecent to take off your shoes. Moreover, sandals or flip-flops are considered the shoes of a redneck and are unpopular in urban environments - many establishments simply won’t let you wear them (although there are exceptions).

The so-called Republic of China, which actually occupies the island of Taiwan and several other small islands, is not particularly popular among Russian and Western tourists due to its remoteness and lack of prominent attractions. Nevertheless, this small but very densely populated country is of interest to urbanists, nature lovers, and “specific” tourism on the topic unrecognized states, transport, hot spots and eastern religions. In addition, a traveler in Taiwan will be pleased good infrastructure and very low prices by the standards of developed countries. In a word, Taiwan is a strong middle peasant among countries Far East, recommended for visiting for people who have already explored this region a little.

Geography

Taroko Gorge, Eastern Taiwan

The island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, is a bit like Israel in shape and size: it stretches from north to south, about 500 km in length and 200 km in width. Despite its small size, the island is very diverse in terms of nature and landscapes. The western half of the island (“ecumene”) is a densely populated plain dotted with cities, of which the four most important are Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung. In the northern part this plain is somewhat more hilly than in the southern part. The eastern half, with the exception of a narrow coastal strip, is occupied high mountains and volcanoes up to 5000 m high, almost no one lives in these mountains, with the exception of aboriginal tribes.

In addition to the island of Formosa, Taiwan controls several other small islands, divided into three archipelagos: two to the west of Formosa and one to the east. The most famous of the islands is tiny Qinmen, located just a few kilometers from the mainland city of Xiamen.

Taiwan's administrative divisions are unusual and reflect its complex political history. The country is divided into two provinces: Taiwan, which occupies the entire island of Formosa, and Fujian (not to be confused with the Fujian Province in China!), which occupies the two archipelagos closest to the mainland.

The climate in Taiwan is mild and pleasant, located at the junction of the tropics and subtropics. Snow occurs only in the mountains, while on the plains the temperature drops below +20 only in a couple of winter months. The rainy season is in summer, as in the countries of Southeast Asia.

Story

Since ancient times, wild tribes related to the Malays lived in Taiwan. Chinese expansion began quite late and was contained for a long time by imperial officials. At one time in the 17th century. The island was owned by the Dutch. Only in the 19th century. The Chinese began to actively populate the island and assimilate the aborigines. The first separation of Taiwan from China occurred at the end of the 19th century, when Taiwan was annexed by Japan. Japanese rule lasted until the end of World War II, after which Taiwan was reunited with China, but not for long: already in 1949, Chinese dictator Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan from the communists and managed to gain a foothold there with the help of American ships that blocked the strait.

Chiang Kai-shek died at a ripe old age in 1975, and until his death he ruled alone. In the 1980s, the seeds of democracy began to appear in Taiwan, which later grew into a Japanese-style parliamentary democracy. At the same time, rapid economic growth began. But at the same time, the basis of the state ideology has not changed: Taiwan still considers itself the legitimate center of all of China, but does not recognize the communist government of the PRC. Attempts by individual politicians to declare Taiwan independent from China were blocked in referendums. The mutual warming of relations with China in recent years has created some prospect of Hong Kong-style reunification. In the meantime, Taiwan remains the only developed unrecognized state in the world.

Population

Taiwan's population is heterogeneous and is divided into several ethnic groups. Taiwanese aborigines make up less than 5% of the population, and are divided into 9 tribes. The lowland tribes have assimilated almost completely, while the mountain tribes still retain their folk culture, which is close to the Philippine one. The Chinese of the first wave of immigration speak mainly South Min (aka Taiwanese) and Hakka dialects. They make up the majority of the country's population. Another 15% are Chinese of the second wave of immigration who fled the Mao Zedong regime; they speak mainly the northern (“Mandarin”) dialect.

Languages

Taiwan is a multilingual country. There are three main languages, and they all belong to the family Chinese languages: Mandarin, Taiwanese and Hakka. Most advertisements on transport are duplicated in all three languages or only in the first two. Only Mandarin is considered the official language, but most people communicate with each other in Taiwanese. In writing, these three languages do not differ, since they are written in the same hieroglyphs. The characters in Taiwan are different from those in most other countries. Chinese world: These are the so-called Chinese traditional characters and are also used in Japan and Hong Kong. They differ from ordinary Chinese characters in their more complex style, although many characters look identical to ordinary ones. Occasionally in Taiwan you can see ordinary hieroglyphs - apparently, they are intended for Chinese tourists.

