  ★★★★
              Taiwan tourism & travel 台湾の観光&旅行
      ★   world No. 1 in 2020~26, 2017~19, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2010~12    ★ Top since 1998 ★

fights for rights

★home

̥politics › review-Taiwan OPinion comment-Taiwan pres-Lai pres-Tsai intro-Taiwan persecution mind-control microwave-attacks military TW internet-army diplomacy oppression
society corruption rotten police univ death-penalty prosecutors women speech privacy personality judiciary democracy int'l-Human-rights human-rights judicial-cases fraud home-invasion

lifeLLHlife love hospitals restaurants travel happiness housing night-markets food foreign-labor prostitutes massage wealth soft power larceny buffet FB supermarket transpor avia CovID
artsarts US-cartoons US-designs Japan-comic cartoons-WWII humor music pop-songs classic-pop Taiwan-pop Chn-ballad Japan-songs movies Chn-creativity EXPO political-cartoons
★

●

jump to

int'l views restaurants night-markets buffet transportation massage entertainment natural beauties architectures expenses art&culture heritage outlet/shopping criminal rate

★

2026 - Asia's 50 Best Restaurants (Mar. 2026)
country rank	country	rankings of winning restaurants	number of winners
1	Thailand	No. 3, 5, 8, 12, 18, 25, 27, 36, 47	9
2	Japan	No.13, 16, 21, 28, 31, 33, 34, 37	8
3	Hong Kong, Macau	No. 1 , 2, 7(Macau), 24, 32, 35, 46	7
4	China mainland	No. 6, 9, 10, 11, 17, 29, 48	7
5	S. Korea	No. 4, 14, 26, 41, 43, 49	6
6	Singapore	No. 19, 20, 23, 38, 40, 45	6
7	India	No. 15, 30	2
8	Taiwan	No. 22 (Logy), 50 (JL Studio)	2
9	Indonesia	No. 42, 44	2
10	Malaysia	No. 39	1
theworlds50best.com/asia/en/list/1-50

★Financial Times (2025-2-26): What is striking is the absence of practical steps to lower tensions between Taiwan and mainland China——Restoring cross-strait travel is the most immediate way to lower the temperature — and Washington can help。It created a form of everyday contact that functioned as a soft buffer. ft.com/content/17a3d3ac-5041-4a06-be3b-1d22e99f278c

★New York Times/Taiwan's Underrated East Coast Is a Gem for Nature LoversThe island's lesser-known rugged side delivers staggering natural scenery and a range of outdoor experiences.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/travel/taiwan-coast-national-parks.html

★Lowy Institute, Australia (2026-3-4): Taipei is unpretty, the successful result of a developmental state that rammed through mid-rises and an export industry. lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/taiwan-still-working-itself-out
★bne IntelliNews (Germany, 2025-8-31) : CNN once described the Taiwan island as a “living hell for pedestrians”, it was quietly forgotten and things returned to normal as they so often do. For now, Taiwan's road deaths are higher than the total number of those lost in the 9-11 attacks each year, the tendency of drivers to treat the rules of the road as loose guidelines, running red lights or swerving suddenly across lanes with no use of an indicator, or failing to give way to people on zebra crossings, and life for pedestrians in Taiwan is a game of life-and-death every time they step outside their front door. “I rarely see police enforce traffic laws,” one foreign resident observed, while another commentator said, “It's endemic to a weak local government with no National oversight to enforce traffic laws.” Stepping onto the street in Taiwan will remain an act of risk that no modern democracy should tolerate; Beyond urban chaos, Taiwan’s infrastructure also contributes to the danger. The Suhua Highway, famed for its coastal scenery alond the east coast, has long been notorious for its narrow lanes and landslide-prone cliffs, so perilous... those overseas pondering a trip to see all the positives that time in Taiwan offers, should think twice before booking a flight . intellinews.com/taiwan-s-deadly-mix-of-drivers-and-pedestrians-398761/

★ Reuters, 2025-9-26: Mountainous, sparsely populated and largely rural, Hualien is one of Taiwan's top tourist destinations due to its wild beauty. ★ BBC News, 2025-9-24 : Hualien, which is nearly 90% mountainous, is no stranger to natural disasters, either. The county is often the first location on Taiwan to face typhoons, and its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire means it's prone to earthquakes. The calamities in the past two years, including a fatal magnitude 7.1 earthquake in 2024, have devastated the county's tourism industry. Many scenic spots and routes in the world-famous Taroko Gorge National Park are still shut after the quake. The county also has the largest Indigenous population in Taiwan. msn.com/en-us/news/world/no-warning-residents-reel-from-deadly-flood-after-typhoon-bursts-taiwan-lake/ar-AA1Nf5Pi?ocid=BingNewsVerp

Taiwan

Taiwan's tourism & travel

WEF ranks Taiwan 10th in Asia , STATISTA ranks Taiwan 13th

pic.:No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism" on US Google, 2026-2-9; No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism", "comment Taiwan tour" on US Google, 2025-12-17, 2025-9-25, 2025-5-7, 2024-10-3, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-5-1, 2024-2-24, 2024-1-1, 2023-11-11, 2023-9-15; No.2 "comment Taiwan tourism" on US Google, 2024-12-8; No.3 "comment Taiwan travel" on US Google, 2025-5-8

No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism" on Baidu, 2026-3-31, 2026-2-9, 2025-12-27;No.1 "comment Taiwan travel" on Baidu, 2026-3-31, 2026-2-9, 2025-12-27 ;
No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on Baidu, 2026-2-9

No.1 "comment Taiwan" on Baidu, 2026-3-29, the tea-pot graphic design is Taiwan's tourism ad.

★

This websites-group was ranked No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on Yandex, 2026-3-31, 2026-2-9, No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism" on Yandex, 2026-3-31, 2025-12-27, 2025-9-26, 2024-12-8, 2024-10-3, 2024-8-8, 2024-2-24, 2023-10-31, 2023-9-4, 2023-5-9, 2023-4-7; No.1 "comment Taiwan travel" , 2026-3-31, 2024-12-12, 2024-1-1, 2023-11-11, 2023-9-4, 2023-5-9, ; No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on Yandex Russia, 2025-12-27, 2025-9-26, 2025-5-8; No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on Yandex, 2024-12-8, 2024-10-3, 2024-8-8, No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on Yandex at 2023-2-14, 2023-1-2 ; No.2 "comment Taiwan tourism" on Yandex, 2023-2-14, 2023-1-2; This websites-group was ranked No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism " on Yandex of Russia at 2022-7-29, 2022-7-10, 2022-6-11

★

2025 Michelin stars comparisons among main Asian countries
Michelin cities	3 Star	2 Star	1 Star	total number
Tokyo (Japan)	12	25	132	169
Hong Kong	7	11	58	76
Kyoto (Japan)	5	16	72	93
Osaka (Japan)	3	11	65	79
Singapore	3	7	42	52
Shanghai (China)	2	9	41	52
Taipei (Taiwan ROC)	2	7	43	52
Seoul (S Korea)	1	9	27	37

Taiwan Tourism Administration survey discovered that inbound visitors overwhelmingly cited food (82.17 percent), the island's scenic beauty (69.66 percent), and the friendliness of the Taiwanese (47.20 percent) as reasons for choosing Taiwan for sightseeing. 　 Inbound Visitors' Residence Accumulated from Jan.-April 2025
Japan	16.0%	Mainland China	7.0%
other	15.1	Vietnam	5.2
S Korea	13.7	Thailand	4.9
HK	13.2	Malaysia	4.8
USA	8.3	Singapore	4.7
Philippines	7.1
globaltaiwan.org/2025/08/welcome-to-taiwan-tourism-and-soft-power/

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on US Google, 2025-9-26, 2025-5-8, 2024-12-8; This websites-group was ranked No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" and "comment Taiwan tourism" on US Google, 2025-9-26, 2025-5-8, 2024-10-3, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-5-1, 2024-2-24, 2024-1-1, 2023-11-11, 2023-10-31

★ ouDaily.com (2025-6-2): OU (U. Oklahoma) student goes missing on vacation in Taiwan, search continues after 3 days.
★ United Daily (2025-7-22): Taiwan, "The Hell of the pedestrian" ─ A bus hits pedestrian on zebra crossing ─ There's a long way to go for Taiwan to catch up with advanced countries (People-oriented countries)udn.com/news/story/11091/8884083?from=udn_ch2cate6643sub11091_pulldownmenu_v2

nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/best-areas-to-visit-taiwan-taipei-alternatives
◊

2024 Michelin stars comparisons among main Asian countries
Michelin cities	3 Star	2 Star	1 Star	total number
Tokyo (Japan)	12	33	138	183
Hong Kong	7	12	60	79
Kyoto (Japan)	5	17	78	100
Osaka (Japan)	3	10	72	85
Singapore	3	6	42	51
Shanghai (mainland China)	2	8	41	51
Macau	2	6	8	16
Taipei (Taiwan)	2	5	30	37
Seoul (S. Korea)	1	9	23	33
★ Yahoo News (2024-4-30): Taiwan's a number of restaurants including Michelin 3-star Le Palais Cantonese restaurant (君品頤宮) in Palais de Chine Hotel and Michelin one-star MiPon (米香), A-Cut, Tien Hsiang Lo (天香樓) repeatedly failed to pass public health inspections in recent 4 years. Taipei city councilor questions that if Michelin restaurants got food safety issues, what can our people eat ? tw.news.yahoo.com/米其林餐廳也不合格-議員揭-食安地雷-君品頤宮-天香樓都入列-095930855.html ★\

No.1 "comment Taiwan travel" on Yandex, 2026-3-31, 2024-12-12, 2024-12-8, 2024-1-1, 2023-11-11, 2023-10-31, 2023-9-4, 2023-5-9

Taiwan's earthquakes
★ CNBC, 2024-6-4	‘Everyone is too scared to come’: Taiwan's earthquake deals a blow to top tourism hotspot - The brunt of the earthquake's damage occured in Hualien County, which attracts millions of visitors per year to the towering peaks and waterfalls of its main draw, Taroko Gorge; cnbc.com/2024/06/04/taiwans-april-earthquake-deals-another-blow-to-its-tourism-industry.html Jan Camenzind Broomby
★ The Straits Times (Singapore), 2024-5-6	Travelling to Taiwan? Aftershocks can last up to a year, so earthquake preparedness is key; If you are indoors during an earthquake, drop down onto your hands and knees and seek cover.★

★

★CNN (2024-11-14): Taiwan boasts 10 national parks and 19 national forest recreation areas covering a wide range of terrain; More than 260 peaks over 3,000 meters (9,800 feet), hiking trails blazed by Indigenous people thousands of years ago, for outdoor adventure and wellness fans. msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/taiwan-is-fast-becoming-a-top-destination-for-outdoor-adventure-and-wellness-fans-it-s-easy-to-see-why/ar-AA1u7c09?ocid=BingNewsVerp

★ Daily Telegraph (2024-9-14):Taiwan has historically been a rare stop on the tourist trail– its appeal long limited by an association with geopolitical tension. Where to go?

The National Palace Museum holds hundreds of thousands of Chinese artifacts and artworks

, and the imposing Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, where a museum explores the complex legacy of the leader who imposed martial law for decades..At night, check out Zhongshan district's Japanese-style bars ... take the 30-minute train to Beitou in Yangmingshan National Park, where you can relax in sulphuric springs for just £15. For a more upmarket experience, head to Wulai; Kenting, on the southern tip of the island, is a go-to spot for snorkelling with green turtles, take the train from Taipei to Taroko Gorge National Park, where a bus will take you along the Qingshui Cliffs and up to dramatic views and beautiful hiking routes full text: telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/taiwan/taiwan-deserves-place-on-your-wish-list/

★ The China Times, 2024-8-24, editorial: Taiwan's tourism & travel is still struggle to recover. There is an unprecedented deficit of inbound to outbound tourists. In the first year (2023) after lifting the lockdown, the number of outbound tourists (persons in time) is 1.8 times of the inbound tourists (persons in time). In 2024 (till May), only 6.48 millions persons in time arrived Taiwan, by contrast, 11.79 millions persons in time traveled overseas.chinatimes.com/opinion/20240824003150-262101?chdtv

★ TIME, 2023-11-20: Growth in Taiwan for 2023 is projected to be 1.61%—its slowest pace in eight years. Beijing only has to lift a ban on Chinese tourists to boost Taiwan's GDP by over 1%, according to Capital Economics. time.com/6336441/taiwan-presidental-election-william-lai-profile/

World Economic Forum ★ Travel & Tourism Development Index 2024 (May 2024) www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Travel_and_Tourism_Development_Index_2024.pdf
World Rank	Rank in Asia	score	World rank change since 2019
3. Japan	1	5.09	0
5. Australia	2	5.00	2
8. China	3	4.94	1
13. Singapore	4	4.76	-2
14. Korea Rep.	5	4.74	0
18. UAE	6	4.62	7
22. Indonesia	7	4.46	14
25 New Zealand	8	4.41	-5
35. Malaysia	9	4.28	-7
39. India	10	4.25	-10
41. Saudi Arabia, 47. Thailand, 48. Israel, 53. Qatar, 59. Vietnam Taiwan is not included in the report, but according to STATISTA: Leading countries in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), Taiwan ranks No.13 among Asian countries; According to World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019, Taiwan ranks No. 10 in Asian countries.

★

★ The Star, 2024-7-22: Taiwan wants to lure higher-spending travellers from South-East Asia as Chinese arrivals dwindle.

