Taipei Warnings Or Dangers

Taipei has the craziest traffic in all of Taiwan, with the possible exception of Kaohsiung. Although many people in Taiwan now own and drive cars, cars are still rather expensive and unaffordable for many people; so a lot of people ride scooters and motorcycles. This means that pedestrians and drivers will be sharing roads and sidewalks with thousands of scooters. Scooters generally don't obey many traffic regulations (then again, neither do cars). Somehow, the Chinese are amazingly able at avoiding each other right before a crash; I've never seen a car accident in Taipei.

Understand that in Taipei, pedestrians NEVER have the right of way, whether the light is green, red, or otherwise. Drivers will expect you to stop for them, not vice versa; also realize that yellow lines mean nothing and sometimes drivers will drive on either side of the road (a rare case, but it happens).

To avoid exhaustion under the hot sun, feel free to use cabs. They are very cheap. However, make sure they understand where you want to go. Sometimes, they can bring you to a destination other than the desired one, perhaps on purpose to get a hire fare from you.

Alternatively, you can use the metro. But, don't eat, drink or even chew gum in the metro system, lest you get a fine!

Finally, you can simply walk about the city. However, if you do, watch out for the hardcore traffic. The scooters are especially problematic as they often zigzag in between cars and are easily missed until the very last moment. And they often go on the sidewalks.

Don't drink tap water and watch what you eat. Pay for a decent hotel if you don't like roaches.

There are many cities with bad traffic but no city has bad traffic the way Taipei has bad traffic: with scooters. Not only are the streets clogged with cars, but swarms of scooters buzz in and out of any nook and cranny left by the bigger vehicles. Add pedestrians to the mix and what you have is ery volitile. I have never been anywhere where I've seen so many accidents happen right in front of my eyes. I saw a scooter wipe out. I saw a scooter slam into a truck, spilling oranges all over Linsen St. I saw two cars collide. Most of these accidents I saw from a speeding taxi who spent much of his time onthe wrong side of the road. Traffic in Taipei is a unique if frustrating experience!

Taipei is surrounded by mountains, shaping like a basin. The result is we ALWAYS have a sweating-hot summer. And also some air pollution remain on top of our city, at least it makes it easier to observe the signs of the zodiac. Generally speaking, the air is clean and breathable, except sometimes in spring, the sand comes with seasonal wind from northen China.
The weather in Taipei can be very dramatic. It can change hugely within a few days. Sometimes it may be as hot as 35"c ++ in autumn; it can also be as cold as 9"c-- in spring. Never expect stable weather during the seasonal interchange. The best way is to pay attention to weather report.
This year is one of the most strange years ever. In March, it was EVEN colder than winter, Taipei snowed in suburban; this autumn, we have 35 degree so far. Well, things change, nothing can be predicted as before.

If you have Taiwan NT note with you.... check your 100 and 500 notes.... you might find that it is quit similar in the color...

I am not sure about the local but it sometimes confused me as a traveller. give out 500 as 100.... as Taiwanese, one shopkeepers was mistaken the 500 as 100 too....

I think who travel to Taiwan just make sure you are very careful with these notes, you might end up lossing a lot money if you not realise it.

Beware of Scooters! They are in abundance in the city.

Also, the vehicles do not observe the traffic lights. Open up your eyes when you cross the road.

Furthermore, scooters travel freely on the pedestrain path. WATCH OUT!

Mostly, typhoons VISIT us during summer, but it may also visit us on autuman, we call it autuamn typhoon, which caused more demege and loss on property.
It quiet often comes with huge rain and wind. And as far as I know, Taipei sometimes suffers from typhoon badly, it may caused flood in downtown. If the typhoon is strong enough, we take a day off, because it may be rather dangerous to walk in the street or even ride on a motorbike. Things may fall from your head.

This company damaged 85,000 NT$ (U$D2,500) of my furniture and wouldn't even take my phone calls.
The company representative MR Rich Wright left the company a couple of months later and went to work for another company in the same line of business, he told me he could no longer work for them having seen what they did with my claim.
Take my advise if you need to move in out or around Taiwan choose a reputable company with respectable management and owners.