I just want to share what happened to me and my friends recently in Taipei. I’ve been here for some years already and yesterday two of my friends arrived in Taiwan for their exchange semester.
Since I can speak Mandarin I showed them around, bought MRT cards, SIM cards etc. When one of them tried to withdraw money from an ATM at the 7/11, her card got stuck and she couldn’t get it back. Apparently she typed in the wrong PIN multiple times, although she said it was correct. Anyway, as soon as locals noticed we had trouble they immediately started helping us in English. They made the call to the bank, one older guy even went to the bank across the street and brought a bank employee with him.
Altogether about 10 different people tried their best and we solved the problem eventually. It was heartwarming how friendly everybody was. I am certain in my home country barely anyone would care. Just wanted to share my experience. Thank you wonderful people of Taiwan!
Many of my european friends had similar stories when they first got here like getting around in the MRT. They said if people approached you back at their home countries at public places trying to help, they either ask for money or they are trying to rob you lol.
I think this “friendliness of the Taiwan people” is sometimes exaggeration. I remember onetime I was lost in Ximen and was looking for a place where I must meet friends. I have the business card for the place and show it to people asking for help. I ask 30 people and they all ignore or run away. Eventually a nice old man help me and even walk with me there.So that’s a ratio of 1:30.
May be I’m very ugly.
Total rubbish. My home country is way friendlier than Taiwan in general.
It also has more miscreants and vandals, but overall, the people are more sociable.
Come on, look at the treatment of caregivers and fishermen and aboriginals until relatively recently , total disgrace.
I just ate dinner a couple nights ago from some German friends from a while back visiting. Basically told me they had people help them around the mrt and that’s not something they’re were comfortable with at first due to many people hanging around places of public transport trying to steal.
In my own personal experience in Europe, many places had people giving you “free” information. And later ask for money or sell you something. And train stations were full of people trying to carry your bags along with outside the grocery trying to carry your grocery for money. Pretty annoying and I’ve been told to stay away as it’s not rare for them to just run off with your stuff.
I remember back when I first came to Taiwan. A buddy and I were trying to find our way to a night market, but we missed the street we were supposed to turn on. We went into a restaurant and asked for directions. The owner got on his scooter and drove with us to the intersection we needed and pointed the way. Doesn’t get much friendlier than that.
The cynics came out for this thread lol. Red rag to a bull.
What those people did was nice, just would be good to see that applied in a lot more contexts.
And yeah…
I’ve been helped by many strangers in other countries.
I was once driven across a mountain pass just before it was closed for winter season. Took about two hours. Guy was not going that way. Unfortunately most of it I was worrying that we were being driven by a serial killer. Still here to tell the tale.
Does anyone find that people are much nicer when you speak English? Compared to Chinese that is.
Civil society and social trust is not strong here. Not as low as China, but way less than most of Europe and the Anglosphere. I dont think Taiwanese are very nice to each other.
I don’t think civil society and social trust are measured by how nice people are to each other.
For example, I don’t think America, a country where plenty of people feel the needs to carry guns for personal safety, has a high social trust at all. I don’t find France a very trusting society either. People are always on strike or protesting or tell you to watch out for your belongings, not to mention the presence of gendarmes everywhere in Paris.
