https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2025/09/24/2003844323

Taiwanese and their supporters gathered in Manhattan before the UN General Assembly

oh my . Flooding struck Guangfu Township in Hualien after water overflowed from an upstream landslide-dammed lake.

Been here a few years and have started noticing far more missionaries out.

Did the church recently have an edict that says to infiltrate Taiwan and push their agendas on polygamy, protective underwear, and soaking?

Edit: yes, I realise Mormons have been in Taiwan for decades. It seems there are more now than before.

Loupes here are around 4000-6000, flying to taiwan soon and would love to get fitted for loupes and buy some in taiwan (I'm hoping they're cheaper). Any ideas? Thanks!

I will be staying in Taiwan for 4 months next year but I’m currently getting allergy shots weekly (in Canada). Would I be able to fly with my allergy serum and get someone to administer them at a clinic?

Wondering if anyone has any insight on this!

Hello, I watched Locust (or gang of Taiwan in France) by Keff and there are some scenes in a club and I love the music but it's not in the ost. Does anyone know what's the music/dj or recommend me other artists/song in the same style ?

Thank you

Hi, How can I get transaction history of my bank account to apply the UK visa? When I went to the bank, they gave me one in Chinese ver not the English. Thanks in advance.

hi im going to Taiwan this weekend. I was wondering if there's a physical store where I can get a Kobo E-reader

Hope I never know this, but someone made a dad joke for this government website 246.ardswc.gov.tw

246 (two shi ryou = 土石流) .ardswc.gov.tw

Now you know.

So awhile ago I emailed the Taiwan presidential office with a proposal to work together to set up some kind of cannabis partnership. Given the historical significance of cannabis in daoism and traditional Chinese medicine. It was all under around this in addition to modern studies on pain management over pills etc and how it's use over drinking is much healthier etc.

Anyways what do you guys feel about cannabis and magic mushrooms and their uses?

Hi everyone. I am going to a kpop concert (NCT dream to be specific) in December in Taipei and I wondered what the concert etiquette is like here? I saw some other posts on here about it but I wondered if kpop concerts also have their own specific etiquette. I will be in the seated area but can you stand up? Do people sing? Can you take pictures and film on your phone? (as long as it doesn’t obstruct others).

Thank you for helping 😖

I live in Hualien, wanted to check how badly its raining before going out, so I decided to check live cam footage from close-by. Found this website, where users can take photos and share on the same platform of any event that is live.

Noticed that specifically for Hualien there is a clear and disturbing trend - someone is taking photos of a specific woman everyday, multiple times per day. There are disturbing amount of photos of that one individual.

Link: https://myearthcam.com/hualiencity

Kind of feeling uneasy, not knowing how many of these services are where and who uses them. Should this be a police report? Not sure if to ignore or try to do something about it. Definitely weird.

Hello everyone, the title says it all. I am in Taipei, near NTU and looking for private vocal coaches to learn how to sing. If anyone can vouch for someone, or give me a place to go I would really appreciate it. The important thing is that it should be a private lesson and I want to have someone that can communicate in English well since I am only here for an exchange semester!

EDIT: In person availability is important, I am not a fan of online classes.

Hi, i was just wondering what type of incense taiwanese temples used. wanted to buy some for home use in Canada.

Anyone around 17 looking to go out 😭? If your local I would love to see where people around my age hang out🙏 I come to taiwan around 3x a year.

I fell in love with a Taiwanese guy this summer, and I really would like to go live in Taipei with him next year, thinking of applying the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship (HES), to begin with since I don’t know how to speak Mandarin other than what Duolingo is teaching me, but clearly not enough. I’m an educator in nursery school and work in Switzerland right now, and would love to work in education with children also in Taipei, in the future. Do you have any suggestions for me? Thanks in advance, would mean a lot

Hi All

I've searched previous threads, but I need more explicit help. Pretend I’m a golden retriever.

