Just now at 2pm the air raid siren here in Xinyi District went off, and I noticed that there were unusual numbers of policement at intersections everywhere. Was that an unnnounced drill, or what?
Is that what that god awful noise was? It was audible in Nei Hu as well.
We just got two of them about five minutes apart in Xindian. Very strange. Taiwanese co-workers didn’t know what it was etiher, I thought someone in my office had reached new heights in annoying ring tones with an air raid siren.
they just had 2 of them. When will they stop doing this, it seems pointless these days
Yes and I didn’t recognize it…had forgotten about these drills.
I heard bizarre, wavy-sounding, intermittent alarm at 1:30, and now what sounds like an air raid siren at 2:00. I dunno. I’ll take a look outside.
EDIT: Everyone seems to be out and about outside.
It’s the big attack! Quick, run and stick your heads in the sand.
according to twitter, similar stuff is going on in S. Korea as well…
Oh right, this must be why the wife and I saw those weird police jeeps pulling big trailers with rolled up barriers or something in them this morning.
A friend in Jhubei posted on his Facebook that it’s happening there too. I haven’t heard anything here in Danshui.
Cops and patrol cars every block around Taipei Main station.
puhhh…just made it home before 2, I really hate that stupid exercise, which is good for absolutely nothing
I heard the exact same thing here in Yonghe.
I didn’t bother to look out the window, though. Don’t want to pull a muscle getting out of my chair.
Heard them loud and clear in Wanfang at around 1:30pm.
Yes there are two kinds of air-raid exercises: pre-announced and unannounced. If it is pre-announced the exercise scale will be even bigger. You can’t drive on roads.
“Air raid” siren may not sound necessary nowadays, but you never know when comes a tsunami or large-scale nuclear leakage… I think it’s good to keep that infrastructure, cuz I’m quite used to it LOL~~~
But people just get used to the sound and don’t actually DO anything, so how is that going to help? People around me weren’t even checking the news to see if there was a public announcement. Just business as usual.
Where I come from, if you hear that noise you grab a prepared battery-powered radio and flashlight, and head for the cellar*, then you tune in to the news to see if there’s a tornado near you.
(where there’s a nice mini-frig with beer and snacks)
My taxi driver made a comment, and immediately checked the radio for an announcement. I didn’t hear anything which sounded like a government announcement, so perhaps he was too late or too early.
Bloke in a tin hat carrying a large gun told me in passable English that I couldn’t cross the Bitan bridge. I told him I was late for work and that if he REALLY didn’t want me to cross, he’d have to physically stop me, which would create a BIG scene. He let me cross. 
Yeah ! Afterall why should he care if one of em commie chinese missiles knocks YOU off the bridge ! 