★

★ CNN (2022-12-6): Taiwan's 'living hell' traffic is a tourism problem. Taiwan is notorious for its dangerous roads. Multiple countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan and the US, have specifically called out Taiwan's road conditions. "Many drivers do not respect the pedestrian's right of way,” the US State Department warns. The Canadian government: "Motorcycles and scooter drivers don't respect traffic laws. They are extremely reckless.” Cities in Taiwan share a major issue – a lack of pavements and consistent walkways for pedestrians, ... Pedestrians are then often “forced” to walk onto car lanes... The number of people lost their lives to traffic incidents in Taiwan is approximately six times higher than Japan and five times higher than the UK. msn.com/en-us/travel/news/taiwans-living-hell-traffic-is-a-tourism-problem-say-critics/ar-AA14Xb2n brief

★

WP Travel - World Tourism Ranking by Country 2024
World Rank	Country	Region	Arrivals (million)	Receipts (USD billion)	Receipts per arrival (USD)
11	Thailand	Asia Pacific	28.15	29.7	1,055
12	Saudi Arabia	Middle East	27.42	36.0	1,312
13	Japan	Asia Pacific	25.07	38.6	1,539
15	Malaysia	Asia Pacific	20.14	14.8	735
18	Hong Kong (China)	Asia Pacific	17.16	21.1	1,228
20	Macao (China)	Asia Pacific	14.23	32.6	2,288
22	Vietnam	Asia Pacific	12.60	9.2	730
23	Korea (ROK)	Asia Pacific	11.03	15.3	1,388
30	Australia	Asia Pacific	7.19	46.6	6,480
31	Uzbekistan	Asia Pacific	6.63	2.2	327
32	Taiwan	Asia Pacific	6.49	8.7	1,349
39	Philippines	Asia Pacific	5.00	9.1	1,822
41	Qatar	Middle East	4.05	8.8	2,183
45	Israel	Middle East	3.01	6.0	1,987
wptravel.io/world-tourism-ranking-by-country/

economist / The world's most liveable cities in 2023 City liveability index, Mar. 2023 - Taipei ranks world No. 65, Asia's No.14
score	cities in Asia
90+	Melbourne, Sydney, Aucland, Adelaide, Osaka(Japan), Perth, Tokyo(Japan), Brisbane, Wellington, Singapore
80-90	Seoul(Korea), Hong Kong(Chn), Busan(Korea), Taipei (Taiwan), Kaohsiung, Taichung
60-80	Noumea, Nantong, SuZhou, Beijing, ShenYang, Shanghai, etc
top 5 cities: Vienna 98.4, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Sydney, Vancouver ... No.10 Osaka, Auckland 96 Score out of 100* five categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

★ Yahoo News (2024-4-30): Taiwan's a number of restaurants including Michelin 3-star Le Palais Cantonese restaurant (君品頤宮) in Palais de Chine Hotel and Michelin one-star MiPon (米香), A-Cut, Tien Hsiang Lo (天香樓) repeatedly failed to pass public health inspections in recent 4 years. Taipei city councilor questions that if Michelin restaurants got food safety issues, what can our people eat ? tw.news.yahoo.com/米其林餐廳也不合格-議員揭-食安地雷-君品頤宮-天香樓都入列-095930855.html

2023 Michelin stars comparisons among Asian countries
Michelin cities	total number of stars	Green Star	3 Star	2 Star	1 Star
Tokyo (Japan)	202	12	12	39	139
Kyoto (Japan)	104	6	6	19	73
Osaka (Japan)	97	3	3	10	81
Hong Kong	81	3	7	13	58
Singapore	65	1	3	6	55
Shanghai (China)	51	1	2	9	39
Seoul (S. Korea)	38	3	2	8	25
Taipei (Taiwan)	29	2	2	5	20
By highlighting eco-friendly pioneer restaurants with the MICHELIN Green Star, and spotlighting their virtuous initiatives, it stimulates awareness and actions both within the industry and by gourmets.

★ New York Times, 2023-3-16: ⊙ Xia Hai City God Temple - managing to cram more than 600 statues of deities in just over 1,600 square feet. One in particular stands out: the Love God (ps: but Taiwanese prefer bread to romance) ⊙ Chifeng Street is a fashion-forward shopping street flush with vintage clothing stores... ⊙ Dadaocheng is Taipei’s oldest neighborhood, famous for its dried goods ⊙ Yangmingshan National Park is home to wild hot springs and volcanic peaks.⊙Qixing Mountain is a dormant volcano and the tallest mountain in Taipei.⊙Because of gentrification and noise complaints, many of Taipei’s night markets aren’t as robust as they were decades ago. Ningxia Night Market is a distinguished exception nytimes.com/interactive/2023/03/16/travel/things-to-do-taipei.html

"comment Taiwan travel" ranks No.1 on Bing, 2026-3-31, 2025-5-8, 2024-10-3, 2024-8-31, 8-4 (Chinese version);
"comment Taiwan tourism" ranks No.1 on Bing, 2026-3-31, 2025-5-8, 2024-8-31, 2024-5-1, 2024-2-24, 2023-11-11, 2023-10-31, 2023-9-2, 2023-5-9, 2022-11-23, 2022-11-13, 2022-10-8; No.2 at 2024-10-3 (Chinese version)

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan travel" on Bing, 2024-8-8, No.1 "comment Taiwan travel", "comment Taiwan tour" on Bing, 2024-5-1, 2023-11-11, 2023-9-4, 2023-5-9, 2023-4-7; No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism", "comment Taiwan tour" on Bing, 2023-9-4, 2023-2-14; No.1 "comment Taiwan travel " on Bing at 2023-1-2, 2022-12-17, 2022-11-30, 2022-11-13, 2022-10-23, 2022-10-13, 2022-9-23 , 2022-1-4, 2021-8-8, 2021-7-23, 2021-5-30, 2021-5-13, 2021-5-4, 2021-4-22, 2021-3-17, 2-11-2021 ,12-11-2020, 10-31-2020, 8-2-2020, 7-7-2020, 5-16-2020, 7-11-2019, 3-7-2019, 9-4-2018, 6-22-2018

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on Bing, 2024-5-1, 2024-2-24, 2023-11-11, 2023-10-31; No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism" on Bing, 2024-5-1, 2023-11-11, 2023-10-31; No.2 "comment Taiwan tour" on Bing, 2025-05-8

★ SCMP, 2024-4-28: Cross-strait tourism has typically mirrored the ups and downs in relations between the island and mainland China.

★ New York Times, (nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-cases.html) 2023-2-23 : Taiwan's CovID death rate (deaths per 100,000) ranks world No.1. The ranks of other Asian countries : No.6 Australia, No. 7 Japan, No. 23 New Zealand, No. 27 Hong Kong, 35 Korea, 64 Malaysia, 66 Thailand, 68 Indonesia, 72 India, about 170 Singapore, about 200 China.

CNN: Taiwan will pay tourist to visit. full details

★ New York Times (2023-1-12): In the Times Travel section's 52 places to go in 2023, Taipei ranks No. 36, other Asia's selections include No.2 Morioka Japan, No. 5 Auckland NZ, 7 kangaroo island Australia, 12 Bhutan, 13 Kerala India, 19 Fukuoka Japan, 20 Flores Indonesia, 25 Ha Giang Vietnam, 27 U-K Tjuta National Park, Australia nytimes.com/interactive/2023/travel/52-places-travel-2023.html?campaign_id=7&emc=edit_mbae_20230113&instance_id=82548&nl=morning-briefing%3A-asia-pacific-edition&regi_id=93861781&segment_id=122347&te=1&user_id=4a9594d616730fc2c1567d65a316b5f1


	pic.Google doodle celebrates Taiwan's sweet and tangy drink bubble tea India Today, 2023-1-29:The unique drink that is sweet and tangy was popularised back in 2020. Countries like Singapore, Japan and South Korea have taken this drink to the next level with an ample amount of experiments msn.com/en-in/foodanddrink/foodnews/google-doodle-celebrates-taiwans-sweet-and-tangy-drink-bubble-tea/ar-AA16R1Tq
★ SCMP, 2023-5-6 the bigger handouts!! Taiwan doubles down on stimulus to halt recession with tourist handouts, cash for citizens; Taipei has rolled out a series of stimulus, including a lucky draw to give away spending vouchers and stored-value cards to inbound tourists msn.com/en-xl/travel/other/taiwan-doubles-down-on-stimulus-to-halt-recession-with-tourist-handouts-cash-for-citizens/ar-AA1aNR0v

★ Michelin 2024 / Street Food Comparisons

Taipei (台北)

nguide.michelin.com/us/en/taipei-region/taipei/restaurants/bib-gourmand: The number of Taipei's Michelin "Bib Gourmand" street food is 9;
nguide.michelin.com/en/tw/restaurants/street-food: 12 street food in Taipei on the list

♦ 公館夜市/ Hsiung Chi Scallion Pancake (Gongguan Night Market, 2, Lane 108, Section 4, Luosifu Road)

♦ 饒河街夜市/ A Kuo Lu Wei (Raohe Street Night Market, 226 Raohe Street,)

♦ 南機場夜市/ Unnamed Clay Oven Roll (Nanjichang Night Market, Stall 74, Lane 311, Section 2, Zhonghua Road)

♦ 南機場夜市/ Wu Wang Tsai Chi (Nanjichang Night Market, 29, Lane 313, Section 2, Zhonghua Road)

♦ 延三夜市/ Cabbage Rice and Pork Rib Soup (Yansan Night Market, 2, Lane 17, Section 3,)

♦ 華西街夜市/ Yuan Fang Guabao (Huaxi Street Night Market, Stall 161, 17-2 Huaxi Street)

♦ 士林夜市/ Chung Chia Sheng Jian Bao (Shilin Night Market, 38 Xiaodong Street)

♦ 華西街夜市/ Wang's Broth (Huaxi Street Night Market, Stall 153, 17-4 Huaxi Street,)

♦ 士林夜市/ Good Friend Cold Noodle (Shilin Night Market, 31 Danan Road)

Singapore (新加坡)

nThe number of Singapore's Michelin "Bib Gourmand" street food and hawker stalls is 65

nmothership.sg (2024-6-18): 7 new hawker stalls added to S'pore Michelin Bib Gourmand list 2024

nmothership.sg (2023-6-15): the international director of the Michelin Guide, said the 79 Bib Gourmand locations include 21 restaurants, 53 hawker centre stalls, and five street food establishments
nJetStar : Hawker centres are hubs of hawker stalls – small stands selling street food.

TasteAtlas Best Rated Street Foods - July 15, 2024 comparisons among Asian countries - Taiwan is not included in top 25
Indonesia	world No.1 Siomay, No.4 Pempek, No.16 Batagor
China	world No.3 Guotie, No.14 Pan-fried pork buns, No. 24 Baozi
Vietnam	world No.7 Banh mi
Malaysia	world No.12 Roti Cannai
India	world No.20 Amritsari Kulcha
.tasteatlas.com/best-rated-street-foods-in-the-world

★ Taiwan's cuisines rank No.78 in 100 Best Cuisines in the world tasteatlas.com/best/cuisines

Taste Atlas Nov. 2023 / best rated street foods in the world

Top 50 - Asian countries comparison - number of street foods selected

Indonesia ★★★★★★

China ★★★

Vietnam ★★★

India ★★

Malaysia ★

Lebanon ★

Taiwan - no any street foods was selected in world top 50

ISSF's Global Tourism 2023
ranks	countries
1	Spain
2	France
3	USA
4	Italy
5	Thailand
6	Swiss
7	Turkey
8	China
9	Germany
10	Australia

★ Taipei Times, 2023-10-27: The gov LACK Of VISION - Some visitors can be loud very early in the morning, to the annoyance of residents...Kenting (墾丁) and Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) are the two places in Taiwan which have suffered most from overtourism...If Taiwan welcomes evermore tourists, “locals will get priced out of hotels and traffic congestion will get worse. Some roads can barely handle the traffic, even in tourist lulls, so spending on infrastructure upgrades will probably be needed,” taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2023/10/27/2003808282
★ SCMP, 2023-1-22: Taiwan's tourism industry misses mainlanders. Chinese used to be a major source of tourism for Taiwan's hotels and local businesses, but travellers from across the strait are still restricted from coming..."They are willing to spend money. Their spending habits are not the same as others." msn.com/en-xl/travel/other/taiwan-s-tourism-industry-misses-mainlanders-as-ban-prevents-it-from-returning-to-pre-covid-levels/ar-AA16Cjl3
　

Taiwan's travel & tourism - 13th in Asia
STATISTA: Leading countries in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) Published by Statista Research Department, Feb 4, 2021 statista.com/statistics/186639/best-ranked-countries-in-the-travel-and-tourism-competetiveness-index/
Asia Rank	country	score	world Rank
1	Japan	5.4	4
2	Australia	5.1	7
3	China	4.9	13
4	Korea Rep.	4.8	15
5	Hong Kong	4.8	16
6	Singapore	4.8	17
7	New Zealand	4.7	18
8	Malaysia	4.5	25
9	Thailand	4.5	29
10	UAE	4.4	33
11	India	4.4	34
12	Indonesia	4.3	36
13	Taiwan	4.3	37

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism" on US Google, 2023-12-31, 2023-11-10, 2023-10-31

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on Swisscows, 2024-2-24, 2024-1-1; No.1 "comment Taiwan travel" on Swisscows, 2024-1-1

⊙

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on Yandex, 2024-2-24, 2024-1-1, 2023-11-11, 2023-10-31, 2023-9-4, 2023-5-9, 2023-4-7

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on US Google at 2023-12-31, 2023-9-15, 2023-9-4

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on Swisscows of Switzerland, 2024-1-1, 2023-9-4, No.2 at 2023-6-22; No.2 "comment Taiwan travel", 2023-9-4

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on US Google at 2023-12-31, 2021-2-18; No.4 "comment Taiwan tour"
on US Google at 2023-4-7

★ Daily Mail (UK), 2023-4-28: Young Australian student on his dream overseas exchange program is fighting for his life in Taiwan after eating food laced with rat poison. His Doctor father said: "He had been misdiagnosed in Taiwan with an immune disorder". Alex is at the Taipei Medical University Hospital ..."The medical services in Taiwan don't currently have the right treatments or drugs to stabilise his condition, Alex's condition has grown worse and he needs to be flown to the Royal Prince Albert Hospital in Sydney via a specialised medical flight retrieval service". dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12023841/Toowoomba-student-exchange-Taiwan-fighting-life-eating-food-laced-rat-poison.html
★ The Travel (2023-5-26): The eclectic and lively Taipei City - top things to do ♦ Wander Through The National Palace Museum - over 700,000 artifacts spanning millennia of Chinese history. The museum showcases delicate paintings, fine china, calligraphy, and sculptures ♦The Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall♦ Soak In The Beitou Hot Springs♦The Raohe Night Market ♦Longshan Temple ♦Breathtaking Sights Await Atop Taipei 101♦Soar Above Tea Plantations On The Maokong Gondola ♦ Be Mesmerized By Ximending Square etc ♦Some exceptional dishes to try in Taipei include: Niu Rou Mian: Braised Beef Noodle Soup, Pork Intestine & Oyster Noodle msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/10-things-to-do-in-taipei-city-complete-guide-to-taiwans-cultural-capital/ar-AA1bHqwp

★ New York Times (2022-11-15), Taiwan's CovID-19 death rate is worst among Asia's main countries. detail

According to New York Times (2022-10-25), Taiwan's CovID-19 cases per 100,000 and deaths per 100,000 both are the worst among main Asian countries.

