Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
China Post
(
www.chinapost.com.tw
)
Taiwan Today
(
http://taiwantoday.tw
)
Magazines
Taiwan Panorama
(formerly Sinorama;
www.sinorama.com.tw
)An intelligent look
at Taiwanese language and culture, sports, finance, history, travel and more.
Commonwealth Magazine
(
http://english.cw.com.tw
)Highly informative on busi-
ness, cross-Strait and social issues.
Travel in Taiwan
(
www.tit.com.tw
)An excellent resource for all things cultural and
touristy, with calendars of events and colourful coverage.
Radio & TV
»
International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT) broadcasts nationwide in English
24 hours a day at 100MHz (FM) with a mix of music, news and information.
»
Taiwan has five major free broadcast networks: CTS, CTV and TTV, FTV and PTS
with shows in Chinese, including dubbed foreign shows.
»
Cable TV is available cheaply throughout Taiwan, with some English movie chan-
nels (HBO, AXN), news channels (CNN, CNBC), Japanese stations such as NHK
and the like. Buddhist groups such as Tzuchi also have their own channels, as do
the Hakka and Taiwan's aboriginals.
Weights & Measures
Taiwan uses the metric system alongside ancient Chinese weights and measures.
For example, apartment floor space is measured bypíng(approximately 4 sq
metres), fruit and vegetables are likely to be sold by the catty (jīn,600g), and teas
and herbal medicines are sold by the tael (liǎng,37.5g).
Smoking
Smoking is common but not allowed in public facilities, public transport, restaur-
ants or hotels. This prohibition is almost always followed.
Children
The Taiwanese are very welcoming, and doubly so when it comes to children. If you're
travelling with kids, they will probably attract a lot of positive attention. Strangers may
want to touch or handle your babies. Some use a sling to help minimise contact as they
