• Basic Information for Touring

    1. Tax and Service Fee
      Usually, the commodity tax has already been included inside the tag price and foreign travelers will not be further charged with taxes. After you shop, the retailers will computerize receipts of uniform invoice or electronic invoice. But in hotels or restaurants, often they will charge extra 10 % service fee.
    2. Traveler's Check
      Most of the Taiwan shop keepers will not accept traveler's check. Therefore, please cash out the traveler's check into TWD.
    3. Exchange Rates and Currency Value
      The New Taiwan Dollar (TWD, NT$) has been the currency of Taiwan: the denominations of the Taiwan dollar in circulation are NT$ 2000, NT$ 1000, NT$ 500, NT$ 200 and NT$ 100. Frequently used coins are NT$ 50, NT$ 10, NT$ 5 and NT$ 1.
    4. Voltage
      Electricity in Taiwan is 110 Volts/ 220 Volts, alternating at 60 cycles per second. If travelers' electronic devices are manufactured in foreign areas, please double check with the voltage before plug in.
    5. Accommodation/ lodging
      Legal hotels and Bed& Breakfast are travelers’ best choice. Caution: never stay at an illegal non-registered Daily Rental Suite or Hostel. For legal hotels and Bed& Breakfast:http://taiwanstay.net.tw/
  • Shopping Guidelines

    Shopping is every visitor's best way to experience or collect exotic memories. In Taiwan, from North to South we have shopping malls and chain department stores forming commercial districts, combining various leisure s and entertainments, including brand-name clothing, quality goods, fine food, bookstores, movie theaters, wholesale stores, playgrounds and many different consuming places to fulfill your shopping desire. In addition, featured commercial districts are with their unique histories and fashions, such as Taipei Ximending and Kaohsiung New Jyuejiang Shopping Area, etc. attracting different levels of consumers; others like jade market and Guang Hua Digital Plaza are also great places for treasure hunting.

    Except from the exquisite goods assimilating with international fashion trends, special productions of local features are another segments you wouldn't want to miss, for instance, famous food Industry Company and century-old bakery shops are unique in flavor for the Taiwan cultural beauty. They fulfill the visitors' senses of smell and taste in every possible way. Moreover, fine arts and crafts with profound histories present the depth and width of Taiwan culture and liveliness. If visitors want to acquire a further understanding toward Taiwan, all these fantastic representatives absolutely will absolute enrich your journey!