★ The Liberty Times (自由時報), editorial (2022-12-13): Statistics show that 12.67 persons per 100 thousands died for traffic accidents in Taiwan, which ranks latter among developed countries, in Taipei city, about 950 thousands of motorcycles run reckless, hurting our image and making air pollution and noise, should be the first thing to be improved. Probably we can take a lesson from Vietnam's capital city 河內。 talk.ltn.com.tw/article/paper/1556742 brief
★ MSN, (2022-12-5): Where is the foreign tourists ? why they are apathetic? / Taiwan's tourism association (中華民國旅行業品質保障協會) leader points out "We lack of marketing", "we don't have a normal tourism environment yet". Besides, the current expense for is accommodation and transport too high for our main tourists - Japanese msn.com/zh-tw/news/living/觀光客呢-老外對台灣無感原因曝光/ar-AA14UKmw?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=ce121db490c54bf285d0800fbfe32b17

★ China Times, editorial, 2023-5-9:

Glowth of number of visitor arrivals 2015 ~ 2019 chinatimes.com/opinion/20230509005070-262101?chdtv
Taiwan	Singapore	S. Korea	Japan	Vietnam	Thailand
14%	26%	33%	62%	128%	33%

US News & World Report - These Countries Are the Best for Tourism (2023-4-13) These are the top countries viewed as good for tourism by global survey respondents. usnews.com/news/best-countries/rankings/good-for-tourism
world rank	Asia rank	countries
3	1	Australia
7	2	New Zealand
8	3	Thailand
12	4	Japan
18	5	Singapore
31	6	Philippines
33	7	UAE
34	8	Malaysia
35	9	Indonesia

World Population Review - Most Visited Countries 2023 comparisons among Asian countries Taiwan ranks about No.13 worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-visited-countries
Asia's rank	Asian country	International Tourist Arrivals
No.1 (world No.4)	China	65.7M
No.2 (world No.8)	Thailand	39.8M
3	Japan	32.3M
4	Malaysia	26.1M
5	Hong Kong	23.8M
6	Vietnam	18M
7	India	17.9M
8	S. Korea	17.5M
9	UAE	15.7M
10	Indonesia	15.5M
11	Singapore	15.1M
12	Saudi Arabia	13.6M
13	Taiwan	11.9M

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 "comment Taiwan tour"
on Yahoo Taiwan at 2023-9-4, 2023-4-7, 2023-1-2, 2022-12-17, 2022-11-30, 2022-10-23, 2022-9-24

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan travel "
on Yahoo Taiwan at 2023-1-2, 2022-12-17, 2022-11-30, 2022-10-23, 2022-9-24

WEF (World Economic Forum) , May 2022 world Travel and Tourism Development Index Taiwan's rank - n/a (last) weforum.org/reports/travel-and-tourism-development-index-2021/digest
world rank	Asia's rank	economies/countries	score (global average : 4.0)
1	1	Japan	5.2
2	2	USA	5.2
7	3	Australia	5.0
9	4	Singapore	5.0
12	5	China	4.9
15	6	S. Korea	4.8
19	7	Hong Kong	4.6
25	8	UAE	4.5
27	9	New Zealand	4.5
32	10	Indonesia	4.4
33	11	Saudi Arabia	4.3
36	12	Thailand	4.3
38	13	Malaysia	4.3
43	14	Qatar	4.3
52	15	Vietnam	4.1
54	16	India	4.1
74	17	Sri Lanka	3.7
75	18	Philippines	3.7
84	19	Mongolia	3.6
n/a	n/a	Taiwan	n/a
statista.com/statistics/186639/best-ranked-countries-in-the-travel-and-tourism-competetiveness-index/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20Japan%2C%20the%20United,a%20TTDI%20score%20of%205.1.

2022 Michelin stars comparisons among Asian countries Taipei ranks last among main Asian cities
Michelin cities	number of 3 stars	num. of 2 stars	number of 1 star	total num.
Tokyo (Japan)	12	41	150	203
Hong Kong	7	12	52	71
Kyoto (Japan)	6	19	83	108
Osaka (Japan)	3	11	82	96
Singapore	3	7	41	51
Macau	3	5	7	15
Seoul (Korea)	2	7	24	33
Shanghai (China)	2	8	37	47
Taipei (Taiwan)	1	6	24	31
Users/88695/Downloads/20220830_PR-MG_TTTK-2022.pdf guide.michelin.com/th/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-singapore-2022-new-starred-restaurants 2022-7-12 guide.michelin.com/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-seoul-2022-eng guide.michelin.com/hk/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-hong-kong-macau-2022-unveiled-today-with-11-newly-starred-restaurants guide.michelin.com/en/article/news-and-views/the-michelin-guide-kyoto-osaka-2022-is-unveiled-en michelin.com/en/press-releases/michelin-guide-2022-shanghai/ guide.michelin.com/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-tokyo-2022-eng 2021-11-29

★★

World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019
Taiwan's travel & tourism - ranks 10th in Asia

category Taiwan's rankings and/or score comparison

prioritization of travel and tourism No75 Singapore No.6 , Hong Kong No. 11

Natural & cultural resources No.58 score 2.6 China No.1, score 6.0 , France No.2, 5.0, Spain No.3, 5.7, Japan No.7, 5.3, Indonesia No.18, Thailand No.21, Korea No.24, Vietnam No.26, Malaysia No.31, HK No.40, Philippines No.46, Sri Lanka No.52, Nepal No.56

Natural resources No. 87 Hong Kong No. 42, Singapore No.120
　

cultural resources & business travel No. 36 score 2.6 China No1, score 7.0

price competitiveness No. 78 China 5.7

Health & Hygiene No.43, score 6 score worse than Korea, Japan, Mongolia

international openness No. 60 only better than China, Mongolia

Safety & security No. 26 human resource & labor market: Taiwan No.18

　

★

UNWTO World Tourism Barometer UNWTO Tourism Dashboard, updated 2022-9-25 Asia countries - tourism performance
	Arrivals (million)	Receipts (USD bn)	Receipts per arrival (USD)
Macau	3.7	15.4	4169
Indonesia	1.6	0.5	334
Korea(ROK)	1.0	10.5	10814
Thai	0.4	4.8	11247
Australia	0.2	17.0	68990
Japan	0.2	4.7	19239
New Zealand	0.2	2.9	13855
Cambodia	0.2	0.2	937
Sri Lanka	0.2	0.5	2606
Philippines	0.2	0.6	3663
Vietnam	0.2	0.1	947
Nepal	0.1	0.1	801
Taiwan	0.1	0.7	5298
China		11.3
unwto.org/tourism-data/global-and-regional-tourism-performance

★ DW (Germany), 2022-10-22: Taiwan has reopened its borders to overseas visitors. However, the number of inbound travelers remains capped at 150,000 per week, and the government has banned tourists from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau dw.com/en/taiwan-now-open-to-visitors-without-quarantine/video-63527555
★ AFP (France), 2022-10-13: three days of hotel quarantine have been replaced with seven days of "self-monitoring" where tourists are expected to keep an eye on their health and wear face masks indoors and outdoors...tourists must submit to regular tests for a week after their arrival and cannot enter bars and restaurants for the first three days news.yahoo.com/taiwan-welcomes-foreign-tour-groups-035747205.html
★ SCMP (Hong Kong), 2022-10-1: As Taiwan eases some of world’s oldest quarantine rules, ... but analysts say testing remains a 'deterrent to travel' ... Spending by inbound tourists in Taiwan in 2020, down by 87.51 per cent from 2019... The weekly cap on arrivals will "hamper a full-fledged recovery" in Taiwan's tourism msn.com/en-xl/travel/other/as-taiwan-eases-some-of-world-e2-80-99s-oldest-quarantine-rules-remaining-curbs-and-concerns-see-airlines-lament-e2-80-98half-step-forward-e2-80-99/ar-AA12tLJi

★ NY Times, 2022-8-18: Taiwanese cuisine — layered, distinct, multiethnic ...has been shaped by many cultural forces, including the island's Indigenous tribes, long-established groups of Fujianese and Hakka people; Japanese ; Chinese immigrants in 1949+... nytimes.com/2022/08/16/dining/taiwanese-cuisine.html
　

★ National Geographic, 2022-7-6: Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyakazi denies that Jiufen (Taiwan) was an inspiration, but many have drawn a connection between the town’s ... resemblance to the settings in the 2001 film Spirited Away (《千與千尋》,《神隱少女》,（日语：千と千尋の神隠し）, an Oscar-winning animated feature). nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/exploring-the-magic-of-taiwans-spirited-away-city ★ lonelyplanet.com/articles/best-time-to-visit-taiwan October, Sept and November are the best times to explore the country's great outdoors...June, July and August ...These months can be hot and humid, Typhoon season takes place between May and November...

The statistics before CovID-19 and China suspending independent Chinese tourists to Taiwan talk the exact things -
BBC (2019-7-31): Chinese tourists account for the largest proportion of foreign tourists - because - L.A. Times (2019-8-1) listed several reasons (1) it’s about strong cultural and deep historic connection across the [Taiwan Strait]. “Most Chinese in my generation grow up with many Taiwanese novels, drama, variety shows and songs." coming to Taiwan satisfies a curiosity they had felt since reading about Taiwan as children (2) They revel in religious, architectural and cultural similarities (3) They take home new information from Taiwan’s newspapers, news websites and television channels, all free of censorship. Besides, flights of no more than 2~3 hours, and stoking business.
By contrast, tourists from North and South America only account for about 6%~ 8%, Europe 3% ~ 4% of all int'l tourists.
　

A ruling party friendly news, the Liberty Times, editorial (2020-6-15): Taiwanese have always preferred traveling overseas to domestic tour.
Media like LTN, Apple Daily, Storm (2022-3-30), United Daily, Economic Daily (2022-9-10, udn.com/news/story/7338/6601661?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2 ) , analyze WHY Taiwan's tourism is sluggish.
n(1) transportation problem (particularly for those newly found hidden scenic spots) n (2) a small country has no many natural attractions n(3) catering and accommodation problems - few local government can properly guide tourists by such as star-rating, therefore lots of traps are out there n(4). Accommodation, catering, and transportation are generally expensive but of poor quality. n(5) The tour often lacks humanistic and cultural connotations, as well as ethnic traditions and lifestyles. there is a lack of in-depth tourism to explore geographical, cultural and ethnic characteristics. n (6) Lacking market segmentation - among night markets, or old streets vs. night markets. n (7) the government does not pay attention to the tourism industry, "inadequate resource integration capabilities, insufficient investment, and insufficient marketing"
　

Some top foreign media introduced Taiwan's attractions:
　

♣ Yahoo Finance, 2022-11-21: Tainan, the ancient capital of nearly 400 years, preserves the most complete historic sites and traditional culture. 10 Tainan highlights with historical significance: Chikan Tower, Hsu Feng Hao, Chimei Museum, Madou Daitian Temple, Anping Tree House, Beimen Crystal Church, Sicao Green Tunnel, Dingtouer Sandbar, Jing Zhai Jiao Tile Paved Salt Fields, and Ten Drum Culture Village finance.yahoo.com/news/want-travel-truly-taiwan-tainan-224400342.html

♣ MSN, 2022-11-1: Best Tourist Spots in Taiwan 1. Sun Moon Lake,Taiwan's largest alpine lake 2. Kenting National Park, The annual Spring Scream Festival also takes place in early April and draws thousands of music-lovers each year. 3. Alishan National Scenic Area 4. Taroko Gorge ...the gorge's vertical cliffs and winding tunnels come so close together 5. Jiufen and Shifen 6. Kinmen Islands https://msn.com/en-sg/travel/news/post-restrictions-travel-guide-to-taiwan/ar-AA13z1Bl

♣ L.A. Times, 2018-2-18: National Palace Museum - you can browse among some of the 600,000-plus artworks and artifacts — centuries of cultural wealth — that Chiang's people had spirited away from China's Forbidden City 70 years ago (ps: Young people may not like old stuffs) , Taipei 101 (but no longer world tallest building) , Din Tai Fung (already degraded by Michelin Guide for a few years, no longer a star-restaurant) , Longshan Temple (a small temple), Shilin night market (Taiwan's night markets don't have same Michelin honors as those street food in Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau have ) , Chiang Kai-shek Memorial (Taiwan's parliament passed a law that calls for erasing Chiang's name and likeness from landmarks across the island) , Pingxi sky lantern ( biodegradable lanterns can be incredibly harmful to both the environment and wildlife. Sky lantern litter takes quite some time to decompose, and the wire frames have been known to strangle and maim wild animals and livestock. They may pose a fire hazard), You might feel the ground shake (Not too often, you may not feel it) dailypress.com/life/la-tr-taipei-20180218-story.html

♣ USA Today, 2020-11-21 (usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/11/21/taiwans-relatively-covid-free-life-attracts-skilled-expats/6322040002/) : Foreign professionals run up against a protectionist mentality in e-commerce segments such as ride-hailing and home-sharing services like Uber and Airbnb. Taiwan’s English fluency lags Hong Kong and Singapore. In one of the most densely populated places on Earth, people live so packed together in apartment blocks that a neighbor's footfall upstairs or roadwork just outside easily overpower the sound of one's own TV.

♣ New York Times, 2008-3-2: The National Palace Museum is considered by many to be the finest repository of Chinese art in the world, the 1,670-foot Taipei 101,

Da An Park - the largest public park in Taipei (a median sized park with little flowers) , Beitou , renowned for its hot springs resorts, some modeled after those in Japan (some are good), Din Tai Fung, a mandatory stop on Taiwan's restaurant scene, Longshan Temple, shaved ice topped with fresh mango, strawberry or kiwi at Ice Monster in Yongkang Street. nytimes.com/2008/03/02/travel/02hours.html

♣ MSN, 2022-9-12

⊙(1) Jiufen Village And Northeast Coast Tour From Taipei
⊙(2) Taipei Street Food & Night Market Tour With A Local ( Yanshan Night Market,etc)

⊙(3) Private Night Tour Of Taipei ( historic Dalongdong Baoan Temple, Taipei 101,etc)

⊙(4) 5-Day Best Of Taiwan: Sun Moon Lake, Tarako Gorge, Kaohsiung, Taitung

⊙(5) Taipei City Tour With National Palace Museum Ticket ( National Palace Museum, Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, and the Martyr's Shrine.)

