ESL Taiwan

The Taiwan R.O.C. unit of currency is the New Taiwan Dollar (NT$), which has five denominations in paper money and five in coins. Paper money comes in NT$2000, NT$1000, NT$500, NT$200, and NT$100 denominations. Coins comes in NT$50, NT$20, NT$10, NT$5 and NT$1 denominations.

When it comes to food, Taiwan is the place that can satisfy all your needs. Countries from all corners of the world are represented here, leaving you with the difficult task to choose from the great variety of food available, ranging from international dishes to traditional Chinese delicacies and authentic Taiwanese snacks. Finding something to eat in Taiwan is not only easy, eating itself proves to be a joy time and time again.

While being in Taiwan there is three ways to legally drive a motor vehicle, namely;
- International Driver’s License
- Taiwan Driver’s License
- A national driver’s license from your home country can only be used if you have an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and your home country has a reciprocal agreement with Taiwan.

Visitors with international licenses may drive a car in Taiwan. However, for those who are not familiar with the road conditions, it is recommended to rent a car with driver.

Taipei MRT Map

Major cities have an abundance of taxis. Charges are NT$70 for the first 1.5km and NT$5 for each additional 300 meters. An additional NT$5 is charged for every two minutes of waiting, and a 20% surcharge is added to fares between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., NT$10 dollars tip needed for cab dispatched by phone and for luggage placed in taxi trunk.

Taiwan has many lovely trails and spectacular mountains and 523 Mountaineering Association assists people from other countries to access Taiwan's mountains.

Before entering into highly restricted mountain areas, foreign mountaineers are asked to apply for entrance permit. If necessary, the ROC Mountain Association can arrange an English guide for a group of 4 or more members.

Public phones in Taiwan are divided primarily into two types, coin and card. Coin phones accept coins in denominations of NT$1, NT$5, and NT10. For local calls, NT$1 buys one minute of phone time. Phone cards are divided into magnetic strip stored value cards and IC stored value cards, and can be used all over Taiwan. Magnetic strip cards sell for NT$100 each, and IC cards are available in NT$200 and NT$300 versions.

Don't worry too much about getting burnt by the Taiwan sun; the island of Taiwan is located in the subtropical climate zone, and the sun is not as stinging hot as it seems bright.