    1. Basic Shopping Information
      1. Most of the prices are value-added, please request receipts of uniform invoices (partial stores exempted from the use or issuance of uniform invoices will give receipts).Please properly keep your receipts as a document for return/ exchange goods. Every 25th of odd moth Taiwan will have a uniform invoice lottery. If a foreigner wins any of the prizes, he/ she can take the receipts of uniform invoice or electronic invoice, passport, residential certificate and other identification documents to cash out the prize at the Post Office. However if the receipts are from purchasing eligible goods for claiming tax refund, the foreigner cannot cash out the prize. Also, if the retailer fails to deliver receipts at purchase process and the one who discover it with proof and hand it in to the taxing authority will be awarded with bonus. Reporting a tax evasion: 0800-000321.
      2. Department stores, night markets, shops, touring sites and harbors, all these places listed above charges fees in TWD (NT$). Before you purchase anything, please fully understand the product's ingredients, origin of production, manufacturing means, quantity, quality and the denomination of price. When you purchase fruits, please clarify the unit price (“斤” equals to 600 kilogram) with the retailers first. For example, the price of a cut fruit charges differently from an uncut fruit. If costumers have any questions and doubts before the fruit was cut, costumers have every right to confirm the total price with the retailers or refuse to purchase.
      3. To maintain fair trade, stores in Taiwan usually labels goods with fixed price. Please cooperate with the stores' policy. If you purchase goods from stores with “Travel Purchasing Safeguard Stamp” and found defections in the goods you purchased; you may take the receipts to R.O.C. Travel Quality Assurance Association and ask for a return/ exchange of goods within 30 days.
      4. Taiwan local productions and featured products are diverse and abundant with high quality. For example, Taiwan has high quantity and quality tea, exquisite liquor, delicious and outstanding bakery and pastry; these are all must-get souvenirs, worth your every penny. If you purchase agricultural goods in Taiwan, please purchase the products with TAP stamp certificate, as it represents certification given from official bureau confirming the high quality, environment-friendly agriculture goods. Taiwan Agriculture and Food Traceability Systemhttp://taft.coa.gov.tw
    2. Urban Business Districts
      Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung are visitors' shopping paradises; especially Taipei shopping district is fully developed and can fulfill different groups of consuming habits!
      1. Taipei-Ximending Shopping District
        Ximending Shopping District is a hybridization of tradition and modern culture, the energetic youth fashion thriving upon the profound historical streets, big or small squares and activity spaces filling with young people doing arts and musical displays, and Graffiti, tattoos, skateboarding and street dancing can be seen everywhere. Every weekend, dozens of people queued up to get famous stars' autographs, and comic-related productions and Cosplay activities are also one of the attracting features. Except from feeling the energies from the youth, don't forget to watch a movie, enjoy Sichuan cuisine and shop for fashion and sports accessories.
      2. Taipei-Zhongxiao Dunhua Shopping District
        Between Xingyi Road and Zhongxiao East Road, Dunhua South Road is covered with fancy flagship boutiques, displaying with exquisite brand-name clothing, jewelry, shoes and leather items with taste, especially from SOGO to Far Eastern shopping mall and from the first-ranked jewelry CARTIER to the leading fashion LV and to DKNY adored by the young adults, all luxuries are on Dunhua South Road. Lounge bars, night clubs, international leveled DJ performance, band concerts, karaoke and movie theaters are all forming the charming and thriving night lives in Taipei.
      3. Taipei-Xinyi Shopping District
        Xinyi District is the most indicative business district. It is also called as “Taipei's Manhattan” for the signifying spots such Taipei 101, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, Breeze, VIESHOW Cinemas, HYATT Hotel, W-HOTEL and hundreds of department stores, hotels, fashion restaurants and 24 hours Elites bookstores. Xinyi District is a business finance center in the days with rapid routine pace. However, in the nights, after the night falls on the office buildings, Xinyi District will turn into a shining diamond, sparking with brilliant radiance.
      4. Taichung- Jingming 1st St.
        Between Dadun 19th St. and Dalu Road, Jingming 1st St. contains about a hundred meters of beautiful walking path, elegant signboard, and bright windows; beside the pavement, there are boutiques, tea house or coffee shops, exotic flavored restaurants, and galleries. Moreover, there are outdoor public seats on the pavement. Every weekend there will be outdoor music festival, art displays and other community activities. Jingming 1st St. is a miniature of France Avenue des Champs-Elysees; it is a multi-functioned street with shopping, leisure and arts.
      5. Kaohsiung- New Jyuejiang Shopping Area
        Young, trendy, entertaining, shopping and with fine food are the best descriptions for New Jyuejiang Shopping Area. Recently New Jyuejiang Shopping Area has developed as the biggest and most famous imported goods sales area in the South part of Taiwan and becomes the representative of fashion of South part of Taiwan. New Jyuejiang Shopping Area assimilates its fashion developments with Paris, Milan, Hong Kong and Tokyo. New Jyuejiang Shopping Area aims at young group consumers and provides the best choice of shopping.
      6. Kaohsiung-Sanduo Shopping District
        Sanduo Shopping District is recently develops as the most flourishing featured district with department stores lining up side by side and leading by Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, SOGO and Far Eastern shopping mall, clothing and grocery stores building up around the periphery, including Japanese styled grocery stores, providing parallel imported cosmetics, 20 to 50 % lower priced purse, commodities and groceries. Inexpensive and high quality products attract young adult group of consumers.
    3. Featured Industry Street
      1. Taipei- Chien Kou Holiday Flower and Jade Market