⊙(6) Yehliu Geopark And Keelung Harbor Guided Tour From Taipei

⊙(7) The 10 Tastings Of Taipei With Locals: Private Street Food Tour

⊙(8) Tea Of Taipei: Small-Group Tour With Taipei City Sightseeing

⊙(9) Thousand Island Lake And Pinglin Tea Plantation From Taipei

⊙(10) 4-Hour Morning Cycling Tour In Taipei

⊙

♣ Yahoo Travel, 2022-11-30

Top 10 "Must see" tourism sites in Taiwan (travel.yahoo.com.tw/2022台灣十大必去景點名單揭曉-阿里山奪冠-090400559.html)

(1)「阿里山」(Alishan), (2) 「小琉球」(Xiao Liuqiu), (3) 「司馬庫斯」(Smangus) , (4) 「澎湖」(peng-hu)、(5)「合歡山」(Mount Hehuan), (6) 「北投溫泉」(Beitou Hot Spring) , (7) 「蘭嶼」( Lanyu)、(8)「墾丁」 (Kenting National Park) , (9)「陽明山」(Yangmingshan National Park), (10) 「綠島」(Lyudao, Green Island)

♣ Business Insider (Jun. 10,-2015) businessinsider.com/reasons-to-travel-to-taiwan-2015-6#now-get-to-know-another-country-24:"one of the most underrated destinations in Asia"
Its article seems over-rate Taiwan's attractions, however, still a not bad reference.

◎ Hehuan Mountain and Ali Mountain are two top-rated scenic spots on TripAdvisor. (阿里山等) ◎ Sun Moon Lake(日月潭)

◎ Kenting National Park(墾丁),one of 9 national parks, which make up 8.6% of its land. Taroko National Gorge (太魯閣) alone is worth spending at least two days hiking its numerous scenic trails.

    ◎ hot springs Beitou outside of Taipei, and Jiaoxi in Yilan (北投宜蘭等溫泉)
    ◎ Taiwanese people love to eat, signature food are beef noodle soup, soup dumplings, and the uniquely Taiwanese oyster omelets.
    ◎ Taiwanese breakfast: Fuhang Doujiang in Taipei
    ◎ Every major city has at least one night market — Shilin and Raohe in Taipei, Keelung's is arguably the country's largest and most renowned
    ◎ some crazy fruit :pink guava, wax apples, and “Buddha’s head.”
    ◎ Hehuan Mountain and Ali Mountain
    ◎ Taipei 101 is the 4th tallest in the world. It also boasts the world’s fastest elevator
    ◎ Others in Insider's article are not worth to mention too much, e.g., "Taiwan is the world record holder for most Little League titles won (17!)"- But, Taiwan was "kick out" by Little League for "violation of the regulation".
　

♣ In a high-cost advertisement promoted by Taiwan government, you can see commercial endorser Japanese star 木村拓哉(きむらたくや^Kimura ^Takuya) keep eating "small eats" (in night markets... )

♣ Lonely Planet, 2022-9-30:What to eat and drink in Taiwan / Yongkang Beef Noodles, Taipei. pearl milk tea, zhenzhu naicha (珍珠奶茶) in Chun Shui Tang, Taipei. gooey oyster omelets (蚵仔煎), ‘salt-crisp’ fried chicken tossed with basil leaves and five-spice, and shaved ice desserts (剉冰) in Miaokou Night Market, Keelung. aboriginal Formosans cuisine: wild boar served with onions and greens, steamed rice stuffed into bamboo tubes, and millet wine – once the tonic of tribal rituals. You might also encounter dishes of betel-nut salad, bird’s nest fern and even flying squirrel try it in Taiya Popo, Yilain. lonelyplanet.com/articles/what-to-eat-and-drink-in-taiwan Lonely Planet, 2022-10-22: 18 things you need to know before visiting Taiwan lonelyplanet.com/articles/things-to-know-before-traveling-to-taiwan

♣ Rough Guides ― Things Not To Miss In Taiwan

https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/asia/taiwan/things-miss/

1. Sun Moon Lake

2. KinMen 金門

3. Hot Springs

4. Kenting National Park(墾丁)

5.Taroko Gorge (太魯閣)

6. LuGang

7.Orchid Island (蘭嶼)

8.Aboriginal culture

9.TaiNan, myriad temples (台南)

10.Surfing

Rough Guides (Jan. 2017) intro Taiwan's new wave cafés, all-round sophisticated city life, and TW cuisine and night markets remain world renowned...China’s influence is obvious, of course, and the cultural remnants of the island’s past occupation by both Japanese and American forces are still discernible. But as the only democracy in the Chinese-speaking world, Taiwan has a unique geography, mentality and identity.....Non-stop nightlife is never far from bubbling hot springs and sunny sub-tropical shores... https://www.roughguides.com/best-places/2017/top-10-countries/

♣ other tourist attractions:
Taipei 101, National Palace Museum, Jiufen, Ximending taipei, Chiang Kai-shek Mem. Hall, Chingshui Cliff Hualien

　

★♣《BBC》, 2021-12-15: Until the 1990s, hiking in Taiwan was seen as more of a fringe sport, since large swaths of the mountains were off-limits during the country's 38-year-period of martial law, which ended in 1987. As the island embraced democracy in the 1990s, the mountains were opened to the public and hiking became more widespread. Can Taiwan become Asia's next great hiking destination? bbc.com/travel/article/20211213-can-taiwan-become-asias-next-great-hiking-destination

★♣ ABC Radio National, Australia, 2-27-2020: What's most apparent when visiting Taiwan is how ordinary it is — ordinary in the sense of normal, everyday, functional. ps: In Taiwan, the houses/buildings are expensive "property", instead of "architecture arts", the cars are for transportation or for business, always square shape with boring color, black, gray, etc, hard to see a sports-car, convertible or a VW bug with clockwork on its butt ... unlike those with great vitality in the US !
★♣ Associated Press, 11-23-2020 says Taiwanese business may not be ethical ... mix the U.S. pork ( Ractopamine pork banned by 150+ countries ) with Taiwan pork
★♣ Apple Daily, editorial, 1-5-2021: chaos !! Taiwanese are not confident in gov. control strategy ― "Taiwan pork only" seal. e.g., famous Taiwan cuisine restaurant " Formosa Chang (鬍鬚張)" is questioned to mark the official seal but partly use foreign pork.

ISSF's (The Indian Strategic Studies Forum) World Soft Power Index 2022 Tourism (Infrastructure + Footfall + Receipts + Visitor's satisfaction)
1	France
2	Italy
3	USA
4	Spain
5	Thailand
6	Swiss
7	Turkey
8	China
9	Germany
10	UK
img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/905bb114-a609-4bd0-a33b-dabe335781b0/downloads/ISSF_s%20World%20Soft%20Power%20Index%202022.pdf?ver=1660547924817

ISSF's World Soft Power Index 2022 Brand Recognition
1	USA
2	Japan
3	Germany
4	S. Korea
5	UK
6	France
7	Italy
8	Swiss
9	China
10	India
img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/905bb114-a609-4bd0-a33b-dabe335781b0/downloads/ISSF_s%20World%20Soft%20Power%20Index%202022.pdf?ver=1660547924817

Economist, EIU, THE GLOBAL LIVEABILITY INDEX 2022 Biggest movers down the ranking in the past 12 month Taipei (Taiwan) ranks world No. 53
	City	Location	Rank	Index	Rank Move	Index Move
1	Wellington	New Zealand	50	85.7	-46	-8.0
2	Auckland	New Zealand	34	89.2	-33	-6.8
3	Adelaide	Australia	30	90.7	-27	-3.3
8	Taipei	Taiwan	53	85.1	-20	1.2

world's most livable cities ... include Taiwan's ? top ranking list of the world's most livable cities
world best surveys	Taiwan's rankings in top list	comparison with other Asia & Pacific countries
EIU's Global Liveability Ranking 2022	No. 53	1. Vienna 2. Copenhagen 3. Zurich 4. Calgary 5. Vancouver 6. Geneva 7. Frankfurt 8. Toronto 9. Amsterdam 10. Osaka
The World's Best Cities to Live In 2022	failed top 10	1. London, 2. Tokyo, 3. Shanghai, 4. Singapore, 5. Melbourne, 6. Sydney, 7. Paris, 8. Beijing, 9. NY, 10. Amsterdam

World Population Review - Most Visited Countries 2022 Taiwan ranks No.34
World rank	Asia's rank	country
4	1	China
8	2	Thailand
11	3	Japan
14	4	Malaysia
17	5	Hong Kong
21	6	Vietnam
22	7	India
23	8	S. Korea
26	9	UAE
27	10	Indonesia
28	11	Singapore
31	12	Saudi Arabia
34	13	Taiwan
worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-visited-countries 2022-10-2

World Population Review - Most Visited Countries 2022 Taiwan is not selected
World rank	Asia's rank	country
4	1	China
9	2	Thailand
12	3	Malaysia
13	4	Hong Kong
16	5	Japan
18	6	Saudi Arabia
20	7	S. Korea
22	8	Macau
24	9	UAE
25	10	India
28	11	Singapore
29	12	Indonesia
onestep4ward.com/most-visited-countries-in-the-world/ No.1 France, No.2 USA, No.3 Spain, No.4 China, No.5 Italia

Asia's 50 Best restaurants 2022 Taiwan ranks No. 9 in Asia
country	total number of winnings	ranks
Japan	11	No.1, 3, 6, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 36, 42, 43
Thailand	9	No. 2, 4, 7, 10, 25, 29, 31, 33, 46
Hong Kong	6	No. 5, 9, 24, 32, 34, 48
Singapore	7	No. 8, 20, 23, 37, 40, 41, 44
China	4	12, 19, 28, 39
S. Korea	5	16, 18, 26, 27, 30
India	3	21, 22, 49
Sri Lanka	1	35,
Taiwan	2	38, 45
Macau	1	47
Malaysia	1	50
theworlds50best.com/asia/en/list/1-50 No.1 Den (Tokyo), No.2 Sorn (Bangkok), No.3 Florilege (Tokyo), 4. Le Du (Bangkok), 5. The Chairman (HK), 6. La Cime (osaka), 7. Suhring (Bangkok), 8. Odette (Singapore), 9. Neighborhood (HK), 10. Nusara (Bangkok)

EATER / The world's best 50 restaurants in 2022 Taiwan failed
country	total number of winnings	ranks
Japan	4	No.20 Den (Tokyo), No.30 Florilege (Tokyo), No. 41. La Cime (osaka), No. 45 Narisawa (Tokyo)
Hong Kong	1	No. 24. The Chairman (HK)
Singapore	1	No. 36. Odette (Singapore)
Thailand	1	No. 39 Sorn (Bangkok)
eater.com/worlds-50-best-restaurants-awards/22960670/worlds-50-best-restaurants-2022-list-winners

CNN Travel / World's best restaurants for 2022 revealed 2022-7-20 Taiwan failed
country	total number of winnings	ranks
Japan	4	No.20 Den (Tokyo), No.30 Florilege (Tokyo), No. 41. La Cime (osaka), No. 45 Narisawa (Tokyo)
Hong Kong	1	No. 24. The Chairman (HK)
Singapore	1	No. 36. Odette (Singapore)
Thailand	1	No. 39 Sorn (Bangkok)
edition.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-50-best-restaurants-2022/index.html

Economist / Global Food Security Index 2022 Taiwan is not included
world rank	country	Overall Score	Affordability	Availability	Quality & safety	Sustainability & Adaptation
6	Japan	79.5	89.8	81.2	77.4	66.1
14	NZ	77.8	91.6	67.7	73.1	75.1
22	Australia	75.4	93.3	61.1	84	58.8
23	UAE	75.2	86.7	73.8	81.3	55.2
25	China	74.2	86.4	79.2	72.0	54.5
28	Singapore	73.1	93.2	77.8	69.7	44.3
30	Qatar	72.4	88.6	72.9	71.7	51.0
39	S Korea	70.2	76.8	71.5	71.5	58.5
41	Malaysia	69.9	87.0	59.5	74.7	53.7
46	Vietnam	67.9	84.0	60.7	70.2	52.2
63	Indonesia	60.2	81.4	50.9	56.2	46.3
64	Thailand	60.1	83.7	52.9	45.3	51.6
impact.economist.com/sustainability/project/food-security-index/

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan tour " on Bing at 2022-9-23 , 2022-2-25, 2022-1-4, 2021-8-8, 2021-7-23, 2021-5-30, 2021-5-13, 2021-5-4, 2021-4-22, 2021-3-17, 2-11-2021 , 12-11-2020, 10-31-2020, 8-2-2020, 7-7-2020, 3-7-2019, 9-4-2018, 6-22-2018 ; No.2 "comment Taiwan tour " on Bing,2022-12-17; No1 "comment Taiwan tourism" on Bing ,10-31-2020, 7-7-2020

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism " on Bing at 2022-9-23; This websites-group was ranked No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism" as well as "comment Taiwan tour" on US Bing at 7-7-2020, 5-16-2020, 7-11-2019, 3-7-2019, 9-4-2018, 6-22-2018

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 "comment Taiwan travel " on Yandex of Russia at 2022-7-29, 2022-6-11, No.2 at 2022-7-10

2021 Michelin stars comparisons among Asian countries
Michelin cities	number of 3 stars	num. of 2 stars	number of 1 star	total num.
Tokyo (Japan)	12	42	158	212
Hong Kong	10	18	59	87
Kyoto (Japan)	7	19	84	110
Osaka (Japan)	3	12	81	96
Singapore	3	5	41	49
Seoul (Korea)	2	7	34	43
Shanghai (China)	1	10	32	43
Taipei (Taiwan)	1	7	21	29

　
　

♣ To emergently rescue dying tourism, Taiwan spent huge money to have <Michelin Guide> Taipei

　

　　
pic.: China Times - Want Weekly, No.185: To emergently save dying tourism, Taiwan government spent NT90,000,000 (USD3 millions) to have <Michelin Guide> in Taiwan.

