1. Don’t flush the toilet paper in the toilets. For this reason, almost every bathroom here has a trash basket. Also, keep some tissue paper on you as most public restrooms do not provide paper.

2. Don’t drink the tap water. I don’t know what happens if you do, as I haven’t tried, but I’m not planning on it. The good news is that most public buildings and many other establishments have drinking water machines. Bring a good water bottle.¹

3. If you’re visiting northern Taiwan in the winter, bring some raingear. Sure, you’ll probably buy a few umbrellas (I’m on number three), but rain coats are pretty useful too. You can also be really Taiwanese by wearing your raincoat backwards.²

4. Taiwan is big on recycling. Luckily, though, in most places there’s just a trash can (垃圾桶, pronounced lèsètǒng as opposed to the Mainland lājītǒng) and a recycling bin… in general, most paper and plastic containers that don’t have food waste can be recycled. Plastic bags and wrapping cannot be.

5. Keep all your receipts. Taiwan has a receipt lottery (formally the Uniform-Invoice Prize). While you can claim it as a foreign visitor with a valid visa, as the winning numbers are released about a couple months after each time period ends, you’ll probably just want to give the receipts to me. ^^
   

6. Oh, and cold tea is sweetened by default. This freaked me out when I first tried some. Just a warning.

Of course, if you’re not planning to visit me yet but have time between late-January and mid-February (my Chinese New Year break), let me know. Let’s talk.

Related posts:

1. Taiwanese Recycling
2. Family in Taiwan
3. Obama for Taiwan 2008

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