12 Taiwan Facts and Observations You Never Knew (1 Good)

1. Winter in Taiwan
At first glance, if you didn't know the temperature, you would be forgiven for thinking that Taiwan is in the depths of of an Arctic winter. Even though the daytime temperature ranges from 19 - 26 degrees depending on whether you are in the north or south of the country, everyone is bundled up in a multitude of layers from puffer jackets, thick padded hoodies, scarves, woolly jumpers, ankle and knee high leather boots. Meanwhile we are stripping off layers to wander around in T-shirts. I tried to find out why. Wasn't every one experiencing hot flushes and dying to take off their clothes? No, I was told that everyone finds it cold in the winter - not sure what they would make of winter back home!

2. Mask Wearing
No, not balaclavas or halloween masks but surgical masks. Firstly I thought this was due to traffic pollution when the locals were whizzing around on scooters or strolling down the street, but then I started wondering why people were wearing them on the metro, in shops, hotels and restaurants. Was this paranoia about germs and contagions? Unsure, but coughing or sneezing without one seems to be frowned upon.

3. 7-Eleven Stores
This shop chain is the birth child of the Taiwanese and no country has more stores per person than Taiwan. There are over 5000 in total and probably one store every 500 metres in cities.

4. Mandarin or Taiwanese?
The official language is Mandarin but Tawainese is spoken particularly in the south of the country. Japanese is still spoken by older people as Taiwan was under Japanese rule between 1895 and 1945.

5. Fourth Floor Mystery
Even Scooby Doo would have been flummoxed if he decided to search for the mysterious fourth floor in business or hotel buildings in Taiwan. In fact, in some hotels you would be hard pressed to find a room containing the number 'four' in its room number, let alone the fourth floor. The Chinese word for four (si), if said in the wrong tone, means 'to die' so it would be unlucky to have any rooms or floors using the number four.

6. Clocks as Gifts - Unthinkable
Presenting a clock as a gift is unthinkable as the Mandarin phrase 'to give a clock' sounds the same as 'to attend a funeral'.

7. Referring to the Unreferrable
It's important never to comment or make jokes that imply death or disaster as there is a widespread belief in bad omens, and the lengths to which many Taiwanese will go to avoid them. For example, a seemingly innocuous statement such as “she’s going to get herself killed walking in front of all that traffic,” can imply in the minds of many Taiwanese that this will actually happen. Actions that imply the notion that something untoward could happen are also widely avoided in Taiwan, which helps to explain why so many Taiwanese refuse to write last wills out of fear that such action could precipitate their own demise.

8. Throwing Blocks (Moon Blocks)
In a couple of temples, we were lucky enough to witness the use of throwing blacks which are shaped like moon crescents that are used for fortune telling. A worshipper uses them to ascertain the god's answer to a specific question. If one block lands flat side up and the other opposite, then this is positive, but must happen three times in a row for the believer to be certain that the deity is in agreement.

Throwing Blocks (Moon Blocks), Tainan

9. Bring out the Braziers
It's mid-afternoon in the second largest city in Taiwan and you're walking down the pavement when you have to swerve to avoid a small metal brazier (rather like a cauldron) that is burning hot. Ash flutters upwards into the air from burning what appears to be paper. A few steps further, there is another brazier and then another. Burning ghost money so that it transitions to their ancestors is another way of honouring the deceased family and this is done every day outside businesses, restaurants, hotels and shops. For a country so advanced in the technology sector, these beliefs are in stark contrast to logic and modern day living.

10. Semi Conductors
Taiwan is the world leader in semi conductor manufacturing - most digital consumer products in the world such as air conditioners, smart phones, cookers, washing machines, cameras, televisions and fridges use semi conductors.

11. 921 Earthquake Museum
We visited this poignant and informative memorial to the devastating 1999 quake which is built around the ruins of the Guangfu Junior High School. The Chelungpu fault line left a clearly visible ridge that cuts across the running track. The earthquake hit with a 7.3 magnitude on the Richter scale with diastrous aftershocks registering 6.7.
We experienced the quake ourselves in a class room simulation room and the museum has hands on science experiments to explain what building structures can withstand earthquakes and what can be done to limit the devastation.

921 Earthquake Museum, Taichung

Running track showing visible ridge caused by devastating 1999 earthquake, 921 Earthquake Museum

Experiment on building structures during earthquakes, 921 Earthquake Museum

Ruins of Guangfu Junior High School, 921 Earthquake Museum

12. Religion
Taiwan has 3 major religions and we visited temples for all three: Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism and in some ways is a mixture of all three with folk religion thrown in for good measure. The Japanese occupation saw widespread persecution of Taoism (as it was seen as the embodiment of Chinese culture), which meant that Taoists had to secretly worship in Buddhist temples, leading to the creation of Taiwan's uniquely united yet divergent faith.

Lanterns hanging from temple ceiling, Lugang

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Buddhism is one of the world's oldest religions where the central belief of Buddhist teachings is the overcoming of human desire, the chief cause of the universal suffering that dominates all of life. By following a "path" of belief and principles, a Buddhist can aim to achieve a higher plane of existence known as Nirvana. Chinese Buddhism varies considerably from the pure Indian version with a number of Chinese sects combining both Buddhist and Taoist beliefs.

Great Buddha Statue, Changhua (largest Buddha statue in Taiwan)

Have your name assigned to a glowing miniature Buddha

The Taiwanese worship a mixture of Taoist and Buddhist deities including Mazu (Queen of Heaven), Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy), Wang Ye (Pestilence Gods) and Guan Di (God of War).

Official Good of War Temple, Tainan

Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven Statue, Lotus Lake

Confucianism is not strictly a religion, the teachings of the great Chinese Philosopher Confucius (551-479 BC) have become an important part of faith and personal beliefs throughout Asia. Confucius taught the worship of ancestors and the respect of elders and nobility, but he also believed strongly in a society based on merit and skills rather than privilege and inherited titles. If people behave according to a strict code of moral and social values then society will be transformed and happiness achieved.
We've observed local people visiting various temples, make a series of bows before the image of their chosen deity, their hands together before their chest normally holding incense sticks. The sticks are then placed in a large censer facing the main hall of the temple. Tables in front of the altars are usually covered in offerings such as fruit, incense and joss money (gold paper) intended to convey the sincerity and loyalty of the worshipper. The money, however, must be burnt in order for it to pass into the spiritual realm; there was always a queue of worshippers waiting to throw towering piles of money in chimney like furnaces which stand in the temple courtyard.

Furnace outside a temple for burning joss money (gold paper), Changhua