　

● Compare to Chinese world - Shanghai, HK, Macao, Singapore:

　

Michelin Guide 2018
3 star

2 star

1 star

num. of stars

Bib Gourmand

Hong Kong, Macau
　 8 16 57 81 82

Singapore jun'17 1 7 30 38 38

Shanghai sept'17 2 6 22 30 26

Taipei 1 2 17 20 36

　

　

　

　

　

US News & World Report 2022, Asian countries
world influence - top rankings

Cultural Influence No.4 Japan   No. 7 S Korea   10. Australia 11. China 14. UAE   18. Singapore 20. NZ 24. Thailand    29. Qatar 34. India   36. Saudi Arabia   40. Malaysia Cutting-edge centers of art, entertainment and fashion

Quality of Life 9. Australia   10. NZ   14. Japan 23. Singapore 24. S Korea   25. China   26. UAE    30. Qatar   31. Malaysia   34. Saudi Arabia   35. Thailand   36.Indonesia   37.Philippines 38. India 40. Vietnam Through all phases of life, these countries treat their citizens well

Heritage 8. India      9. Japan   10. Thailand    13. China   19. Australia 25. NZ   27. Indonesia   29. Singapore   30. S. Korea    A deep vein of history courses through these countries

Adventure 5. Thailand   6. NZ   8. Australia 20. Singapore 25. Philippines 28. Japan    30. Malaysia popular travel destinations to fulfill your wanderlust

Agility 4. Japan    5. Australia   8. NZ   11. China   13. S Korea    15. Singapore    18. UAE    25. Qatar adaptable, dynamic, modern, progressive, responsive

Social
Purpose 7. NZ     9. Australia    23. Japan 26. Singapore   human rights, the environment and religious freedom, most progressive, inclusive and committed to social justice

usnews.com/news/best-countries/rankings    www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/influence-rankings
　

US News & World Report 2021, Asian countries' world influence top 30 rankings

Cultural Influence No.5 Japan   No. 7 S Korea   11. China 12. UAE   15. Singapore 16. Australia   19. NZ 22. Thailand    25. India Cutting-edge centers of art, entertainment and fashion

Quality of Life 6. Australia   10. NZ   13. Japan 16. Singapore 18. S Korea   23. China   24. UAE    28. Malaysia   29. Thailand Through all phases of life, these countries treat their citizens well

Heritage 6. India   7. Thailand    10. Japan   12 China   23. Australia 25. Vietnam 26. Indonesia   28. NZ A deep vein of history courses through these countries

Adventure 5. Thailand   7. NZ   8. Australia 17. Philippines   18. Singapore 25. Malaysia 28. Japan popular travel destinations to fulfill your wanderlust

Agility 2. Australia   5. Singapore 6. S Korea   7. Japan   9. NZ 13. China 21. UAE   27. Qatar 30. India adaptable, dynamic, modern, progressive, responsive

Open for business 6. NZ   11. Malaysia 12. Australia   14. Singapore   17. Thailand   20. Sri Lanka   21. Vietnam   22. Indonesia   25. Philippines 26. Japan market-oriented countries

　　　

www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/influence-rankings

　

Taiwan's travel & tourism - not on top 10 Asian country list
　

The World Tourism rankings are compiled by the United Nations World Tourism Organization
Most visited destinations by international tourist arrivals

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings

Asia Pacific Rank
destination (country)

int'l tourists arrivals '19
(million)

int'l tourists arrivals '18
(million)

1 China 65.7 million 62.9 million

2 Thailand 39.8 38.2

3 Japan 32.2 31.2

4 Malaysia 26.1 25.8

5 Hong Kong 23.8 29.3

6 Macau 18.6 18.5

7 Vietnam 18.0 15.5

8 India 17.9 17.4

9 S. Korea 17.5 15.3

10 Indonesia 15.5 13.4

pic. right: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan tour " on Google at 2022-6-11, 2022-3-23, 2022-2-25, 2022-1-4, 2021-8-8, 2021-7-23, 2021-5-31 2021-5-14, 2021-5-4, 2021-4-22, 2021-3-17, 2-18-2021 ; pic. left: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan tourism " on Google at 2022-3-23, 2022-2-25, 2022-1-4, 2021-8-8, 2021-7-23, 2021-5-31, 2021-5-14, 2021-5-4, 2021-4-22, 2021-3-17, 2-11-2021;

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan travel ", "comment Taiwan tourism " on Google at 2022-3-23, 2022-1-4, 2021-9-18

　

Most Visited Countries in Asia

worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-visited-countries

Asia Rank
country

tourists arrivals

1 China 65.7M

2 Thailand 39.8M

3 Japan 32.3M

4 Malaysia 26.1M

5 Hong Kong 23.8M

6 Vietnam 18M

7 India 17.9M

8 S. Korea 17.5M

9 UAE 16.7M

10 Indonesia 15.5M

11 Singapore 15.1M

12 Saudi Arabia 13.6M

13 Taiwan 11.9M

14 Philippines 8.3M

UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, Oct. 4, 2021 : unwto.org/taxonomy/term/347
International tourists arrivals by regions : e-unwto.org/doi/epdf/10.18111/wtobarometereng.2020.18.1.5

Adventure / The best countries to fulfill your wanderlust US News : usnews.com/news/best-countries/adventure-rankings
Asia Rank 2021	country of Asia-Pacific	world rank 2021	world rank 2020
1	Thailand	5	5
2	New Zealand	7	7
3	Australia	8	10
4	Philippines	17	17
5	Singapore	18	25
6	Malaysia	25	29
7	Japan	28	34
8	Indonesia	32	35
9	Vietnam	40	38
10	India	41	40
a study by George Washington University placed adventure tourism into three categories: physical activity, cultural exchange and interaction with the environment.

Travel and Tourism Index by country in Asia worldatlas.com/articles/51-best-travel-and-tourism-countries-in-the-world.html
Asia Rank	country	index score
1	Australia	4.98; 7th
2	Japan	4.94; 9th
3	Singapore	4.86 ; 11th
4	Hong Kong	4.68; 13
5	New Zealand	4.64; 16
6	China	4.54; 17
7	UAE	4.43; 24
8	S. Korea	4.37; 29
9	Taiwan	4.35; 32
10	Thailand	4.26; 35
factors: business environment, security, health and basic sanitation standards, labor and human resource, cultural heritage, natural resources, air transport infrastructure

International tourism receipts / Asia-Pacific countries international tourism: data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL
Asia Rank	country of Asia-Pacific	receipts US$ million '19
1	Thailand	60521
2	Japan	46054
3	Australia	45709
4	Macau	40060
5	China	35832
6	India	30720
7	Hong Kong	29043
8	S. Korea	21628
9	Singapore	20052
10	Malaysia	19823
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings further more info.: worlddata.info/tourism.php

The 30 Most Visited Countries in the world in 2021 international tourism: data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL 2021-8-25 onestep4ward.com/most-visited-countries-in-the-world/
Rank	country	Rank	country
1	France	16	Japan
2	USA	17	Canada
3	Spain	18	Saudi Arabia
4	China	19	Poland
5	Italia	20	S. Korea
6	UK	21	Nederland
7	Germany	22	Macao
8	Mexico	23	Hungary
9	Thailand	24	UAE
10	Turkey	25	India
11	Austria	26	Croatia
12	Malaysia	27	Ukraine
13	Hong Kong	28	Singapore
14	Greece	29	Indonesia
15	Russia	30	Czech
top places to visit in each country: onestep4ward.com/most-visited-countries-in-the-world/

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan travel" on Yahoo Japan (largest search engine in Japan), 2022-2-25, 2022-1-4, 2021-8-8, 2021-7-23, 12-11-2020; among top 4 ranks at 2022-9-24

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism" on Yahoo Japan (largest search engine in Japan), 2022-2-25, 2022-1-4, 2021-8-8, 2021-7-23, 2021-5-31, 2021-5-4, 2021-3-17, 2-11-2021, 12-11-2020, 10-31-2020 ;

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on Yahoo Japan (largest search engine in Japan), 2022-2-25, 2022-1-4, 2021-8-8, 2021-7-23, 2021-5-31, 2021-4-22, 12-11-2020, 10-31-2020, 7-7-2020

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan tourism ", "comment Taiwan tour " , "comment Taiwan travel " on US Yahoo at 2022-1-4, 2021-8-8

No.1 "comment Taiwan travel" on Google, 2022-1-4, 2021-8-8, 2021-7-23, 6-30-2020, 4-5-2020

pic. left: the websites-group https://CourageWorld.ch was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan tourism" on Baidu of China at 2021-5-31, 2021-5-4, 2021-4-22, 2021-3-17, 2-11-2021, 12-11-2020, 10-31-2020

pic. right : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China by "comment Taiwan tour", 2021-7-23, 10-31-2020 ; No.2 at 2021-5-31

ps No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on ASK, 7-7-2020, 5-16-2020;

This websites-group was ranked No.1 on ASK by "comment Taiwan tourism", 7-7-2020, 8-27-2019

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan restaurants" on US google, 2021-8-8, 7-31-2020, 7-1-2020, 4-2-2020, 12-23-2019 , 1-22-2020

　
pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on US Google, 2021-8-1, 7-7-2020, 6-30-2020, 4-5-2020; No.2 at 10-31-2020; No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism" on US Google, 2021-8-1, 7-7-2020, No.2 at 10-31-2020;

●

◎

Economist, E.I.U. Safe City Index 2021 Asian cities' ranking
https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/global-liveability-index-2021/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_name=liveability21&utm_term=liveability_definition&utm_content=general&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6aq_iY3V8gIVwtaWCh15cwBrEAAYASAAEgJaRPD_BwE
● Infrastructure security :	No.1 Hong Kong 2. Singapore 5. Tokyo 7. Osaka 9. Sydney 12. Wellington 15. Melbourne 20. Seoul 25. Taipei
● Digital security:	No.1 Sydney 2 Singapore 8. Melbourne 9. Wellington 20. Tokyo 21 HK 24. Dubai 27. Osaka 30. Taipei 31. Seoul
● Health security:	No.1 Tokyo 2. Singapore 3. Hong Kong 4. Melbourne 5. Osaka 6. Seoul 10. Sydney 13. Dubai 19. Beijing 19. Shanghai 21. Taipei 22. Bangkok
● personal security :	No.7. Wellington 11. Sydney 13 Singapore 16. Tokyo 17. Osaka 19. Taipei

Economist, E.I.U. Safe City Index 2021 The CovID-19 pandemic and the understanding of health security The need to focus better on what works Asian cities' ranking
	1. Tokyo (87.7) 2. Singapore (84.1) 3. Hong Kong (84.0) 4. Melbourne (81.9) 5. Osaka (81.8) 6. Seoul (81.1) 10. Sydney 12. Abu Dhabi 13. Dubai 19. Beijing 19 Shanghai 21. Taipei (73.5) 22. Bangkok

Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2021, 2021-3-25
rankings theworlds50best.com/stories/News/asias-50-best-restaurants-2021-the-list-in-pictures.html
● top 10 restaurants :	No. 1. The Chairman, HK, China 2. Odette, Singapore 3. Den, Japan 4. Le Du, Thailand 5. Gaggan A. , Thailand 6. Suhring, Thailand 7. Florilege , Japan 8. La Cime, Japan 9. Narisawa, Japan 10. Mingles, S. Korea
● number of top 40 in each Asian country:	China 9, Japan 9, Singapore 6, Thailand 5, Taiwan 4, S. Korea 3, India 2

pic.: No.2 "comment Taiwan tourism" on QWANT of France (most well-known French search engine), 7-6-2020

media reports

● Apple Daily, 2021-4-10, editorial: The bane of Taiwan- backward infrastructures, e.g., no early-warning system for railway train, pollution in stream, air, dam, reservoir deposition, bad bus structure... ● UDN, CTN, Apple Daily editorial、2021-4-3: train carrying 490 derails, about 50 dead 200 injured / Serious transportation accidents repeat - all are SOP ignoring man-made disasters, no one treats seriously the warning message behind each accident, The gov. is good at risk management and focus-shifting, instead of preventive management in advance, all these lead to tragedy again and again. The event is just a tip of a iceberg, Taiwan should establish a culture respecting human life. Taiwan railway bureau got rigid grading system and reform failure. ● click for full details Taiwan transportation !

● China Times, editorial, 2021-4-25: "Ractopamine pig mystery" / Taiwan has imported pork and pig offal in total 1800 ton from the US since Jan. 2021, however, in all the markets, there's no any pork and pig offal marked "imported from USA". Another mysterious thing is Agriculture government (Council of Agriculture) says 70% of them were already used for meat processing, but Health government (Ministry Health & welfare) says 70% of them were still in the refrigerating chamber. chinatimes.com/opinion/20210424003140-262101?chdtv

...............

...............● Liberty Times, 6-15-2020, editorial: Taiwanese always love traveling abroad rather than domestically. Majority of foreign tourists to Taiwan came from China, but most of their consumption-profits are monopolized by Chinese-funded and Chinese-associated businesses. All these have made Taiwan's tourism industry weak and sluggish-demanded. It is undeniable Taiwan tourism needs to be improved the following items :

                        (1) the prices of accommodation, catering and transportation are generally high but the quality is not good, shaping the stereotype that traveling domestically are not as good as sightseeing abroad.
                        (2) the tour often lacks humanistic & cultural connotations, ethnic groups' traditions, characteristics and lifestyles. Although each area has its own old streets and night markets, it is difficult to distinguish one from another. In short, Taiwan lacks in-depth and exquisite tourism.
                        (3) the government has not given importance to tourism industry, "Insufficient resource integration capacity, insufficient investment, and insufficient marketing" .

