Taiwan
The information below is provided by Lonely Planet readers and is not verified by Lonely Planet. For the official lowdown, contact your nearest embassy or check out our Travel Links.
Visas, Embassies & Border Crossings
Passport holders of nationals of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K. and U.S.A. can enter Taiwan for 30 days without a visa from May 1st, before it was only 14 days.
Jason Chang, Taiwan (Apr 03)
As of May 1st 2003, visitor visas will be extended from 2 weeks to 1 month to encourage tourism.
Yves Goulnik, France (Apr 03)
Travel Tips
There is one thing we have found very unnerving about Taiwanese culture. Several times we asked someone for assistance using the phone, or in various hotels, enquired with the front desk about using the phone. The usual response - "No Phone, Ha Ha". We found this extremely difficult to understand and felt the people were blatantly laughing at us or in our face, by basically saying "no phone", better luck next time. This is not the case. Taiwanese people laugh because they are embarrassed. When your phone isn't working, or they don't know you need assistance, they laugh at you. Yes, it is very unnerving, but Taiwanese are embarrassed easily and laugh as a result to hide their embarrassment. It's normal!
Nancy Oxford & John Chambers (Feb 03)
I would like to give you an update if no one else has brought this to your attention, concerning Wulai Falls (page 169). I paid NT50 to cross the bridge and then walked past the taxi drivers up the stairs to what was supposed to be the electric minitrain to the falls. What I saw was a track bed and some workers in the process of removing the tracks. The workers had a nice laugh at my expense and then I went back down the stairs to one of the waiting taxis. The standard fare between the village and the falls seems to be NT200 each way.
David Rhenow, USA (Jun 02)
Phone calls can be made from payphones using coins, not just phone cards, but only on certain phones. Look for the ones inside a red booth, or under a blue sign. Charge is for time used and calls to mobile phones cost more. You can feed in more money than required and any unused coins will be refunded. However, change will not be made for larger coins.
Ka Lun Tam, Canada (Feb 02)
I highly recommend a shampoo and blow dry at any beauty shop for men & women. The Taiwanese method includes a thorough scalp and neck massage. Heavenly after a long day shopping and to get all the big city grime out of your hair.
Karen Stafford, Japan (Jan 02)
Moving About
Taipei: It is mentioned that a surcharge is added to the taxi ride from the airport into the city. It sure is! When we got into the city the driver pointed to the sign on the door that claimed the surcharge was 50%...and then charged us 100% extra! Watch out for cheating cabbies! One good way to save - take the bus into the city. It costs a fraction of a taxi, operates from 6:00am to 11:30pm, and the final destination is right next to the Taipei train station and MRT. Easy and centralized. If you want, you can then take a taxi to your hotel from there. Fortunately for us, the Y was just 2 blocks away, so it was fast and simple going back to the airport.
Jeffrey Anderson, USA (Sept 05)
There are several flights from Taipei to Koror. Palau Transpacific Air twice a week (Thu/Sun) and Far Eastern Transport four times a week (Tue/Wed/Sat/Sun). If you buy your ticket in Taiwan they do offer special fares.
Frans de Lange, The Netherlands (Dec 04)
When you travel a lot by city bus in Taipei, it will be more convenient to buy a travelcard for buses. You just need to stick the card in a machine and the value of your trip will automatically be deducted from your card. You can purchase this card at Seven Eleven or any other convenient store, and the card is available in different values. Unfortunately you cannot add value to this card and it cannot be used for the metro system in Taipei.
Meilan de Lange-Wang, Netherlands (Apr 02)
Scams & Warnings
There seems to be active touting going on at Chiayi railway station when the train to Alishan is about to depart. I went twice through the station and the same people were there on both times. This is how it works: the hotel touts have reserved many seats for the train. If you book a hotel from a tout, you'll get a seat on the train as well. If you have already booked a hotel or don't want to do business with the touts and go to the ticket counter, they'll say "no seats", which probably is true because of these tout reservations and the fact that they refuse to sell a ticket. No need to worry. I went to the "visitor information" counter at the railway station and the people there were extremely helpful. They took me to the ticket counter and explained the situation to the clerk and they sold me a ticket without a seat reservation. Then they took me and a couple of others directly to the conductor of the train and we were seated temporarily on the drivers' seats of the carriages. When the train was about to leave, we were assigned normal seats. There were plenty of free space probably because the touts weren't able to sell all their reservations against a hotel booking.
I met another traveller onboard the train who bought a hotel night from a tout to get the train ticket. The price seemed to be more or less what I paid directly to a hotel so there is no need to actually avoid the touts if you need a room. Anyway, this is just to notify travellers that a "full" train does not actually mean you can't get onboard.
Hannu Visti, Finland (Nov 04)
Gems, Highlights & Attractions
Anyone who thinks they like the Great Ocean Road in Australia, can not miss the East Coast High of Taiwan. What it lacks in world renowned features like the 12 Apostles, it more than makes up for in constant stunning scenery and breathtaking views.
Susan McLachlan, Canada (Mar 03)
After the Lunar New Year, around mid February, the Lantern Festival is held annually either in Taipei or Kaohsiunng. Apart from lanterns of all kinds there are also a lot of traditional Taiwanese art exhibitions. It is a good opportunity to see ancient Taiwanese art forms.
Jason Chang, Taiwan (Feb 02)
I would encourage anyone wanting to catch some of the market areas of Taipei to walk down a side street off any major street. You will find an entire universe of small pushcarts and booths selling an assortment of items at discount prices. These pushcarts and booths are normally hidden from the major streets; you do have to venture down what appears to be a quiet sidestreet in order to find them. (Well, pick a sidestreet that has some activity and it will lead to one with much more activity).
Ka Lun Tam, Canada (Feb 02)
Yarns, Fables & Anecdotes
Flights from Taitung to Lanyu are often cancelled due to bad weather. There doesn't need to be a typhoon for that. Strong winds (which are quite common on Lanyu during winter) are enough to ground the plane, sometimes for several days. But sometimes conditions change pretty fast, as we experienced first-hand. At 1pm we came to the airport and bought our tickets for the flight at 2pm. Five minutes later the lady who had just sold us the tickets, told us that the flight was cancelled due to bad weather on Lanyu but they would try again at 3.40pm. We went for lunch and were just swallowing the last bites when we heard the loudspeaker announcing the 'last call for Lanyu'. The 2pm flight was on again. We managed to rush back and check in just in time to board the aircraft together with the other passengers, and finally the aircraft was rolling to the end of the runway. There the co-pilot held up a sign to the passengers which read 'Flight diverted due to bad weather' which actually means that it was cancelled. Then we headed back to the airport building. Five minutes later we entered the aircraft again - it seemed like weather was improving on Lanyu. This time we really left ground, then made a 180 degree turn to the left and then a second turn and touched down on Taitung Airport again. The weather was still too bad. At the third attempt at 3.40pm we really made it to Lanyu, however, the stiff wind made the landing very shaky.
Peter Voelger, Sweden (Feb 03)
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