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InterNations in Taipei: Taipei Expatriate Community

InterNations is the biggest global networking site for expats of various nationalities and their family members. It unites more than 270,000 members in more than 250 cities worldwide. On the platform, expatriates and their partners can connect with compatriots, ask for advice on everyday life in their host country, provide other members with useful tips, make new contacts and find information in the City Guides.

dos & don'ts in Taiwan 

by Steven Crook 

When is a nut not a nut? When it’s the betel nut, much chewed for its mild stimulus effect. Its popularity may be more to do with the betel nut beauties who in micro-skirt and sports bra, peddle the stuff from their roadside cabanas, all legal of course. DON'T invite an accident by ogling their assets. Keep your eyes in front of you. 

Even more exotic is dog meat. Mercifully, man’s best friend has been off the menu since 2001.  But DO try pickled flying squirrel intestines or barbecued mountain rat if  you’re at a village festival. Yum! If neither are for you, DON'T go to Fiji instead: come to Taiwan for some of the best Chinese food in the world at affordable prices.   

To ensure that you, the foreign resident, fleeting visitor or armchair traveller enjoy your stay in Taiwan, our resident author presents a light hearted but practical guide to the DOS & DON'T S of this modern, traditional and superstitious country. DON'T be put off by the snacking and slurping in cinemas. DO leave your inhibitions at home when invited to a karaoke joint: the Taiwanese do. DON'T be shocked by the caretaker with his feet up watching TV and smoking a cigarette in the local temple: they all do! Want to know what to do if you find a nail under your bed? Then DO buy this book!  

For more information pls contact Ms. Catherine Liu at 02-2707-6611#217 or place order directly to 長智文化事業有限公司

Taiwan Today

by Philip Liu

The book contains 22 major topics affecting Taiwan’s social development in recent years, including the formation of a vibrant and pluralized society, unemployment, the aging population, foreign laborers, foreign brides, and nuclear power. It also covers some hot social topics, such as the issuance of a national lotto giving local people boundless hope; betel-nut Xishi (beauty), who has become a major scenic attraction in Taiwan’s suburbs; the twin-card debt storm; the emergence of shopping centers; and the cycling craze sweeping Taiwan. In addition, it talks about Taipei’s mass rapid transit system, which has altered the lifestyle of the city citizens and the look of the city, as well as the high-speed railway, which will greatly vitalize Taiwan’s economic development and narrow the gap between the rural and urban areas.
In sum, this is a book that enables expatriates to get a firm handle on the current state of the society in which they are living or working.

Direct subscriber is offered a 20% discount or a preferential price of NT$200 (for list price of NT$250). Please subscribe via postal remittance No. 50125958 (account name: 悅文出版社劉柏登)，or via ATM transfer to account no. 245-50-136634, Xizhi branch, First Commercial Bank (第一銀行汐止分行) (please fax the transfer receipt, with specification of your name and address to (02) 27971663).

You may visit Philip's blog for the sample articles: http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/poteng-liu 

The Handy Guide for Foreigners in Taiwan

The Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (RDEC) has compiled "The Handy Guide for Foreigners in Taiwan” in November to create a friendlier international living environment and to make foreign friends more familiar to the life and the cultures in Taiwan. Attached please see the English version of the booklet for your reference.
 
This booklet contains the following information about living in Taiwan: