Taiwan Tips for Newbians

Hi rian,

Nothing against being drunk… I often am myself.

I’m a happy drunk and embarass onone but myself.

But if one becomes an idiot and offends others when drunk, then one should attempt to not be drunk in situations where the opportunity to offend exists.

My rule: Get drunk only with friends who know that I am stupid when drunk and who will not be offended by my drunken behavior.

Be careful when crossing these streets.

Don’t watch the seconds go down on one side and the immediately cross when it stops. There’s a little delay for the cars.

Look out for scooters and Benzs.

Jay walking requires more skill here did back home (US).

Scooter
Buy a scooter, not a motorbike. MRT and buses are fine but scooters are the way to go for newbies.
Get a 2nd hand car if you are outside Taipei and have been here for a year and plan to stay for another year or two.

Scrooge
Chinese people hate stinginess so offer to pay for small stuff. More often than not u will be on the receiving end of Chinese people’s generosity. It’s not just for show or face; Chinese people are simply not as tight-arsed as many westerners seem to be.

Chinese people hate stinginess? Which Taiwan have you been on? All my Chinese friends tell me is how I paid too much for this, or I should buy this used and save cash. OK, maybe I go overboard on the Prada every now and then, but Christ.

Sorry, it is my genuine belief that Chinese people are simply AS tight-assed as Westerners.
Sure, its not just for show or face, they often take you out because they want something in return, be it to practice English, whatever. I’ve even had people taking me out to dinner explicitly tell me to only speak English with them because they are footing the bill. REAL generosity doesn’t expect anything back. Of course, what passes for nice and generosity here was never a shock to me–its a lot like that in my home state. It also helped that my so-called American-Chinese family warned me about this. (To quote my father, "Chinese people are famous for that.)

This has been said before, but…
Take lots of pictures of your surroundings. Not surprisingly, things change and you will wish that you could show your pals a real photograph of when there were pillboxes where Warner Villiage is now.

Keep a journal. Even a simple couple of sentences each day will jog your memory later … particularly after years of drinking.

If you don’t know something, ask. And ask someone who is likely to know the answer, not dope smugglers at the hostel.

Get out on your motorcycle and discover the backroads. There are some very cool places that I will not describe since discovering them yourself is part of the adventure.


“Even if all his life a fool associates with a wise man, he will not appreciate the truth, even as the spoon does not appreciate the flavor of the soup.”
The Buddha

Flicka - re: stinginess, seems we got ourselves a little controversy here! If we get more comments I’ll start a new thread.
I still maintain that Chinese people are not as stingy as westerners in general. It is quite a generalization, I admit, but I believe it to be true in my own experience.

When u say that Chinese people shop around for the best price etc, that means they can be frugal, but that does not always mean the same thing as being stingy.

Just because people know where to buy things that are slightly cheaper does not mean they are not generous with both friends and strangers.

When it comes to paying bills, whether in a taxi, a restaurant, a 7-11 or whatever, you never (at least in my experience) see Chinese people twiddle their thumbs, duck into the restroom, or stare out the window etc in an attempt to avoid paying. Westerners do that.

Personally I found Canadians to be the stingiest, sorry :wink:

Chinese are not stingy compared to Western folks, sure there are some ways that they can be stingy but I think we may be more stingy.

Tip: Understand that this is not your home country, it is different here, and different does not mean wrong.

P.s. Another 8 more posts and I should have beaten this “Cai Niao” tag.

I think the word you should be using is frugal - not stingy

Be it in China or Taiwan, foreigners are known for being Xiao Qi (stingy). In China they call it the Mouse Banquet, where foreigners consume and pay for themselves. This is seen as being stingy. I know in Taiwan people fight over who will pick up the tab. I am not saying that this is correct but it is a part of the culture. I try to avoid this Qing Lai Qing Qu behavior as it can be a never ending series of I treat you then you treat me. I sometimes pick up the tab for my Taiwanese friends though, just to proove that we are not all stingy.

Perhaps it is just a cultural difference of perception over what can be defined as stingy. Perhaps frugal is a better word, but if we go for a direct translation the meaning of the term placed on us is stingy.

Foreigners are seen as stingy because we tend to go Dutch for such small things like bus money, a couple of cans of coke in the 7-11 etc.
To us it seems just fair, but Chinese people think that that is being so tight-assed.

Another interesting difference is at birthdays. In Taiwan, the birthday boy/girl is supposed to treat everyoine else, not the other way around. I think that goes for any kind of party, leaving parties etc. The ‘host’ foots the bill.
This is also true if you ever win any money. You gotta treat your friends to something or you’ll be considered stingy.

[quote=“Spack”]
Another interesting difference is at birthdays. In Taiwan, the birthday boy/girl is supposed to treat everyoine else, not the other way around. [/quote]

Well, when I wuz a kid, you were supposed to tread all your classmates to something at your birthday.

Funny difference here. When our daughter turned 5, we had a birthday party for her classmates. That was really seen as something special. My wife spent some time convincing the other parents that it was safe/ok for their kids to attend. I don’t think Taiwanese parents would normally invite their childrens classmates over.

They gave some big gifts though.