Taiwan is an island group located between the South China Sea and the East China Sea. It is under the administration of the Republic of China (ROC) since the Chinese Civil War of 1949.
Taiwan was known as Formosa, after the Portuguese name for it, Ilha Formosa, meaning "Beautiful Island". It is separated from mainland China by the 180-km-wide Taiwan Strait. The main island of Taiwan is 394 kilometres (245 miles) long and 144 kilometers (89 miles) wide. Taiwan is surrounded by mainland China to the west, the main islands of Japan to the northeast, the Ryukyu Islands of Japan to the east, the Philippines to the south. Apart from the main island, other islets which are part of Taiwan include the Pescadores, Green Island, Orchid Island, and Pengchia Island.
Lotus Lake Pagoda, Kaohsiung http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pagode_Lotus_Lake_Kaohsiung_amk.JPG AngMoKio
Taiwan experienced rapid economic growth in the decades after World War II, transforming it into an advanced economy. Technology industry plays a key role in the Taiwan economy. Taiwanese companies manufacture a large proportion of the world's consumer electronics, although most of them are made in their factories in mainland China.
Fast Facts about Taiwan
Official Name: Republic of China
Capital: Taipei (2,800,000)
Population of the Taiwan: 22,900,000
Languages: Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese
Currency: New Taiwan Dollar
Religions: Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist, others
Size: 35,980 sq km (13,892 sq miles)
Region: Asia
Travel Tips of Major Cities in Taiwan
Taipei Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, is a city with a lot of exciting tourist attractions. In this budget travel guide, we show you all the places worth visiting in the city.
Hualien Main town on the east coast of Taiwan surrounded by soaring mountains.
Kaohsiung Second biggest city and main port of Taiwan.
Taitung Main town on the southeast coast of Taiwan.
Sunrise at Alishan http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Alishan#mediaviewer/File:Alishan_sunrise.JPG Rybloo
Hohaiyan Rock Festival, Fulong Beach, Taipei County http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hohaiyan_2006_Smaller_Band_Shell_Fulong_Beach.jpg KasugaHuang
Planning your trip to Taiwan
The Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE), formerly known as the Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport, is the main international gateway to Taiwan. The airport is located 40 km to the southwest of Taipei. It is the homebase for China Airlines and EVA Air. Other airlines flying to the airport includes, in alphabetical order, AirAsia, Cathay Pacific, Jetstar, KLM Asia, Malaysia Airlines, Northwest, Silkair, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, United Airlines and Vietnam Airlines.
The airport comprises Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. They are connected by a Skytrain that ply between the two stations between 2-4 minutes during peak hours, and 4-8 minutes during off-peak hours.
Sin Cho Kiong Temple in Lokkang, Taiwan http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sinchokiong,_Lokkang.JPG Luuva
There are several public buses that can take you from the airport into Taipei. The Terminal I Bus Platform is on the southwest side of the Arrival Hall while the Terminal II Bus Platform is on the northeast side of the Arrival Hall. The bus fare is around NT$110 to NT$140 per adult.
You can of course catch a taxi from the airport to Taipei. Expect to pay around NT$1,100 for a trip into the city. This includes a 50% surcharge . The taxi queue is located just outside the Arrival Halls of both terminals.
A shrine in Chiayi, Taiwan http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E5%98%89%E7%BE%A9%E7%A5%9E%E7%A4 %BE%E7%A4%BE%E5%8B%99%E6%89%80.jpg Pbdragonwang
Planning your travel within Taiwan
Probably the fastest way to travel in Taiwan is to take the new Taiwan High Speed Rail, or HSR. This is a bullet train built using the Japanese Shinkansen technology. The HSR connects Taipei to Zuoying in Kaohsiung, covering the journey of 345 km (215 miles) in just 90 minutes. The ticket price is NT$ 1,490 on Economy Class and NT$ 2,440 on Business Class.
Let me take you to explore and discover Penang through my series of walking tours on YouTube. You may use these videos as your virtual tour guide. At the beginning of each video, I provide the starting point coordinates which you may key into your GPS, Google Maps or Waze, to be navigated to where I start the walk, and use the video as your virtual tour guide.
Disclaimer
Please use the information on this page as guidance only. The author endeavours to update the information on this page from time to time, but regrets any inaccuracies if there be any.
Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.