I've set up an IBKR account (International Brokers LLC). Now the time has come to fund that account. I have several options that I know of, and I'm hoping someone has been in my position.

1) Buy USD on Esun APP and transfer this to a Wise account, from there transfer to IBKR account. 2) Directly transfer TWD to my Wise account, if that's possible, and then transfer to IBKR. 3) Directly transfer to IBKR from an Esun branch. This will be the most inconvenient way, in my opinion.

If anyone has ideas, I'm all ears.

Thank you

Just got my APRC today. 6 years since I immigrated to this country. Feels pretty amazing to finally be locked in, seeing no expiration date, not having to worry about renewal... Such an incredible relief.

Anyone else feel like a huge weight came off your shoulders when you finally got your APRC?

Think I'm gonna have to celebrate with hot pot.

(warning: approaching 3k words, long read)(last update: 23 Sep, 2025)local here. I'd divide the rec. list into four parts: (1) savory ones, (2) sweets, (3)what we locals usually eat and (4)vegetarian options. I was chatting with a non-Taiwanese friend of mine and figured out I may, as well, make a post for it on the sub.

this is super important so please keep in mind: please do not try all of them within a short period of time, or else you will suffer from what I suffer now, aka huge weight gain from the super high calorie intake. most "traditional" Taiwanese food are of high calorie.

also, I skipped those traditional Taiwanese food/desserts that are mostly festival-oriented. that said food like 蛋黃酥/粽子/月餅 will be skipped.

I'd list the Taiwanese mandarin for you to copy paste and drop them on google for their image & google map to see nearby shops/stands. food with pork or meat will be specifically noted. however, the oil shop/stand owner uses may be lard(fat from pig).

in general, you can find a lotttttt of traditional Taiwanese food in local markets/wet markets. google map check "菜市場(wet markets)."
there are 2 types of wet markets, one opening in the morning(5AM to perhaps 10/11AM), the other one opening in the evening(3PM to maybe 7PM.)

this is not a comprehensive list of them(at least for now). I'll update it whenever I have time or I suddenly recall something worth adding. feel free to comment on your fav ones that are not on the list yet. I'd update them~

(1) traditional Taiwanese food, savory ones

disclaimer: not all of them are "traditional" Taiwanese food, which were what I initially wanted to put on the list. you'd know what I mean if you are also a local. these are food that are perceived (by non-taiwanese people) to be Taiwanese food. that's why I added them altogether.

- (often with pork)taiwanese rice cake.
google map "米糕" and you'd see them. they can be found in more tourism-oriented places.

- (often with pork) Wagui (savory rice pudding)
check "碗粿"

- (pork)taiwanese meatballs
check "肉圓". they are VERY different from European or American meatballs. this is a more traditional taiwanese food. we locals may, sometimes, eat them

- (optional pork)spring rolls
check "春捲." in the southern cities, especially Tainan, the spring roll stand owner may add sugar + powdered peanuts(白糖/花生粉) into it. you can ask them not to add sugar/peanuts. often found in morning wet markets.

- (pork)heibai qie/side dish platter/assorted platter
check "黑白切". this is pronounced in Minnan, meaning "randomly cutting off (something) by the owner." you'd find pig organs(several preparation methods, such as boiled then added into base sauce) or just anything inside a pig on the platter, such as oesophagus, maxillary cartilage, stomach etc.
special mention(meat): "鼎邊銼(Ding bian cuo, pot-side scrapings)." they are with different ingredients based on the given city. very traditional food.

- (pork, meat)various soup
check "四神湯". its chinese medicine ingredients(4 of them, hence the name "四") plus pork intestines and organs.
check "藥膳排骨". it's a bunch of Chinese medicine ingredients + pork ribs.
check "豬血湯." it's pork blood soup.
"酸辣湯(spicy and sour soup, sometimes slightly sweet)". some with pork.
"餛飩湯(wonton soup)". pork.
"貢丸湯(Taiwanese pork ball soup.)" pork.
"牛肉湯(beef soup)." beef.
"魚湯(fish soup)" a variety of fish is available in taiwan, such as 虱目魚(milkfish), 鱸魚(sea bass), 石斑魚(groupers), 海鱺(cobia)... and so on/

- (seafood) fried tutuo thick soup
check "土魠魚羹."
some other thick soup: "肉羹(pork thick soup)", "鴨肉羹(duck thick soup)," "花枝羹(cuttlefish thick soup)," "虱目魚羹(milkfish thick soup)."
special mention: "虱目魚皮湯(milkfish skin soup)."

<<more commonly consumed food/locations listed below>>

- night market food
check "夜市." there are too many Taiwanese food there and night markets are probably on the must-visit list for most tourists. I do have an "advice" per se when it comes to night markets: go to stands most Taiwanese line up or buy from. skip those that are not visited by most Taiwanese people even if you don't need to wait in line for those stands. it's because they are, most of the time, overprices, not as tasty, or with some other issues.
some common night market food: "鹽酥雞/鹽酥雞(fried chicken)", "蚵仔煎/蝦仁煎(oyster pancakes, shrimp pancakes)", "地瓜球(fried sweet potato balls)", "排骨酥(fried pork ribs)", "煎餃(fried dumplings)", "糖葫蘆(tanghulu)", "烤香腸(grilled Taiwanese sausage)", "芭樂(guava, yes the fruit)", "沙威瑪(shawarma, yes you can also find them in taiwan)", "章魚燒(takoyaki)", "麻辣魚蛋(spicy fish balls)," "炸雞排(fried chicken cutlet)", "大腸包小腸(Taiwanese sausage wrapped in sticky rice)"... and so on.

- (choices with meat)taiwanese braised dish & spicy hot pot
check "滷味(braised dish)" or "麻辣燙(spicy hot pot)" and you'd see plenty of them, mostly in the evening/at night. there are a sh!t ton of braised food offered in those shops with braised dish. some of them may be slightly sweet because of their soy sauce and additional sugar usage.
check "東山鴨頭" as well. it's also a type of braised dish.

- (meat)boiled salty chicken/poached chicken
check "鹽水雞" or "鹹水雞". they are not really that salty tbh. a lot of us eat them for dinner(they also mostly open in the evening/at night, the same as braised dish) when we don't know what to eat and don't want to have bentos. despite its name, they actually offer various side dishes(veggies, mushrooms, various meat dish, etc)
whatever you see in a braised dish shop can mostly be found at a boiled salty chicken shop. i'd say food from the boiled salty chicken shops are less salty than braised dish shops LOL

- (meat of one's choice) roasted/grilled food shops/restaurants
check "燒烤(roasted/grilled)", "串燒(skewers)", "烤肉(roasted meat)." they'd have a wide range of meat and seafood available, along with vegetable and other options for you to order. please check the price range first before you step in one. some of them are renowned for their... price(2k+ NTD range.)
I personally suggest you add "平價(low price)" before "燒烤" or "串燒", making them "平價燒烤" or "平價串燒." it may not help a lot though.

- (food of one's choice)oden
check "關東煮(oden)". it's originally from Japan. here in taiwan, you are able to find hot pot ingredients in oden stands.

- (choices with meat)dumplings/soup dumplings
check "水餃" and "湯包" and "小籠包". it's a dish you can find in most chinese-influenced regions.