The system of romanization of Chinese words in Taiwan, unlike the PRC, is inconsistent. Slowly, the Taiwanese are switching to the Pinyin system, which is widespread in the PRC, but many names are usually written in other, older systems.

English is the fourth main language of Taiwan. Duplicate signs and announcements in English can often be found, especially in government agencies and transport. However, a very small percentage of the population speaks English, and many private signs do not have English dubbing. In general, we can say that speaking English in Taiwan is clearly easier than in the PRC, but more difficult than anywhere else. Japanese is not a popular language, although many Taiwanese speak it a little.

Religions

Like other parts of the Chinese world, Taiwan has a religious syncretism of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. But, unlike all other Chinese, the residents of Taiwan take religion seriously: there are many temples, they are often overcrowded, and various colorful events are held with the active participation of ordinary parishioners. Another important difference from the PRC is the spread of numerous modern sects of their own Chinese origin - at one time, many sectarians fled to Taiwan from the mainland, where their teachings continue to be banned. The most famous of the sects is Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, which is strictly prohibited on the mainland. Of the other religions, Christianity is the most prominent: there are large churches in all major cities.

Visa

A visa to Taiwan is required for citizens of all CIS countries and is not required for citizens of the EU, USA and Israel. The Taiwan visa is moderately complex, and the list of documents is approximately equal to the Schengen one. Since most countries in the world, including Russia, do not recognize Taiwan, Taiwanese consulates are usually called trade or cultural missions. But in fact, these are ordinary consulates with their own visa departments. There are usually no people in Taiwanese consulates, since this country is not particularly popular with tourists.

In Moscow, a Taiwanese visa requires tickets, a hotel reservation, a certificate from work and a certificate from a bank. Taiwan can also issue visas in other Asian countries (Bangkok, Hong Kong, etc.) without proof of residence - in this case, tickets, hotel reservations and a certificate from a bank or an ATM statement or a printout of an Internet bank statement are required. Failure cases are extremely rare. Visas are issued for a period of 14 to 90 days, the fee is 50 US dollars for normal processing (5 working days), 75 US dollars for urgent processing (2 working days). If you have air tickets for several entries, you can get a multiple-entry visa, in which case the fee is doubled.

Contrary to popular belief, Taiwan is not in a state of “visa war” with the PRC: a mainland visa is not an obstacle to obtaining a Taiwan visa, and vice versa, after a trip to Taiwan you can get a PRC visa.

How to get

Oddly enough, Taiwan, being an island state, has not developed a developed low-cost aviation system, so getting to the island will often cost a pretty penny. There are two national airlines China Airlines And EVA Air, the prices for both are approximately the same. There are no direct flights from Russia and the CIS; there are from Europe, but not many, so all the country’s airports serve mainly the Asian region. There is no “native” low-cost airline; there are mainly flights from Southeast Asian countries: Cebu Pacific from the Philippines, Air Asia from Malaysia, Tiger and Jetstar from Singapore, Scoot from Singapore, Japan and Korea. The main hub for Taiwanese is Hong Kong, where many flights depart daily, but low prices They are not always there.

Flights to China resumed several years ago, and now there are not so few of them: you can get direct flights to many major cities in China.

The country's largest air hub is Taipei-Taoyuan Airport, followed by Taipei-Songshan, Kaohsiung and Taichung. Sporadic international flights depart from Tainan and Hualien. Airport infrastructure in Taiwan is at a surprisingly low level, reminiscent of Russia, this also applies to the main airport Taoyuan, which has not changed much over the past 30 years. Kaohsiung Airport looks more modern, but is small in size.

Transport

Aviation

After the introduction of high-speed trains, domestic aviation in Taiwan almost died out as unnecessary, with only a few flights remaining from Taipei to Kaohsiung.

Railways

High speed trains HSR

In Taiwan, as in Russia, the main intercity transport is the railway.

Taiwan's railway system consists of one main ring line, encircling the entire island and passing through all the main cities of the country. The railway is completely electrified and in many ways resembles the Japanese one. In addition to the main line, there is also a bypass line that bypasses Taichung from the west, and several dead-end side lines, of which the most famous is the tourist railway that departs from the main circle in Chiayi City and goes up to Mount Alishan.

