Local Information

Time Zone

Taiwan is eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and does not practice daylight saving time during summer. Local time in Taiwan and the time difference from your home country can be found via this link: http://www.worldtimeserver.com



Electricity

The electric voltage in Taiwan is 110V/60Hz which is the same as the U.S. and there are two type of receptacle:

    Type A, please see: http://electricaloutlet.org/type-a
    Type B, please see: http://electricaloutlet.org/type-b
 

    Appliances from Europe, Australia or South-East Asia will require an adaptor and/or transformer.



Language

    The official language of Taiwan is Mandarin Chinese and the native Taiwanese tongue. The most popular foreign language in Taiwan is English, which is part of the regular school curriculum. Taxi drivers; however, generally only speak Mandarin or Taiwanese.



Weather

    Taiwan enjoys a subtropical climate with warm weather all year round. The annual average temperature is 24 degrees             Celsius. 

    The real-time weather information please refer to : 
    http://www.cwb.gov.tw/eng/index.htm



Currency

    The local currency is the New Taiwan Dollar (NT$). Bill denominations are NT$2,000, NT$1,000, NT$500, NT$200, and NT$100. Coin denominations are NT$1, NT$5, NT$10,NT$20, and NT$50. The current exchange rate is approx. NT$33.3 to US$1 (Feb. 2016, subject to change). Foreign currencies can be exchanged at airports, hotels, department stores, and a number of government-designated banks.



Credit Card

    Major credit cards are accepted by hotels, department stores, airlines, most stores and restaurants. Cash can be withdrawn from the ATM which has the same logo on your cards. Cash is generally preferred in most places in Taiwan.



Tipping

    Tipping is NOT customary in most of places in Taiwan since a 10% service charge is automatically included.



Telecommunication Service

    A single local call from a public phone costs NT$1 for 3 minutes with additional coins insertion for continuing service. If needed, the overseas operator may be reached by dialing "100". Direct international call is available from some phones, after dialing the prefix “002”. Rate for direct international calls is charged every six seconds.



Customs

    Personal items are free of duty. Visitors over 20 years old may bring in, duty free, 200 cigarettes or 25 cigars or 0.5 kg of tobacco, one bottle of liquor and one used camera. Gold cannot be exported without a permit issued by the Ministry of Finance. Passengers arriving with gold and silver and planning to take it out at departure must declare it and leave the items with Customs until they leave Taiwan.



Helpful Phone Numbers

Police: 110
English Speaking Police: +886-2-2555-4275, +886-2-2556-6007 
Emergencies/Fire Department: 119
English Speaking Directory Assistance: 106
International Operator Assistance: 100
English Speaking Telephone Operator: +886-2-2311-6796, +886-2-2311-6796
24-hour English/Japanese/ Korean hotline for travel information (Tourism Bureau): 0800-011-765
Toll-free taxi dispatch service: Traffic Police Corps, Police Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government is the pioneer in the country to provide toll-free taxi dispatch service at 0800-001006 to call good quality taxi for citizen.