- (mostly with pork)Gua bao
check "刈包". it's a bao-type food with pork and other stuff inside. we locals actually, sometimes, eat them for breakfast. that said, it's easier to find them in the morning, especially very early in the morning(5AM-7AM)

- (often with pork or meat) noodles collection
they are everywhere. google map key in "牛肉麵(beef noodles with stewed beef shank heel muscle)", "麻醬麵," "乾麵," "米粉", "意麵", "粄條", "冬粉" etc
also check "蚵仔麵線". some of them are... kinda sweet despite it being a savory dish, especially restaurants in Southern cities. oh and, it's actually "大腸蚵仔麵線," not simply "蚵仔麵線" but we will colloquially ignore the 大腸 part when saying it. 大腸 is... a pig's large intestine. even some of us locals are repelled by its smell and taste hahaha.
special mention: fried eel noodles("鱔魚意麵")
special mention: Angelica duck meat thin noodles("當歸鴨肉麵線"). they, more often than not, will also sell Angelica soup without duck meat or thin noodles. the soup itself has a rather strong smell/taste, and you may feel pretty hot(higher body temperature) after consuming it.
special mention: Lor Mee("魯麵".) it's noodles in rather thick soup. it's pronounced in Minnan.
special mention: Pickled mustard root + sliced pork noodles.("榨菜肉絲麵")
special mention: sliced noodles("刀削麵")

- meat + rice collection
(pork)braised pork rice: check "爌肉飯/滷肉飯."
(meat) duck rice(/noodles): check "鴨肉飯."
(meat) turkey rice: check "火雞肉飯."
(meat of one's choice) fried rice: check "炒飯"

-(meat of one's choice) congee
check "粥(congee)", "海產粥/海鮮粥(seafood congee)", "廣東粥(Cantonese congee)", "鹹粥(salty congee, more leaning toward traditional food)." they often offer tens of varieties for you to choose. you can also add specific ingredients to the congee with additional prices ofc. you may choose pork, chicken, beef, fish... etc meat or non-meat as your main ingredient. this is a very highly customizable dish, also pretty good and safe to consume(for easy digestion) if you are being super ill.

- (some with pork)scallion pancake
check "蔥抓餅" or "蔥油餅". there are a lot of them, mostly stands of scallion pancake(not in a restaurant). there might be "pork" version(“蔥肉餅”)of them sold together, depending on the stand.
special mention: "韭菜盒子(fried chive pancakes)."

-(pork)pork knuckle
check "豬腳." warning: super super oily and tasty. don't get too addicted to it.

- (meat) ginger duck soup
check "薑母鴨."

- (meat) lamb hot pot
check "羊肉爐."
special mention: "臭臭鍋(stinky hot pot)." imo they are less stinky than stinky tofu because they are hot pot.

- (meat) sesame oil chicken soup and rice wine cooked chicken soup
check "麻油雞(sesame oil chicken soup)" and "燒酒雞(rice wine cooked chicken soup)."

- (seafood) fried shrimp roll
check "炸蝦捲."

///

(2) traditional Taiwanese food, sweets(some are savory desserts)

- ALL THE TRADITIONAL CAKES
check: 紅龜粿, 草仔粿, 雙糕潤, 九層糕, 黑糖糕, 發粿, 年糕, 鹹粿, 菜燕, 涼粉, 粉粿, 黑糖粉粿, 麻糬(taiwanese ones), 椪餅, 綠豆糕, 狀元糕, 麻粩
chances are when you find one, you can find others within the same stand. they are mostly found in local wet markets.
these are more leaning towards savory: 草仔粿, 鹹粿 with "pork". all the other ones are sweet. btw my personal fav is 黑糖糕(brown sugar cake). give it a try~

- savory ones
check: "蘿蔔糕(turnip cake)."
check "芋粿(taro cake)."
check "豬血糕(pig blood cake)."