There are three types of trains. Local trains are an analogue of electric trains; they stand at each pole and travel only over short distances (up to 100 km). CK Express class trains travel much faster, covering the entire island from north to south in 5-6 hours. Limited Express trains are slightly faster and more expensive, making few stops. Travel from Taipei to Kaohsiung costs about 600 yuan on CK Express, 800 yuan on Limited Express. All express trains run only on the main ring; there is only local service on the side lines. All trains are seated, there is only one night train, it leaves Taipei for Kaohsiung at 23.00. The frequency of express trains during the day on the ring is once every 30-60 minutes.

Train stations in Taiwan are small, but quite comfortable. There is a restaurant and storage room. Tickets can be purchased both at the box office and from vending machines, and in the vending machines the information is always duplicated in English. For all trains, except local ones, tickets are sold with seats, but if there are no free seats, you can buy a ticket without a seat for the same money and travel standing.

In addition to the regular railway, there is the HSR high-speed line, similar to the Japanese Shinkansen. It connects Taipei Main Station with Zuoying Station in the suburbs of Kaohsiung. For most of the route, the line runs about 10 km to the side of the main ring, Taichung and Tainan stations are located outside these cities, and can be reached from the center by shuttle buses. Intervals throughout the day are about 30 minutes, the journey is only 2 hours, but the fare is significantly higher than on a regular train: approximately 1800 yuan for a ticket Taipei - Kaohsiung.

Buses

Although Taiwanese mostly travel by train, there is also a large network intercity buses. Bus fares usually correspond roughly to the cheapest class of CK Express intercity trains. Usually buses go along the autobahn, and the travel time is about the same as by train. Bus stations in most cities are located next to railway stations, tickets are sold in the Asian style - at the box office of private companies. Some buses do not go to bus stations - they depart from parking lots located on the street near the bus station; There are often miniature waiting rooms near such parking lots.

Buses run frequently on common destinations in the ecumene, but in mountainous areas you can also encounter a “one bus a day” situation, and on some beautiful mountain roads there is no through bus service at all.

Roads and hitchhiking

Taiwan is crisscrossed by a network of toll highways similar to those in China. Autobahns have duplicate country roads, but they are much slower, as they go through a continuous agglomeration. There are no highways in the mountains, but there are several through roads from west to east. Hitchhiking on the island is better than on the mainland, although it is complicated by traffic jams and the need to somehow get onto the highways.

Urban transport

Taiwan has two subway systems: in Taipei and Kaohsiung, both of which are mostly underground. The fare is zonal, the ticket costs from 20 to 60 yuan. Apart from the metro, as well as the new tram in Taipei, there is no electric transport in the country. Electric trains can be used as public transport in many cities across the country.

The buses look about the same as in China, the payment system is zonal, you have to throw money into the box for the driver, they don’t give you change. At many bus stops, information about routes is written only in hieroglyphs; only a few large cities (Taipei, Tainan) have informative English signs and diagrams, and even then mostly near transport hubs.

City taxis are available in large quantities, the fare is quite cheap, starting from 70 yuan according to the meter in Taipei.

Money and prices

Taiwan's currency is officially called the "Taiwanese dollar", but in Taiwan itself no one calls it that: the hieroglyph "yuan" is used. Like mainland Chinese, people in Taiwan sometimes call money "kwai yuan" or simply "kwai". Mainland yuan in Taiwan should be called "renminbi". In this article, RMB always refers to Taiwanese money.

The exchange rate of the Taiwanese yuan is significantly lower than the mainland yuan, and is about 30 yuan per US dollar. There are not very many exchange offices in the country, but there are many ATMs, which, unlike the PRC and Japan, almost always accept foreign cards. Direct card payment is possible in many places, but is still less common than in Western countries.

The price level in Taiwan is very low for such a developed country, and in some respects Taiwan is even cheaper than China. Particularly worth noting are the museums, which almost never cost more than 100 yuan, and the same goes for other tourist attractions with an entrance fee. A double room in a hotel usually costs from 800 yuan when booked online, and sometimes even cheaper. 0.3-0.5 liters of juice - 20-30 yuan. Lunch at McDonald's or at the food court - from 120 yuan. Trains and buses - approximately 1.5 yuan per 1 km.