        Chien Kou Holiday Flower and Jade Market located between Xinyi Road and Jinan Road. It is presented in the weekends as the form of flea markets. Renai Road as boundary, the north is jade market and the south is flower market. Chien Kou Holiday Flower Market is famous for various floral species with good price and Jade Market is known for thousands of jade vendors, entitled as one of the largest jade market in Asia, attracting endless tourists to come and consume.
      2. Taipei-Guang Hua Digital Plaza
        The cheapest electronic gadgets can only be found in Guang Hua Digital Plaza! It combines the newly built digital living area and attracts countless experts on computer engineering and gains the title of “Taipei's Akihabara”. We have abundant computer information, computer components and guidance. The peripheral computer shops are also a must-visit for fan of computer information.
      3. Taipei-Dihua Street
        Dihua Street is the most complete preserved old street enriched with historical meaning. Walking into the Dihua Street is like entering the gateway of history, visitors can see the architecture varies from traditional Taiwanese buildings to western Baroque architecture. This street is also an important distribution center of groceries and dry food, tea, Chinese medicine and fabric. Every year before Chinese New Year Eve, the sight of countless people going to New Year's Shopping in Dihua Street also become a “must-seen” tour spot for the foreign visitors.
      4. Xinbei City-Yingge Ceramic Old Street
        Yingge Ceramic Old Street is known as a token of Taiwan ceramics industry. It is a tour spot combining arts, fine food and street sights with cultural meaning. Ceramics Old Street and Ceramics Museum attract thousands of visitors to come in holidays. After entering the Ceramics Old Street, you will see remains of tunnel kiln from the 60s, the track of transporting the pottery and ceramics is also well-preserved. At Old Street area, there are approximately 300 stores making pottery, ceramic crafts, huge platinum vase, modern art crafting, different sizes of cups, kettles, bowls and spoons, etc.
    4. Local Featured Agriculture Products
      The weather in Taiwan is nice and with plenty rainfall, diverse agricultural species growing out of the blessed island and developed as features in different regions of Taiwan. For instance, various intriguing bakery and pastry are “must-try”. Besides from enjoying the fine food in the duration of stay in Taiwan, visitors can also purchase delicately wrapped up gifts as souvenirs, sending those gifts to your family and friends, sharing the unique flavors only discovered in Taiwan.
      1. Tea
        Taiwan is called as “the Kingdom of Tea”, for the landscape and weather are suitable for the growth of tea leaves and therefore produce high quality and quantity tea. Visitors can buy different species of teas and the major four species are Wen Mountain (Wenshan) Pouchong tea, Dong Ding Oolong Tea, White Tipped Oolong and Iron Guanyin, providing here as reference.
      2. Pineapple cake
        At early agriculture periods of Taiwan, pineapple was the second major exported goods and the manufacturing pineapple cans, drinks and jams are all listed as famous at then. After bakers’ constant experiments on the taste, Taiwanese finally conquer pineapple’s taste as hard and difficult to swallow through adding “white gourd” to smooth the taste and plus enwrap the pineapple sauce with the creamy pastry to become a stunning and successful pastry dessert, “pineapple cake”. Pineapple cake is now a famous and widely accepted popular dessert.
      3. Sun cake
        Sun cake is made of golden yellow pastry with sweet malt stuffing inside, with delicate sense of taste, shaped like a round flat sun and therefore name as “sun cake”. Taichung is the origin of inventing sun cake, most century-old stores of sun cake can be found here. Sun cake is a must-get souvenir for tourists who visit central parts of Taiwan.
      4. Cubic Pastry
        Mingkou Rod, Chiayi City, is known for selling different wheat noodles and steamed bread and is called as “wheaten food street”. Famous “Cubic Pastry” is originated from here. Cubic pastry is a kind of cookie made of milk powder, butter or lard, sesame and sugar. Bakers will fold the pastry layers by layers and cut in the shape of square. Cubic pastry is famous with rich fragrance and crispy taste.
      5. Ox Tongue-Shaped Cookies
        Ox tongue-shaped cookies are long oval shaped cookies that look similar to the shape of ox’s tongue. It is a token of Ilan and Lukang. Ilan ox tongue-shaped cookies are long and thin, mostly mixing the ingredients by hand making and before go into the oven, the baker will gently cut a line in the middle of it; this seemed unimportant act will fatally determine the crispy taste of the cookie. Lukang ox tongue-shaped cookies are long, round and thick and the taste is more soft and creamy than Ilan’s version. The pastry will wrap the sweet malt stuffing inside and the cookie is baked or fried
      6. Liquor
        Located at the western part of Nanto Puli, Ailan Plateau is famous for its clear and sweet water quality and the Shaosing rice wine made out of the glutinous rice, japonica rice and wheat which grew from the local is with golden color and sweet taste in flavor. Famous Kinmen Kaoliang is produced under high temperature, dry and non-pollution Kinmen which is a suitable place for Kaoliang to grow, plus the water quality is high standardized therefore Kinmen produces high quality, special flavored and sweet liquor.
  • Touring Service Hotline

    Touring Service Hotline:(02)2717-3737(08:00-19:00)
    Call Center 24 hours Free Touring Information Hotline:0800-011765
    Taiwan Tourism Information Website: http://taiwan.net.tw/

    Tourists Service Center of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Tourist Bureau
    Providing tourists information, airport directions, flight information, complains and suggestion, emergency notification, etc.
    Office Hour:
    Terminal 1, from 7:00 a.m. to 23:30 p.m.
    Terminal 2: from 05:30 a.m. to 24:00 p.m.
    Service Telephone:
    Terminal 1:(03)398-2194
    Terminal 2: (03)398-3341

    Visitor Information Center of Kaohsiung International Airport, Tourism Bureau
    Provide travel information services, airport direction, flight information, complains and suggestion, emergency notification, etc.
    Office Hour: from 09:00 a.m. to 24:30 p.m.
    Service Telephone: (07)805-7888