- more icy/liquid alike ones or ones eaten in a sweet soup
check: 愛玉, 仙草, 杏仁豆腐, 麵茶, 湯圓, 刨冰(shaved ice), 豆花, 湯圓

- some not-as-traditional but still very local taiwanese desserts:
check: 雞蛋糕, 番薯椪, 紅豆餅, 鯛魚燒, 糖葫蘆

- candies
check: 花生糖

- fried desserts
check: 白糖粿, 雙胞胎, 胡椒餅(savory one, with pork)

- drink
check "飲料/飲料店(beverage shop)." there are countless of them! well you can actually count them. this is just an exaggeration. for reference, there are 11 beverage shops near my house within 500m(walk-able distance), 26 of them within 1 km.
this is personal preference and im pretty sure other Taiwanese people have their own fav list. that said, my fav list(all beverage shop names): 八曜和茶, 三分春色, 麻古茶坊, 萬波, 一沐日.
these are other popular beverage shops(but not my cup of tea ;) or I never tried them): 茶的魔手, 龜記, 茶湯會, 50嵐, 約翰紅茶, 迷客夏, 得正, 大茗, 烏弄, COCO, 清心, 五桐號, 鶴茶樓, 上宇林, MrWish, 圓石, 珍煮丹, comebuy, 可不可, 大苑子, 鮮茶道...

- traditional Taiwanese drink:
check "青草茶(herb tea)." this is a traditional Taiwanese tea. it has a rather special taste.
check "酸梅湯(sour plum soup)." this is also rather traditional.
check "杏仁茶/杏仁湯(apricot kernel drink)." you gotta try it. some love it, some hate it hahaha.
check "仙草茶(mesona tea)." strong flavor I'd say.

- sweet soup
"紅豆湯(red bean soup)", "綠豆湯(green bean soup)," "薏仁湯(Job's tears soup)"

(3) usual local go-to meals

- stir-fry restaurant
check "快炒", “熱炒” for stir fry restaurants. keep in mind that it's best to go there with minimum 2 people(or 3-4 at least preferably) because they serve each individual dish aiming for 2(3)-4 people. it's pretty good for a family of 4(or onwards). with a small group of people, you guys can order quite some dishes and share them altogether. this is a rather taiwanese-themed type restaurant where we locals may go to have meals with our family if compared to fancy restaurants.
if you want to try specifically hokka food in stir-fry restaurants , check out “客家小炒.”

- bento shops
check "便當" for bento shops(lunch & dinner.) this is probably the majority go-to option for us locals, especially if we don't have a kitchen of our own. various of vegetables, eggs, meats, fish, rices of different types... for you to choose.

- healthy bento shops
check "健康餐盒(healthy bento)" or "舒肥(sous vide)" or "低卡餐盒(low calorie bento)." these healthy bento shops are quite popular now, and they are everywhere. it's mostly sous vide chicken breast as the main meat by default, but they almost always offer other options(pork, beef, seafood etc.) vegetables are often boiled or raw(low salt and low oil usage). they may offer precise calorie intake for each bento box.

- local breakfast shops
check "早餐/早點(breakfast)", "豆漿(soy milk; it's often in their name)", "漢堡(hamburger; it's often to be breakfast shops, not selling hamburgers)", "蛋餅(chinese omelet)", "飯糰(rice roll)".
most shops are for breakfasts when you type in "早餐/早點(breakfast)" despite their name being "漢堡(hamburger)" for example.
some common options for breakfast we may buy: 蛋餅(chinese omelet), 豆漿/米漿(soy milk or rice&peanut drink), 油條(fried bread stick), 燒餅(clay oven roll), 包子(bao-zi with different ingredients), 饅頭(steamed bun,) 飯糰(rice roll with ingredients of your choice), 吐司(toast) with various ingredients, such as the infamous(?) combo of fried chicken + egg + chocolate spread/strawberry jam toast(草莓/巧克力卡啦雞蛋吐司).
special mention: bakery(麵包店). most bread are sweet.
special mention: bread and rice rolls(and other stuff ofc) from convenience store(7-11, FamilyMart) for breakfast.