Overnight

When it comes to paid overnight stays, Taiwan is one of the most convenient countries in the world. Here in many cities, including the capital, you can find a good hotel room within 1000 yuan. A feature of Taiwanese hotels is an unusual air conditioning system without an air conditioner as such. Some cheap hotels are available on booking systems, but not all, so it makes sense to go around hotels the old fashioned way, without making a reservation in advance. There are also hostels in Taiwan, but there are few of them and they are not particularly useful due to the cheapness of hotels. Sleeping in a tent is made difficult by the lack of free space to pitch it.

Food

Japanese colonization left its mark on Taiwan: there are not much fewer Japanese restaurants here than in Japan itself, and they make up a significant part of the public catering industry. Italian cuisine is also well represented. The price level in restaurants is average: somewhere from 400 yuan for lunch in a decent place. Food courts are popular in shopping centers: the cost of lunch there starts from 150 yuan, and the food is mostly Japanese, and less often local. Unfortunately, food courts often do not have an English-language menu. Please note that at food courts, the price of the meal usually already includes snacks (a bowl of rice, miso soup) and tea. All shopping centers are organized according to the same scheme, taken from Japan: the food court is located in the basement, and restaurants are on the upper floors.

Western fast food is less represented in Taiwan than in China: McDonald's is especially popular, and there are much fewer chicken establishments. Prices - 120-150 yuan for lunch. Unlike the PRC, in Taiwan there are no civilian fast food establishments with Chinese cuisine, although in poor neighborhoods there are still typical Asian open-air eateries with ridiculous prices. The Mosburger chain is also quite popular, where, in addition to regular hamburgers, they have their Japanese counterparts: pressed rice instead of a bun, yakiniku or octopus meat instead of a cutlet.

Minimarkets beloved by Asians can be found everywhere in Taiwan, including the transnational chains 7-Eleven and Family Mart. The selection is good, there is a lot of Japanese food, and most convenience stores have tables, which effectively turns them into cafeterias.

Other

Safety

Despite its unrecognized status, Taiwan is a completely calm and non-cop country. “Showdowns” with the PRC are a thing of the past, and now Taiwan is similar to Japan in the absence of both thieves and cops.

Electricity

Taiwan is one of two countries in Eurasia (the other is Japan) where the mains voltage is not 220 V. Everything related to electricity was copied from the USA: voltage 110 V, socket with two flat vertical pins.

Time

Taiwan lives according to Beijing time UTC+8. summer time does not pass.

Taiwan Island (Formosa)

Taipei

Skyscraper "Taipei 101"

The capital and largest city of Taiwan on the northeastern edge of the Taiwanese ecumene. Despite its size, Taipei is neither the most beautiful nor the most interesting city country, although you can spend 3-4 days there with interest. The layout of the city is unusual: the center is on a plain, and the outlying areas are scattered over the hills and are often separated by long distances. Taipei faces the sea only in its outskirts. The city's residential and administrative buildings look shabby, but the interesting places in Taipei are the temples, the aforementioned hills covered with beautiful forest, and the city's numerous museums.

Railway station is located in the very center of the city. Unlike most cities in the country, the main station serves both regular and high-speed trains. Additionally, high-speed trains stop at Banqiao Station, west of the center. Bus station located opposite the central station across the road. Songshan Airport, serving mainly flights to China, is located east of the center, with a new tram line running next to it. Main Taoyuan Airport located in the industrial suburb of the same name, an hour's drive west of the center. Buses go there from several points in the city, including the central station. There are two stations in the city of Taoyuan: a regular station is located on the opposite edge of the city from the airport, from there it takes half an hour to get to the airport by bus. The high-speed train station is located in the north of the city, a 10-minute drive from the airport.

City transport is represented by buses, metro and a new tram. The metro system is large and easy to use. Travel is zoned, costs from 20 to 50 yuan, tickets are purchased from a machine. New tram is a robotic guided bus line running mainly on overpasses. The system is combined with the metro and is depicted on metro maps as a brown line; tickets are general. The new tram line starts at the zoo and runs through eastern part center, Songshan Airport and goes to the exhibition center in the northeast of the city. The bus system is quite convenient, route schedules are written at the stops, detailed information there is information about them at the metro exits.

