General Introduction To TAIWAN

Taiwan, also known as Formosa, with formal name of Republic of China, is
an ideal travel destination where visitors experience different cultures derived from its long past colonial history and enjoy good food of different cuisines, stupendous mountains and beautiful ocean. Taiwan, geographically lying at the western rim of the Pacific Ocean, southwest of China mainland, south of Japan and north of the Philippines.

HELPFUL HINTS

Area: 36,188 square kilometers (13,972 sq miles)
Population: 23 million.
Capital: Taipei City
Major languages: Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese and Hakka
Religions: Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity.
International Airports:
Taipei, Tao Yuan International Airport: Public transportation, Taxi and hotel sedan/van available
Kaohsiung, Kaohsiung International Airport: Public transportation, Taxi and hotel sedan/van available
Weather: subtropical, spring and autumn pleasant, summer warm and occasionally hot, winter usually mild unless hit by cold front from the North
Sit-in-Coach Tours: regular half day tours on Taipei City and its scenic suburbs and northern coast available
High-speed Rail: high frequency in serving major cities – Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung
MRT: available in Taipei and Kaohsiung
Taxi: most taxi drivers speak a little English, well-disciplined with reasonable fares according to meter
Monetary unit: 1 New Taiwan dollar (NT$) = 100 cents
Denominations: Coins: 1 dollar, 5 dollars, 10 dollars, 50 dollars Notes: 100 dollars (red), 200 dollars (green), 500 dollars, (purple), 1000 dollars (blue)
Main exports: Computer equipments, textiles, basic metals, equipments, plastic and rubber products, bicycles
GNI per capita: US $17,516 (Government Information Office, 2008)
Internet domain: tw
International dialing code: +886

Taiwan’s history can be traced back to at least 7000 years ago. In those ancient years, Austronesian ancestors of the Aboriginals arrived in Taiwan in small groups and became the earliest known inhabitants of Taiwan.
During the Age of Discovery of the 16th century, Western sailors arrived in the Far East to set up colonies and conducted trade. As Taiwan is located at the conjunction of East Asia and the oceans, as well as being where the Northeast Asian waters meet the Southeast waters, it became the focus of Asian and Western powers that were operating in East Asian waters at the time.
In the first half of the 17th century, the Dutch established a presence at Tainan and conducted missionary activities, trade and the production of various goods there. They also recruited many Han settlers from the coast of China, ushering in the multicultural history of Taiwan.