...............● Apple Daily, 2021-3-12: Popular tourists-site Shi-lin night market "miserable street scene" , more bosses than customers, in that “expensive”, "smoke smells", "too homogeneous & unattractive", "delivery platforms are emerging", ... most ever stores closed in recent 30 yrs.
...............● The China Times 7-15-2020, former minister of Transportation govt. 陳建宇 : Hotels and travel business were "starved" too long for CovID-19, therefore raise the price a lot to "revenge exploit" customers. advice :
                        (1) establishing DMO (目的地行銷暨管理組織 like Japan and Euro.)；
                        (2) quality first, implement Market segmentation Precision marketing；
                        (3) Recreating a new tourists-friendly environment, starts from tourist night market, till now the govt. only work on innovation/renovation of night market's toilet room, the rest is far behind the standard of int'l metro... 。full text: https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20200714004912-262105?chdtv
...............● Apple Daily, 7-14-2020 editorial: Why do Taiwanese love travel overseas instead of domestically ? The price is high and quality varies, therefore Taiwanese prefer Japan, Korea and South-East Asia. Price cutting competition and low-cost airline exclude In-depth and exquisite tourism from tour list . Govt.'s economic relief package only works on avoiding close-down instead of tourism enterprise transformation.

full text: https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20200714004912-262105?chdtv

...............● Korean ilbe（일베저장소、일베）slams Taiwan's messy & dirty environment, cultural deprivation、 unpretty women、 the sense of Japanese identification, which triggers hot argues after mainland Chinese posting Chinese version of it (Sept. 2020)。

New York Times, 7-31-2019, CNN 8-1-2019: China, an Eye on Elections, bans solo tourists from heading to Taiwan. L.A. Times, 8-1-2019: The indefinite suspension is likely to prove a major economic hit to Taiwan, as well as a blow to cultural interplay. Independent UK 8-1-2019: It is a blow for Taiwan’s tourism industry. Liberty Times 8-28-2019: Taiwan may loss 35,400 million dollars from the gross annual value of tourism in the second half of 2019. United Daily (8-17-2019, editorial) : Very most part of Taiwan's current tourism difficult situation is caused by cross-Taiwan-Strait policy. United Daily (8-22-2019, editorial) : Pension reform should be among key issues in Taiwan's tourism, because public servants, military and education field no longer support domestic travel as much as before. United Daily (8-23-2019) : Taiwan president Tsai: tourism won't go old route, current policy is to balance tourists flow, stimulate domestic demand, increase consumption-amount, satisfy tourist's appetite by bubble tea and local cuisine. United Daily (8-28-2019, Focus) : Visa-free and allowance can save tourism? Lots of allowances were given to domestic tourists, but the number of Taiwanese traveling overseas hit new high again and again. Apple Daily, opinion, 12-25-2019: Give up "almozo" policy to promote tourism, Taiwan should go "quality oriented" route, not waste too much money ! Asia Nikkei 4-30-2019: Since 2016, China has attempted to punish Tsai (DPP) by reducing tour groups to Taiwan, but inbound tourists have steadily set records surpassing 11 millions for the first time last year... ; The United Daily, editorial, 7-15-2019 : An American economist Tyler Cowen was surprised at that Taipei was spinning its wheels, remains 85% unchanged (making smallest differences among Asian cities), motorcycles, small lanes ... everywhere, in contrast, GuangZhou city (廣州) has changed 90%, HK, Seoul, Singapore made huge differences only within 10 years ...;The United Daily 3-7-2019: Taiwan's tourism output value is suffering wallet homicide ! the deficit of foreign exchange is NT1728 billions, the deficit of the number of tourists is 5570 thousands. The United Daily 10-6-2018 editorial opinion: Taiwan's 'heresy' policy of tourism (subsidies, visa-free) led to 800+ billion dollars decrease of earnings, because of lower consuming ability of South-East Asian tourists and smaller number of Chinese tourists. Apple Daily, head-page, 12-31-2018: The amount of tourists spending per day and the number of days tourists staying decreased. Washington Post at 1-5-2018: (The Chinese government...) "encouraging Chinese tourism to this island" (ps: during KMT in power ~ 2016 ). New York Times at 2-22-2018: "The Chinese government has discouraged tourism to Taiwan...". CTV news 3-9-2018 : beautiful island turns into killing island (traffic accidents), Taiwan's tourism might be a long dark night. Apple Daily, opinion, 2-12-2018: lacking of monument elements, mature cultural creativity, and inexpensive tour-site hotels ... shallow, careless, low-end quality led to an extremely low return visitor rate to Taiwan. Apple Daily, Headline news 1-15-2018: Taiwan tourism collapsed like a snow-slide, the number of tourists to Kenting National Park(墾丁貓鼻頭) dropped 59%, to Taroko National Gorge (太魯閣) dropped 43%, etc, because of the number of Chinese tourists declined a lot and local people don't like those sites - Apple Daily opinion 1-17-2018: expensive hotels, crowded traffic, getting ripped-off by greedy shops' ... UDN opinion 4-11-2018: tourism-related business everywhere are complaining of great hardship (齊喊苦). food safety issues never end / The China Times, editorial 10-20-2018, UDN editorial 12-4-2018. The United Daily 12-10-2018: tourism deficit expansion! The number of Taiwanese traveling abroad is more than that of tourists to Taiwan.

unlike many others , this website won't give you fake information or beautified pictures !

●

◆ One of the most underrated tourist destinations in Asia ?

World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan had the sub-region's largest decline in competitiveness from 30th down to 37th. In the overall ranking list, Asian country Japan got No.4, China No.13, Hong Kong No.14, Korea No.16, Singapore No.17, Malaysia No.29, Thailand No.31, UAE No.33, India No. 34,... (ps: secret hackers attacked while my updating WEF report of 2019)
　

● Taiwan's travel & tourism - 10th in Asia
　

◎
◆ One of the fastest-growing tourist destinations in the world

In spite of these bad scores, MasterCard study (6-2015), in terms of the number of international overnight visitor arrivals last year, ranked Taipei 11th in the world and sixth in the Asia-Pacific region (ps: see tbl below). Taipei is fast-growing tourist destination over the past five years. The annual growth rate 14.9％ is ranked world No.1, In terms of international tourist spending last year, Taipei was ranked 11th in the world and fifth in the Asia-Pacific region. Last year, international tourists in Taipei spent US$9.28 billion (Taipei Times, 6-6-2015) . Euromonitor International released at 1-28-2017 "Top 100 City Destinations" ranking in terms of international tourist arrivals in 2015, Taipei ranks No. 14 (higher than Tokyo , Seoul), Taichung No. 97. (No.1 Hong Kong, No.2 Bangkok, No. 4 Singapore, No. 6 Macau)

Taiwan's tourism has been evaluated as non competitiveness, but surprisingly attracts huge number of tourists and money, Why ?

The Washington Post at 1-5-2018: (The Chinese government...) "encouraging Chinese tourism to this island". The China Times (中國時報, 7-14-2015) points out, increasing communist Chinese tourists led to Taiwan's fast growth on tourism. ( 這「反映出開放陸客的成果」。) In accordance with the Liberty Times(7-7-2015), the number of Chinese tourists is 90,000 in 2008, 540,000 in 2009, 3,330,000 in 2014 (ps: correct number should be : 3,987,152), besides, tourists from China's Hong Kong & Macau (1,375,770 persons) also help a lot. Is this part of communist China's widely-known political policy "Allowance of profits" to Taiwan("讓利"政策)?

◎
◆ Alarm-bell sounds ?!

New York Times at 2-22-2018: "The Chinese government has discouraged tourism to Taiwan...". (since DPP in office, around 2016 )

Before that, some Taiwanese Legislators worried and criticized (7-7-2015) that Taiwan's tourism depending on red Chinese tourists may causes serious national security problems ―― They probably reminded of Japanese "tours for advice & information" ("參謀旅行") before having invaded China in WWII. The China Times (5-15-2017): Losing huge number of Chinese tourists resulted in closing many local businesses (hotels, travel agencies, tour bus companies, shopping stores ). CTI TV news(5-16-2017, 9:30am): Chinese tourists' amount of daily consumption is USD 120, other countries' average amount USD 48; However, The New York Times (5-18-2017): a declining number of Chinese tourists can be offset, to some extent, with visitors from other Asian markets. The United Daily (8-27-2016) editorial: The relationship between Taiwan and China falling back leads to a misery & cutting-throat situation of tourism industry, and soon will affect other related industries - hotel, aviation, restaurants and retails. The China Times(12-19-2016): Taiwan's tourism industry looks like a great boom, but tourism business refuted it " all are fake !"... Taiwan should worries and needs diversification of risk : attracting new tourists ― Korean, South-East Asian, Middle-Easterners, Westerners, instead of putting all eggs in one basket ― expecting more Chinese tourists.

It's a challenge ! official report found the number of American tourists is only 458,691, Euro. tourists even fewer - only 264,880 (UDN TV (8-23-2015): many westerners regard Taiwan as an electronics factory ... ) . The total number of Westerners is only 1/7 ~1/8 the number of Chinese tourists. Taiwan also failed to attract Asians/Easterners other than Japan (1,634,790 persons), even Taiwanese prefer traveling overseas, in last year, the number of tourists visiting Taiwan is 9.91 million, but Taiwanese went overseas is up to 11.84 million, foreign countries earned Taiwanese money 159.6 billion.

Why?? and what's the solution?
◎

Taiwan's soft power vs. Asia's soft power

Till '20, Taiwan has not been included in Portland or USC Soft Power survey , etc, Taiwan's soft power is behind Asian's "world top 20" nations , including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, China, India, UAE.
for details : click Soft Power
　

world best surveys	Taiwan's rankings in top 25~30 list	comparison with other Asia & Pacific countries
Brand Finance - Global soft power Index 2022	failed	1. US, 2. UK, 3. Germany, 4. China, 5. Japan, 6. France, 7. Canada, 8. Swiss, 9. Russia, 10. Italy
ISSF's World Soft Power 2022	failed	1. US 2. France, 3. Germany, 4. Japan, 5. UK, 6. Swiss, 7. Italy, 8. S. Korea, 9. Spain, 10. China,11.India,12. Sweden, 13. Canada, 14. Australia, 15. Denmark
Brand Finance - Global soft power Index 2021	failed	1. Germany, 2. Japan, 3. UK, 4. Canada, 5. Swiss, 6. US, 7 France, 8. China, 9. Sweden, 10. Australia, 11. Korea, 12 Holland, 13. Russia, 14. Norway, 15. Denmark, 16 NZ, 17. UAE, 18. Iceland, 19. Italia, 20. Singapore
US News: 2021 Best Countries Overall	failed	2. Japan, 5. Australia 7. New Zealand
2020 Brand Finance - Global soft power Index , top 60	n/c	https://brandirectory.com No. 4 Japan, 5 China, 13 Aus, 14 Korea, 18 UAE, 20 Singapore, 22 NZ, 26 SA 27 India
2019/2020 Top 30 SOFT POWER by Portland	not included	No. 8 Japan, No.9 Australia, No. 17 New Zealand, No. 19 S Korea, No. 21 Singapore, No. 27 China
US News: 2020 Best Countries Overall The Best Countries in the World	n/c	No.3 Japan, No.5 Australia, No. 11 New Zealand, No. 15 China, No. 16 Singapore , No. 20 Korea, No.22 UAE , No.25 India, No. 26 Thailand, No. 30 Qatar
2018/2019 Monocle's Soft Power survey	not included	No. 3 Japan, No.8 Australia, No. 11 New Zealand, No.15 Korea, No. 19 China, No. 21 Singapore, No. 25 India
2018/2019 Soft Power 30 Study by USC Center on Public Diplomacy	not included	No.5 Japan, No. 10 Australia, No. 18 NZ, No. 20 S. Korea, No. 21 Singapore, No. 27 China
2017/2018 Monocle's Soft Power survey	not included	No. 4 Japan, No.9 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.17 Korea, No. 19 China, No. 22 Singapore, No. 24 India
2017/2018 Soft Power 30 Study by USC Center on Public Diplomacy	not included	No.6. Japan, No. 8. Australia, 18. NZ, No. 20 Singapore, No. 21 S. Korea, No. 25. China
2016/2017 Monocle's Soft Power survey	not included	No. 3 Japan, No.6 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.17 Korea, No. 20 China, No. 23 Singapore, No. 24 India
2015/2016 Monocle's Soft Power survey	not included	No. 4 Japan, No.6 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.15 Korea, No. 21 China, No. 23 Singapore
★ According to a survey of 2020, Singapore ranks No.1, Japan No.7, Korea No. 9 on "enterprise", Japan ranks No. 5, China No.10 on "engagement", Korea ranks No. 5 on "digital", Japan ranks No.6, China No. 8 on "culture", No any Asian country ranks top 10 on "education" and "govt." 　 ★ Best Countries overall in 2020: 1 Swiss 2 Canada 3 Japan 4 Germany 5 Australia 6 UK 7 USA 8 Sweden 9 Nederland 10 Norway 11 NZ 12 France 13 Denmark 14 Finland 15 China 16 Singapore 17 Italy 18 Austria 19 Spain 20 Korea 21 Luxembourg 22 UAE 23 Russia 24 Portugal 25 India 26 Thailand 27 Greece 28 Brazil 29 Israel 30 Qatar 31 Saudi Arabia 32 Malaysia 33 Mexico 34 Poland 35 Turkey

★ TVBS (7-14-2015, 9-15-2015 8:59pm) : Scholars and officials advised enhancing Taiwan's soft power, cultural creativity
to promote Taiwan's tourism industry. The tbl. above compares Taiwan's soft power with other Asian countries'.

TVBS (7-14-2015, 9-15-2015 8:59pm) : scholars and officials advised cultural creativity cooperating with tourism, and enhancing soft power to promote Taiwan's tourism industry. But according to UK based Monocle's global Soft Power Survey (2010/2011~2020), Taiwan's soft power even lost mainland China, and some other Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, India, UAE. Taiwan also failed to be listed in 2018's Soft Power 30 Study by USC Center on Public Diplomacy in July 2018 and 2017's Soft Power 30 Study, compiled by PR company Portand Communication and University of Southern California. Taiwanese government focused on political elections rather than cultural issues for years, soft power won't grow big overnight.

Unlike some tourism websites' beautified, glamor photo & words (ps 00), this non-profit site gives only true info. and unbiased critiques on Taiwan's tourism & travel. Some small countries' (Croatia, Hong Kong (14.16%), Jordan, Thailand(10.87%)) proportion of tourism income in GDP reached more than 10%, Malaysia, Singapore reached 7%~8% (ref. Liberty Times 10-22-2015, UDN TV 8-23-2015), certainly Taiwan needs forward thinking instead of focusing on "short-swing trading" & benefit, which may harm tourism industry, Taiwan requires accelerating the improvements of those weak elements mentioned in this web-site, so as to ignore the pressures (UDN, 2-25-2016: the number of tour-groups Chinese tourists may reduce 30%~60% daily) from China for political reasons.

United Daily, opinion, 12-30-2017 : Taiwan's foreign exchange earnings from tourism decreased 300 billion dollars. To promote tourism just in number of tourists, Taiwan's new mission “New Southbound Policy” gave up the national principle of mutual benefit and equality, the "side-effect" the policy brought in illegal drug trafficking and illegal foreign workers. An article by College of Comm., National ChengChi Univ. (5-10-2019) noted Taiwan tries to attract SouthEast Asian tourists by “New Southbound Policy” , but they cannot replace Chinese tourists because the number of tourists increases, the amount they spent are less ... ref. to newslab.nccu.edu.tw/zh_tw/showcase/video/陸客不來了-新南向政策能否為台灣觀光業帶來轉機-74424413 Taiwan's advertisements only focus on "cheat eats" by using some widely-known stars.

