Taiwan Local Customs

 
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  • statues of Chinese god walked around every street
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a march on a god's birthday (cheng huang ie)

by cielo85

it was held on every may 17th of lunar calandar at my town, every family gotta do the tradition like "bai-bai" for a couple of days,and on that day, there's martch around the whole town, some people are as guards,and some are as other gods,and kids are made up as ancient generals,servers,and different roles, they sit on lots of benches which r connected to be a really long row ,just like scolopendridand at that night, every family invites their friends,family to their house for a dinner,i am always loooking forward to that "*S*

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Crazy Fun Firecrackers Fest

by TravelerM

It's held in a small town called Yen-suieh (Salty Water), located north of Kaohsiung, in Tainan County, where there is a firecrackers festival going on annually. Originally, the villagers set off the firecrackers as rewards to the gods they believe in for the prosperity and fortune they brought in. The more they earned, the more firecrackers they set off. And for the past decade, they've developed a special kind of very loud firecracker, which would go crazily fast, twirling around in the air and into the crowd. In Chinese, it's called Bee (or even Wasp) shots. So the viewers have to cover up all over from head to toe. A big pile of crackers would be placed in the center of the square with the crowd standing around it. When they are lit, the crackers would be shot 180 degrees!!! Some are aimed high, some could go among the crowd, some are crawling along the ground among the feet of the...

God Money

by Arm-Chair-Hero

On my first trip to Taiwan and on the first night I noticed quite a lot of metal bins out side shops. Inside the bins was smouldering ashes. As time went on I learnt that the bins was for burning God Money. God Money is not real money but a kind of childs play money...the money is symbolic rather than of value. You will see people burning huge amounts of this money. The idea is the money is burnt to feed the spirits and keep the demons away bringing the shop and people with in the shop good luck. This is widely seen and not just a one off. Also near the bins you may see tables draped in red cloth full off fruit laid out for the spirits.I could be wrong on this but I beleive this happens every full moon.

Stuffed Like A Pig

by Arm-Chair-Hero

When visiting anyone it will be standard practise for them to feed and water you.....you can not escape with out eating........even if you say you are full...or feel ill, you will still have food thrust upon you.When you think you have eaten a respectable amount, more food will arrive and more and more and more......Be prepared for this....the Taiwanese are extremely generous when it comes to food and drink....when you look at their slender bodys it just doesnt make sense.

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Entering some ones house.

by Arm-Chair-Hero

When entering some ones house it is polite for you to take your shoes off before you actually go inside.....some people will say it is ok for you to leave on.......best thing is to take them off. Your host will usually provide you with some flip flops or slippers to wear in the house.The same rule applys to a lot of temples too.....if you are not sure best thing is look to see what others are doing rather than risking offending anyone.

Essential tips

by Arm-Chair-Hero

Compared to England, Taiwan does seem to have quite a few customs that are widely respected by all.The people are so freindly and understanding, even if theyhave no idea what you are saying, they will allow for mistakes that you might make and have a huge understanding that we do not fully realise the meaning behind the customs and traditions.This is pretty good when you consider how very few people there are as tourists or from other lands working.

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Fireworks

by sakurita

Don`t be surprised for the sound during the day. Taiwanese people loves to use fireworks for everything. During our staying almost everyday we had to struggle with it...all of the sudden, god knows from where all these people showed up in the middle of the streets appareantly in a political parade using this fireworks and lots of other goodies.It is worth to see it once...but every day...

Betel nut - the local "chewing gum"

by Levente_D

It is a very strange habit that people (especially men) are chewing a kind of nut called "betel nut" so you can see some guys with their mouth all red ... (funny) ... but the best part of it is the places where they sell these nuts. In the city there are normal food stands those are selling betel nuts as well but outher the city ... especially near the main traffic ways you can see the so called "betel nut girls" ... really atractive for men eyes and you wouldn't believe they are selling innocent "betel nuts"!

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Karaoke

by Kurtdhis

In Taiwan, karaoke bars are very popular and very common. (We didn't go to one, though.)The Chinese for `karaoke' is `kalaokay'. Not too surprising.However, it is spelt # * O KWhere `#' and `*' represent ideograms pronounced `ka' and `la', resepctively.Sometimes the sign is printed from the other side, as it were, so that it reads K O * #instead.You can also go to a KTV or an MTV place. At a KTV (#*OK TV) you sing along with a video, or you get to be in the video yourself,

Fengshui

by kenmerk

This literally means the wind and the water, although a more accurate definition would be to be in harmony with your surroundings. If something bad happens to you, not to worry, for it is not your fault. It is just that you fengshui needs adjustment. (Moving the furniture around may even remedy the problem...)Before any new building is occupied, Taiwanese people will call in Fengshuit experts to make sure nothing is amiss. Also, I have literally had guests in my house re-arrange the furniture in their bedroooms because they were not comfortable with the feng-shui of the room....

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Local traditions and culture in Taiwan

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Local Customs: Cities in Taiwan
  1. Taipei Local Customs
  2. Kaohsiung Local Customs
  3. Taiwan Local Customs
  4. T'ai-chung Local Customs
  5. Taitung Local Customs
  6. Chiayi Local Customs
  7. Chilung Local Customs
  8. T'ai-nan Local Customs
  9. P'ing-hsi Local Customs

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Taipei Shih Local Customs  Taiwan Sheng Local Customs  Kaohsiung Shih Local Customs 

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Questions and Answers

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Q:  my husband and I will be visiting taiwan on feb 11-17, 2012. there are a number of places our friends have recommended we should... 

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A: I spent one day in sun-moon lake area after Lunar New Year last month. Depending on your travel sytel, you can either take train to Tai-Chung city and transfer bus to... 

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