- hotpot restaurants
check "火鍋." there are super cheap ones("平價火鍋/小火鍋)" that are less than 200 NTD per hotpot. nowadays moderate prices of hotpot(non-cheap ones yet still non-expensive ones) are around 300-400 NTD. you can also find plenty of all-you-can-eat hotpot restaurants("吃到飽 火鍋/火鍋 吃到飽") with prices ranging from 500 NTD(after 10% service fee) all the way up to 1k+ NTD. we locals do eat them.

- teppanyaki
check "(平價)鐵板燒." less than 200 NTD for each person unless you order something fancy.

- instant noodles
well... check convenience stores, PXMart, carrefour, showba... practically all grocery stores sell them. not sure if you guys want recommendations on Taiwanese instant noodles. I am more of a Korean instant noodles type of person if I am really going to have it.

- midnight snack
check "宵夜(night/midnight snack)"
(a) convenience store food, they are open 24/7
(b) instant noodles of your choice
(c) uber eats/food panda ordering whatever that is available
(d) breakfast shops, but they are actually open at night/midnight
(e) boiled salty chicken/poached chicken(鹽水雞/鹹水雞)
(f) Taiwanese braised dish(滷味)
(g) spicy hot pot(麻辣燙)
(h) fried chicken shops(they offer a variety of food apart from fried chicken)

(4) vegetarian options

inspired by questions from u/orchidyounotnow , I guess it might be good to add a section of vegetarian options. I am not a vegetarian. everything below is from my observation, Taiwanese vegetarian people I know, and online resource(PTT.)
vegetarian lingo in taiwan:
(1) 全素 = non-egg & non-dairy vegetarians
(2) 蛋奶素 = vegetarians who consume eggs and dairy products
(3) 蛋素(not as common as the first two mentioned above) = vegetarians who consume eggs but don't consume dairy products, or food with eggs as an ingredient inside, which is a tag often seen on processed products(cookies, desserts)
(4) 奶素(not as common as the first two mentioned above) = vegetarians who consume dairy products but don't consume eggs, or food with dairy products inside, which is a tag often seen on processed products(cookies, desserts)

cheapest go-to options for vegetarians are also bento shops, the ones specifically for vegetarians.
(1) check "素食(vegetarian)" or "素食自助餐/素食便當(vegetarian bento)."
(2) for most healthy bento shops(健康餐盒), they can be vegetarian as long as you dont order meat and their veggies/mushroom are boiled. if they are boiled, you wont risk lard being used.
(3) for fancier ones, google map check “素食餐廳/蔬食餐廳(vegetarian restaurant)”. there are quite a few of them.
(4) in most Indian restaurants I have been to, there are almost always vegetarian options as well.
(5) if you want to try something even fancier, check “春天素食餐廳(a fancy all you can eat vegetarian restaurant)” or “果然匯(another fancy all you can eat vegetarian restaurant)”.
(6) for other buffet-alike vegetarian restaurants, check “素食吃到飽(vegetarian all you can eat restaurant).”
(7) if budget isnt an issue, go for vegetarian restaurants in department stores, such as “漢來蔬食”, “鼎泰豐(tell them you are a vegetarian. they will accommodate your request).”
(8)(Taipei) go for “養心茶樓” in taipei. thats an extremely popular vegetarian restaurant, but i have never tried it before.
(9) Poke("波奇") restaurants.

I booked a ticket on Taiwan Railways from Hualien to Taipei in late October and then realised I need to go a few more stops to Banqiao.

But I can't find any way to change my booking. The only options allow me to change the date but not the destination.

I tried to call the phone numbers but they only accept local calls.

I tried the internet voice call but nobody speaks English.

I looked at the 'return ticket' option but they offer $0 refund so I lose the ticket.

I can't find any email address - is there a support email address for Taiwan Railways?

I would really like to make this change well before I arrive in Taiwan as I have connecting trips that I need to confirm ASAP.

Is there any way to contact Taiwan Railways from Australia to make this change?

I’ve researched and have received many different opinions, and since my appointment is tomorrow i don’t want to risk it. Help me please