◎

Woody Allen described New York as " beautiful women ...", in contrast, a money-oriented Taiwan can not build the country an elegant graceful "woman". To promote tourism, Taiwan probably need to use tourists' curiosity (it works only once or at most twice), or to attract 'lower class' people, or still need China's tourism-encouraging ― a "carrot" policy.

◆ Taiwanese health is much important than making money from tourism, Taiwan adm. should put more efforts on food safety and pollution issues.

觀光外匯年減267億

● Taiwan government's 2 solutions to save tourism

(1) "in depth" tour - just a slogan / UDN, opinion, 10-3-2017

(2) “New Southbound Policy” - "no borders" attract cheap prostitutes and frauds from South-Eastern Asia countries, they hence occupied Taiwan's sex market. / CTN, headline, 10-17-2017.

● UDN 10-20-2017: scholars advised:
(1) new image and positioning, using street food/night markets is no longer good enough.
(2) demassification & niche marketing, specific strategy for eco-tourism. Cheap-price or duty-free probably can't save TW tourism.

PIC: Without Chinese tourists, Taiwan's foreign exchange earnings
decreased 267 billions (NT dollars) per yr. / The China Times, 10-4-2017, udn opinion, 12-30-2017

The number of tourists to Taipei attractions dropped sharply 2.7 million in upper yr.
/ United Daily, 10-20-2017

◎
◎

● Taiwan's poor creativity can help its tourism industry as scholars advised ??

● Taiwan government logo

● Western (Canadian) logo appeared earlier
　

● Taiwan state-owned enterprise logo
● pic. right: Western logo appeared earlier

● logo designed by
Taiwan's national university
   ● pic. right: Korea Seoul city logo
appeared earlier
　

Although Telegraph (Jan. 2017) mentioned Taipei's "pioneering creative scene", however, in fact ......

● Pic. above-left: Taiwan's college paper, professor, and tourism leader both advised : “culture is absolute a value-added & critical element in Taiwan Tourism industry” (United Daily, 12-11-2015). Scholar comments that Taiwan needs attractions - better cultural creativity (The United Daily 12-21-2015). TVBS (7-14-2015, 9-15-2015) : scholars and official advised Taiwanese cultural creativity cooperating with tourism, and enhancing soft power to save Taiwan tourism. The China Times (9-20-2015) editorial : "Culture (ps: cultural creativity) is best element to establish a country brand". However, Taiwan's cultural creativity is poor. For instance, pic. left is the logo of Taiwan government, since 11-9-1993, next 3 are logo of Canadian Pacific Rail, since 1968 till out-of-flavour, so it's a cheap-copy suspect. Taiwan's official document states their logo "easy to identify and associate with Taiwan's brand ... a simple shape and modernized & internationalized, aesthetic design " ; but, exactly on the contrary, it's neither modernized, nor as aesthetical simple as CPR's logo...

● Pic. above-right : Taiwan's another 2 official logos have similar problems ― easy to be associated with world famous logos.
● Government took the lead to plagiarize, and ignored copy-rights, Taiwan becomes "an island of Plagiarism" / Liberty Times 4-6-2016.

　

pic. left: This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China by "comment Taiwan tour", 11-29-2019, 8-3-2019 , No.3 at 5-16-2020

pic. left: This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China by "comment Taiwan travel", 8-3-2019

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China by
"comment Taiwan tourism", 11-29-2019, 8-3-2019, No.3 at 5-16-2020;

◎

○◎ International famous tourism & travel reports

Taiwan usually is not included on top ranking list of world travel and tourism rpt.

◎

◆ 2015 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report

Taiwan's weakness :		Taiwan's strength :
Index	Taiwan's world rankings	Index	Taiwan's ranking
Country Brand Strategy	No.125	taxi airport charges	No.17
Prioritization of Travel & Tourism	No.82	Internet Users	No.24
Hotel price index	No.82	access improving drinking water	No.33
Tourist service infrastructure	No.77	Mobil network coverage	No.1
Environmental Sustainability	No.69	quality of railroad	No.7
Natural Resource	No.62	Fuel price	No.22
Purchasing power parity	No.64	domestic transport network	No.7
World heritage cultural sites	the last position, n/a ps (China No.5)	Business cost of violence	No.11
World heritage natural sites	the last position, n/a (China No.3)	Taiwan has never been included in top 30 on <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> (2011~2015).
major car rental companies	No.120
Travel and tourism industry development	No.53

full rpt. pls. ref. to http://reports.weforum.org/travel-and-tourism-competitiveness-report-2015 TW overall index 32 in '15.

◎
◆ Country Brands Index 2014/2015

Taiwan's score :

Taiwan's score location - "Countries" (left lower place)

Taiwan locates in "Countries" category, a lowest area ― having below average perceptions in both the Status and Experience dimensions.

Critera :
◎tourism / Value for money, Range of attractions, Resort & lodging options, Would like to visit for a vacation, Food ;
◎HERITAGE & CULTURE / Historical points of interest, Heritage, art & culture, Natural beauty;
etc.

◎“Country brands” – Countries that have above average perceptions across both the Status and Experience dimensions and have measurable competitive advantages over their peers as a result.
◎ “Experience countries” – Countries whose perception strength is biased towards dimensions relating to Heritage & Culture, Tourism and Made In.
◎ “Status countries” – Countries whose perception strength is biased towards attributes relating to Value System, Quality Of Life and Business Potential.
http://www.futurebrand.com/news/futurebrand-launches-the-country-brand-index-2014-15

◎ top 20 countries: Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Norway, United States, Australia, Denmark, Austria, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Finland,Singapore, Iceland, Netherlands, France, Italy, United Arab Emirates, South Korea.

◎ top 20 most influential cities: NY, London, Beijing, Washington, Moscow, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, Shanghai, Dubai, HK, Singapore, New Delhi, SaoPaulo, Rio De Janeiro, LA, Rome, Toronto, Seoul, Mumbai.

◆ Economist Intelligence Unit - Global Most Livable Cities , '15

Taipei's livability score ranks No. 60 in 2015, No.61 in 2013 (Tokyo No.15 in '15, Australia Melbourne No.1)

5 elements to decide the rankings - Infrastructure (25%, Housing, Roads, Basic Utilities ), Heath Care (20%), Culture & Environment(20%), stability (25% - crimes & terrorism), Education (10%).

◆ Mercer "Quality of Living" , 2015

Taipei's score was ranked No. 83, Tai-chung city No.99. The factors to decide include Economic environment, Political and social environment, Socio-cultural environment, Medical/health considerations, School and education level, Public services and transport, Recreation, Consumer goods, Housing, Natural environment.

◆ World's best places to retire in 2015, see http://internationalliving.com/2015/01/the-best-places-to-retire-2015/ , which includes Asian countries like Malaysia, New Zealand, Thai, Phil, Vietnam, but Taiwan is not included in there.
　

◆ MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index, '15

the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index reports the following cities as the top ten most popular destinations of tourism worldwide in 2015

1.London (18.82million tourists arrivals), 2.Bankok(18.24), 3.Paris, 4.Dubai(14.26), 5.Istanbul(12.56), 6.New York City, 7.Singapore(11.88),8. Kuala Lumpur(11.12), 9.Seoul(10.35), 10. Hong Kong (8.66 million). Taipei Times, 6-6-2015: Taipei (6.55 million), an increase of 2.5 percent from 6.38 million last year (2014).
　

◆ 2011-2012 rank / Country Brand Index

index/category	2011-2012 Rank
Asia's best	1. NZ, 2 Jap, 3 Aus, 4 Sing, 5 Maldives, 6 Thai, 7 India, 8 Korea, 9 Mal, 10 Fiji, 11 Vietnam, 12 Nepal, 13 chn, 14 Indonesia, 15 Phi, 16 Laos, 17 Cambodia, 18 Bangladesh, 19 Iran, 20 Pakistan
Resort & lodging options	1 Maldives, 2 Mauritius, 3 Japan, 4 Swiss, 5 US, 6 UAE, 7 Spain, 8 Bermuda, 9 st Lucia, 10 Thai, 12 NZ, 13, Fiji
Food	1 Italy, 2France, 3 Japan, 4Spain, 5 Singapore, 6 Thailand, 7 India, 8 Brasil, 9 Malaysia, 10 Swiss, 11 Germany, 12 Vietnam, 13 Greece, 14 Australia, 15 USA
Shopping	1 US, 2 France, 3 Italy, 4 UK, 5 Japan, 6 China, 7 singapore, 8 UAE, 9 thai, 10 Germany
Attraction	1 Japan, 2 Italy, 3 France, 4 US, 5 Israel, 6 UK, 8 Egypt, 9 Spain, 10 Swiss, 11 Aus, 12 Peru, 13 India, 14 Austria, 15 S Africa
Value for Money	1 Thai, 2 US, 3 Malaysia, 4 Argen, 5 India, 6 Laos, 7 Indonesia, 8 Cam, 9 Vietnam, 10 Turkey, 11 Aus, 12 NZ, 13 Spain
Night Life	1 US, 2 UK, 3 Brasil, 4 Spain, 5 France, 6 Italy, 7 Aus, 8 Thai, 9 Argentina, 10 Germany, 11, Japan, 12 Holland, 13 Singapore, 14 Greece, 15 China
Beaches	1 Aus, 2 Brasil, 3 US, 4 Maldives, 5 Bahamas, 6 Thailand, 7 Greece, 8 Spain

◆ In 2008 Top Country Brand Index Ranking ，Japan(日本) is the only top 10 Asian country, China is the rising star in the next 5 years.

Index	2007-2008 rankings: ( underscore for Eastern nations)
"Arts & Culture"	France, Egypt, India, UK, Greece, Red China, Russia, Japan, Spain.
"Fine dining"	Italia, Singapore, Japan, US, UK, UAE, Malaysia, Spain, Argentina .
"Friendly locals"	Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Thailand, Sweden, Fiji, Turkey, Arab, Austria
"Best shopping"	UAE, Singapore, Italia, Japan, France, UK, Canada, Thai, S Korea
"authenticity"	Red China, S Africa, Japan, Thai, Egypt, India, Peru, Morocco
"Ideal for business"	Red China ranks No.1, Singapore and Japan rank top 10.

◆ According to 2009 ECA int'l "the Best Place to Reside", Taipei ranks No.57, Asia top 3 are Singapore, HK, Tokyo( both world No.15). 2010's rank : Taipei No.55, Singapore is still global No. 1.

◎

●
◎
About Taiwan's travel & tourism

1. Taiwanese food - restaurants in Taiwan /

2022 Michelin stars comparisons among Asian countries Taipei ranks last among main Asian cities
Michelin cities	number of 3 stars	num. of 2 stars	number of 1 star	total num.
Tokyo (Japan)	12	41	150	203
Hong Kong	7	12	52	71
Kyoto (Japan)	6	19	83	108
Osaka (Japan)	3	11	82	96
Singapore	3	7	41	51
Macau	3	5	7	15
Seoul (Korea)	2	7	24	33
Shanghai (China)	2	8	37	47
Taipei (Taiwan)	1	6	24	31

     ● Financial Times, 8-28-2020: Taiwan eventually eases restrictions on US pork and beef imports. Must bear in mind you may eat beef and pork with controversial Ractopamine from 2021 on, because the cost of local meat is much more expensive. ● United Daily (Economy Daily News, Taiwan) , editorial, 1-17-2021: Taiwan imported US beef (aged 30+ months), US pig offal and pork with controversial Ractopamine since Jan. 2021, it's not safe enough for customers because (1) A new branding initiative (Taiwan pork logo) that helps customers distinguish whether shops and restaurants are using predominantly local or imported pork was officially launched, however, it's very easy for businessmen to have that logo (2) Marking "US pork" in restaurants and shops is not arbitrary for political factor. ● 83% of Taiwan's Michelin 2~3 star restaurants, and 33% of Taiwan's Michelin star restaurants, failed to pass sanitary/health inspection (kitchen things/equipment not clean, food materials on the floor, without staffs' health examination proof ) , but they passed second inspection, such as 3 star restaurant Le Palais, 2 star restaurants RAW、態芮-Tairroir、祥雲龍吟( RyuGin Taipei )、鮨天本(Sushi Amamoto).   ref. to Liberty Times, 3-30-2020, Apple Daily 3-31-2020.  ● CTV, 1-12-2021: 18 star-rated tourist hotel restaurants were found to be irregular/illegal in expired ingredients or other food-safety issues, including many 5 star hotels e.g., Ambassador Hotel, Regent Taipei's 晶泉丰旅、日月行館 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UapKrGPkjUM)
     ● World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan ranking No.43, (score 6) in Health & Hygiene.
     ● Even Taiwan's Michelin 3 star winner Le Palais was found snacks containing Hydrogen peroxide (過氧化氫) and Benzoic acid (苯甲酸), besides, many tourism hotels / 5 star hotels were found food hygiene not up to standard, e.g., 5 star hotels used expired no-good ingredients, such as HsinChu and Taipei's Ambassador Hotel, The Grand Hotel, Regent Formosa, and so on, reported by CTV evening news, BCC , LTN (12-19-2019) https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/breakingnews/3014179 .

○

	weirdo Taiwan's tourism advertisement !! "Dining X Taipei" (a too big 'X') 　 Cambridge dictionary : "X" is (1) unknown / a number, or name or thing that is not known or stated (2) mistake / the answer is not correct (3) Delete / to remove something (4) kisses
pic.: Tourism ads. for Taiwan, 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwyuCsmMqTM	ps: Taiwan got food safety scare for years

○
● Michelin Guide was released at 4-10-2019, Taiwanese cuisine was not valued very high, only 4 restaurants won 1 star each, 3 starred chefs are from Hong Kong (Canton) and Macau. The total number of stars and starred restaurants of Taiwan are much less than those of Shanghai, HK, Macao, and Singapore, in both 2019 and 2018. Furthermore, unlike those in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Taiwan's night-market, street food failed to won any Michelin star.

● Michelin Guide Taipei was released at 3-14-2018, Taiwanese cuisine was not valued high, only 2 restaurants won 1 star each, European and Japanese dishes won most stars, 3 and 2 starred honors are belong to Chinese dishes and Japanese cuisine, 3 starred chefs are from Hong Kong and Macau. In contrast, Chinese cuisine earned most stars of Michelin Shanghai China, only four European tastes entered 1 ~ 2 starred list. In Michelin Hong Kong & Macao, most starred restaurants' signatures are Chinese cuisine and local specialty. The number of stars Taiwan obtained is much less than those of Shanghai, HK, Macao, and Singapore. Furthermore, unlike those in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Taiwan's night-market street food failed to won any Michelin star. ● China Times - Want Weekly, No.185 (2017): To emergently save dying tourism, Taiwan government spent NT$90,000,000 (USD 3 millions) to invite <Michelin Guide> to Taiwan in 2018.