The main architectural landmark of the city is the tower "Taipei-101", which is the second tallest building in the world. The tower is located quite far from the center in the east of the city; there are no other skyscrapers near it. On the lower floors there is an expensive shopping center. Climbing the tower is the most expensive attraction in the city, costs about 600 yuan. Also interesting are two memorials to the main “heroes” of Taiwan - Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek. Both have large statues of these men, as well as free exhibits dedicated to their lives. The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial is larger and stands in the middle of the city's main square, which also houses the national theater and concert hall. In the same area there are a few monuments of old architecture in the Japanese colonial style; nearby there is a small Botanical Garden.

There are a surprising number of museums in Taipei, and some of them are of high quality. The largest museum in the country - national palace museum - located in the north of the city, accessible by bus from the Shilin metro station. Chiang Kai-shek managed to take treasures from the imperial museums of Beijing here. This is the Chinese Hermitage; many beautiful works of art from Ancient China are collected here. Next to this museum is Taiwan Aboriginal Culture Museum. Art Museum, contrary to its name, is essentially a contemporary art gallery. There are also several other large museums in the center. Temple of Confucius also turned into a museum on the theme of Confucian culture.

The traditional neighborhoods are located southwest of the station on both banks of the river, where you can see interesting scenes of folk life, and most of the temples and cheap hotels are concentrated there. The most famous of them is Longshan Temple at the metro station of the same name, near which various fortune tellers concentrate.

One of the most interesting sights of the city is zoo on the southeastern outskirts. This is a very large green area, where, in addition to the actual enclosures with animals, there is access to a wooded gorge. Near the entrance to the zoo there is a long and surprisingly cheap lower station (60 yuan) cable car, rising to the surrounding hills along which walking trails are laid.

Taichung

The third city in the country is not distinguished by an abundance of attractions: it is an industrial city like Novosibirsk. The station is located in the south-eastern corner of the city and is one of the few interesting buildings in the city. The high-speed station is located outside the city, and there is also an international airport. Taichung cannot be called completely boring: there are a number of interesting buildings, parks, modern shopping centers, but they are evenly scattered throughout big city and are not concentrated in one area.

Tainan

Literature Museum, Tainan

The fourth city in the country and the most interesting of Taiwanese cities. Under the Qing Empire, Tainan was the capital of the island. Since then, little has been preserved, but for some reason, both under the Japanese and under Chiang Kai-shek, many striking buildings were built in Tainan.

The railway station is located on the eastern edge of the city. The high-speed train station is located outside the city, even further to the east; from the station you can get there by train along a side line. There is also an inactive airport. City transport is only buses, but in some places, including the railway station, you can see large stop pavilions with diagrams. There are two tourist bus routes on weekends.

The main attractions are in the Anping district, located near the sea northwest of the center (bus 2). These are the ruins of a Dutch fortress, several temples and a well-preserved old quarter. In the very center of interest are two more fortresses, not very well preserved, the Temple of Confucius and a luxurious building in the Japanese colonial style, which houses a museum of literature, as well as several more temples and interesting colonial buildings. But there are significantly fewer museums in Tainan than in Taipei and Kaohsiung.

Area shopping centers located in the center slightly south of the main attractions.

Kaohsiung

English Kaohsiung. The second city of the country, the southern capital, the largest port. Kaohsiung does not have any striking attractions, but at the same time it is perhaps the most pleasant of Taiwan's megacities due to the high level of amenities and less depressive residential development than in other cities on the island.

The station is located in the city center. Next to it is a bus station. Some buses depart from ticket offices located on the street near the railway station. High-speed trains do not reach the city; their terminal is located in the northern suburb of Zuoying, it is combined with a regular railway station and a metro station. The airport is located in the city south of the center and can also be reached by metro. City transport - buses and metro. The metro system is not very large, but is more modern than Taipei's. Two stations in the city center - Formosa Boulevard and Central Park - are considered tourist attractions for their interesting solutions for station exits and vestibules, and the station halls themselves are quite standard.

The main attraction is the long Qijin Island in the southwest of the city, where there is a city beach and a small resort area. However, most of the island is occupied by housing. You can get to the island by ferry; the nearest metro station is Siziwan. There are also several museums. Mount Gushan, which separates the city from the sea to the west, has walking trails and a zoo.

The largest concentration of shopping centers is located near the Sanduo Shopping District metro station. The city's main skyscraper is also nearby. Hotels in Kaohsiung are expensive for some reason, but you can live in neighboring Tainan (an hour away by train) and go to Kaohsiung for the day.