       ● According to "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants" (2018) , Thailand Bangkok's Gaggan consecutively got in the first place, the number of Japanese restaurants selected is 11, Hong Kong & Macao 10, Thailand 9、Singapore 7, Korea and Taiwan both are 3, but Korea won the 11th grade, the best ever position that Taiwan got in this year is the 15th (RAW, 18th MUME, 47th Shoun Ryugin), China got the 8th position. https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/asia-50-best-restaurants-2018/index.html● According to The World's Best Restaurants (2017) , Taiwan is not included in the list, Thailand got No.7, Singapore No.14, Japan 18th, HK 24th, Shanghai 41th. In total, 5 Japanese , 4 Chinese, 3 Singapore, 2 Thailand, 1 Korean, 1 India restaurant(s) entered top 100.   http://www.theworlds50best.com/list/1-50-winners#t51-100.
       ● According to CNN (2-29-2016) "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants" , only two Taiwanese restaurants are selected (leMout Taichung (No.30) and Raw Taipei (No.46)), which was raked No. 9 in Asia, next to Singapore (10 restaurants selected )、Hong Kong(9)、Japan(8)、Thailand(4, but Gaggan got best award)、China(3)、Korea、India、Sri Lanka； China's 3 restaurants ranking No. 7,18, 28 respectively , higher than Taiwan's 。 (http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/29/foodanddrink/asia-best-restaurant-2016/index.html)
       ● According to The World's Best Restaurants (2016) , Taiwan is not included in the list (Italia Osteria Francescana got No.1, Spain El Celler de Can Roca No.2 ), 8 Asian restaurants are selected, including Japan Narisawa (No.8), H.K. Amber (No.20), Thail Gaggan (23), Singapore Andre (No. 32), Japan 龍吟 (31), Thai Nahm (37), China Shanghai's Ultraviolet by P.P. (42). / UDN 6-16-2016
       ● In UK's Economist Intelligence Unit - Global Food Security Index ( Sept., 2017), Taiwan is not included , China's score of 2017 is 63.7, ranks 45th among 113 nations ( Singapore 4, Japan 18, Korea 24, Ireland 1, US 2, UK 3,); In EIU Liveability Country Level Index (Jan. 2015), Taipei's "Food Security Index" ("1" means "Most Secure") is "42", same score as all other communist China's major cities, e.g., GuangZhou, TianJin, Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai. Most-secure-food cities include New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C., all are Index "1", Paris Index is "3" , Zurich and Amsterdam index "5", Brussels "7". China's "Food Security Index" of 2016 is No. 42, some other top 40 Asian countries are Singapore No.3, Qatar No. 20, Japan No.22, Korea No. 28, UAE No. 30, Saudi Arabia No. 32, Malaysia No. 35, Thailand No. 51, Vietnam No. 57, world top 11 are USA, Ireland, Singapore, Australia, Nederland, France, Germany, Canada, UK, Sweden, NZ.
       ●The Economist (11-29-2014) analyzed Taiwanese black-heart foods caused ruling party "has suffered one of its worst electoral defeats" since 1949, "The failure of Mr Ma’s government to prevent a series of food scandals has also upset many"。● The New York times (9.8.2014): The authorities in Taiwan are scrambling to control a tainted-cooking-oil scandal that has affected hundreds of manufacturers and raised fears about health risks posed in many commonly consumed food items... the new scandal shows that there is still not enough being done to eliminate lawbreaking production lines”. ● BusinessWeek (9-8-2014): "The new gutter-oil scandal has “shocked local consumers” in Taiwan". ● BBC (11-19-2013): Consumers in Taiwan have been shocked by a series of food safety scandals.

According to official statistics (2012, paper by PingTung Univ. Science & Tech.), the major part of tourists consumption in 2011 is foods & drink (catering), which accounts for the proportion 0.63% of nation's GDP, about 2 times the consumption amount from tourists' shopping, recreation, tourism of arts & culture per year.

◎◎
◎

● Pic.left: Most 5 star hotel restaurants in Taiwan don't wash the vegetables, they just soak in water and cut them for cooking or eating ... , a 5 star restaurant made Japanese sashimi by fresh-water fishes, this may causes serious infection even cancer, according to Japanese studies in 2013... 5 star "SOP" is this lousy, not to mention average restaurants... here advises people to minimize number of times for dining out in Taiwan / Jiang M.D. 江守山's book "食在安心", printed in Oct, 2014.
● Another book, "Fruits , Vegetables" ("遠離毒蔬果", June 2015) by IMEI (義美) group's leader Luis Ko (高志明), page 162 quoted Dr. Gaston J.C. Wu (professor & dean, Taiwan Normal University) saying that Taiwan's vegetables and fruits should be flushed thoroughly with plenty of flowing water, those tiny gaps and hollows need to be cleaned by 'brush' before cooking or/and eating. No just soaking vegetables and fruits in water in a large basin ...
● The Liberty Times (9-16-2015) scholar's comment-article "洗菜只沖不刷, 蟲卵農藥統統下肚" also supported this suggestion for avoid pesticide (a lot more than US vegetables ) etc.
　

◎

Intro. to Taiwanese restaurants:

◆ 1. Din Tai Fung is a popular point for tourists (including Tom Cruise), and the best-known restaurant ( ranking No.1 Taiwanese restaurant by <Miele Guide> of 2012).
◎

However,

● (1) Din Tai Fung admitted at 5-9-2012 having used Monosodium Glutamate / sodium glutamate (M.S.G.) as addictive in some foods there - and they won't change this policy so as to keep major cuisine (e.g., steamed bun/bao (小籠包), chicken soup) delicious (according to United Daily News 5.9.2013). They don't want to enhance the flavor by good materials, like red jujube (red date "紅棗") and Fructus Lycii (GouQuZi "枸杞"), mushroom, etc. According to National Health Research Institutes and United Daily News (8-15-2015) "Horrible foods for dining out": Taiwan's food (in restaurants, cafeteria, etc) problems include using MSG. Taiwan's 5 star restaurants like Sherwood Hotel announced any chefs using MSG will be fired. According to int'l medical studies, using Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is controversial. (ref to "The Dangers of MSG" : http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/facts/the-dangers-of-monosodium-glutamate.htm) Some claimed it may causes asthma, headache, even brain damage. )
　

● (2) Din Tai Fung was suspicious of being involved in Taiwanese food scandal, Apple Daily (蘋果日報)10-10-2014 reported that one Taiwanese Dept. of Health found out Din Tai Fung imported some oil products from King's Cook which bought lard oil (mixing animal feed with cooking oil) from Ting Hsin Int'l. ( http://www.appledaily.com.tw/realtimenews/article/new/20141010/485241/ 台中市衛生局調查發現，鼎泰豐曾向購買頂新正義油品的台中金品調理(KingsCook) 公司進貨，恐中鏢。)DinTaiFung denied it.
　

● (3) Din Tai Fung admitted having used G.M.(genetic modified) soy material(豆類) for a long time (until July 2015). The China Times, (3.29.2013) reported professor Kuo H. J. (National Taiwan University, Department of Agronomy) comments - Taiwan using G.M.(genetic modified) is "national scandal" (「國家級醜聞」), French scholar Seralini found G.M. foods may cause cancer with higher probability, BBC (6.6.2013)<Taiwan diet danger everywhere>: Taiwan is the only country eating cured products made by animal-feed, G.M.(genetic modified) soya beans. (主妇联盟说台湾是世界上唯一直接食用饲料级基改黄豆加工的豆制品国家。) But Din Tai Fung still used the "scandalous" G.M. stuff for 2+ years after the news being spread island-wide. Recently, CNN (7-24-2015) dropped Din Tai Fung down to No.20 position in Taiwanese foods list.

a DinTaiFung in USA Nearly Shut Down for Unsatisfactory Health Inspection...The Brand Personality ?
Din Tai Fung Michelin star

★ According to 2 US local news (4-15-2016), Din Tai Fung ( Bellevue, WA, USA ) failed to pass health inspections (violating cooling procedures, handwashing, and having valid permits and operating procedures, among other items) and garnered 85 critical food safety violations, Din Tai Fung ( Seattle ) also received unsatisfactory health inspections 3 times ... (China Times, 5-22-2016)
★ Din Tai Fung's Hong Kong branches were just eliminated their Michelin one star title at Oct. 31, 2014,
Taiwan's Din Tai Fung never won any Michelin star title, but it is advertising itself a Michelin star restaurant by posters at front of largest Japanese mall, Mitsukoshi Dpt. Store in Taipei (photo Aug. 22 2015) and in SOGO Dpt. Store (2-27-2016).
★ Din Tai Fung USA website (http://DinTaiFungusa.com) has also been advertising a similar one in its front-page. (tests till present at 9-17-2015)
ps: the China Times analyzed losing Michelin most likely it's because of inconsistent quality problem. (http://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20141031001358-260405)

★ Apple Daily, 9-22-2016: Din Tai Fung did not get any star in Michelin Shanghai, HK, and Taipei.

★ Taiwan prosecutor charged Din Tai Fung for violating copyrights law / UDN 4-12-2018, https://udn.com/news/story/11315/3081736

◎

civilized ?

◆ Ref to some legal cases , some restaurants in Taiwan is not a foodie-friendly environment - compared with American's restaurants with nice rules - ref. to Forbes, 9-3-2012, New York Times, 10-29-2009.

◆ Restaurant servers of some 5 star hotels in Taiwan, repeatedly sniffed at customers ( their excuse or 'reason' is getting cold)、took back used plates by "dragging over the table" and making noises 、gossiped with low class phrase or slang ...... Taiwan's 5 star hotel restaurant servers (not all) even failed to follow server rules ...

◆ Apple Daily (蘋果日報), 10-7-2018: customers - servers inequality (平等尊重) in Taiwan's restaurants?..... customers don't respect restaurant service. (顧客不尊重餐廳服務)

◎

controversial fish

pic.: TVBS (Taiwan) 2-10-2018: experts expressed their concern or scares of eating Basa fish imported from Vietnam. Some international experts like Vancouver Aquarium's Ocean Wise doesn't recommend consumers buy Basa, some states of the US even banned Basa, for using illegal antibiotics, questioning polluted Mekong river and the practices used to farm Basa, those factors.
Some 5 star hotels in Taiwan seemed love to serve cheap-price Basa ― however, they used English name Bassa or Balsa ( not fish name ), instead of Basa, but, the Chinese name used is Basa for sure
pic. left is a hot dish served by a Taipei's 5 star hotel buffet restaurant, "Thailand steamed Bassa fish" (photo at 4-24-2018); Pic. right is another top hotel Sheraton Taipei's buffet food - "Balsa" fish ( photo in Nov. 2017 ).

○

pic.: Formosa TV , 2-19-2018: Many hotel buffets had bad records of using bad food materials or ingredients before, even now, some kind of official certified marks may not be a food-safety assurance in the near future.

○


◆ World famous 5 star hotel hides fish name on the sign-plate, we can't even know those are sea fish or fresh-water fish 　 quora (2015) had some discussions about "why don't westerners eat river fish?". Independent UK 1-11-2015: Chemicals in fresh water fish put health at risk - according to a new report, they may be putting their health at risk... Singapore's foodie TV program < Cook Eat China > likes to ask chef the fish name before they try. Medical book <you can conquer cancer> (target readers include patients and healthy people) advised to know what-about before eating fish or seafood ...... ◆ pic. left: World famous hotel Shangri La's in Taipei at 5-18-2018: upon my question, the kitchen man answered it's Dory fish ("多利魚")，but had no idea about sea fish or fresh water fish (rivers, lakes, etc). Taiwan's CTS TV news (華視新聞) at 4-27-2017 reported (news.cts.com.tw/cts/life/201704/201704271863633.html#.Wv6-Rjoh2Uk): all Dory fishes in Taiwan were fake, foodie gourmets have been fooling for a long times ! Dory then were renamed as Basa ― a fresh-water fish farmed in Vietnam, S.E. Asia 。 Real John Dory is also named as Cat Fish, the author had many in Florida's buffet restaurant (even "none star" restaurant marked fish name ), however, in Taiwan's "5 star" hotel can only eat fake Dory ??? ◆ pic. right: Another world famous 5 star hotel (Sheraton Grand Taipei, headqtr in USA) in Taiwan also hide the fish name (5-17-2018)。Westerners tourists may like to know they're eating sea fish or fresh-water fish ? The chef confirmed steamed fish are basa (9-12-2018)

pic.: <Cook Eat China> TV program introduced ChongQing (China) low-price spicy hotpot using Catfish as main ingredient, is that a Basa fish imported from Vietnam ? if not, Taiwan's 5 star restaurants may not be better than China's average (non star-rated) restaurants !? ref to https://www.bilibili.com/video/av7493983/
○

◆ pic. left: Weird !! the deep fried fish in world well-known Grand Hotel Taipei buffet restaurant has no any signs (July 2018)，upon my question, the kitchen said it's snapper (鯛魚), then John Dory, eventually said Taiwan is very "good" at this, so he does not know what it exactly is.
◆ pic. right: CTS (華視新聞) 4-27-2017(news.cts.com.tw/cts/life/201704/201704271863633.html#.Wv6-Rjoh2Uk) reported Dory in Taiwan are fake! For details pls ref to the CTS website as above.

◎

◆ pic. : Expert in TVBS (2-14-2018) advised that
so called Parabramis Pekinensis(魴), Dori, Basa all are Catfish (鯰) from Vietnam, basically,
the Dori we eat are not Dori, the Patagonian (鱈) we eat actually are Toothfish (比目魚).
Further more, those have addictive and even medicine problems.
◆ Too many fakes and tricks !! even in 5 star hotel restaurants.
Do we have fake chickens ? tricky coffee ...?

GM food

◆ pic.: Famous 5 star hotel buffet's tofu (豆腐皮, July 23, 2018) did not have any sign, upon my req., they answered it's not GM-free soybean, therefore, some sign must be there
　

○◎

◎

◆ left: Grand Hotel Taipei used GM beans, photo 6-8-2018

◆ right: Sherwood(西華飯店), photo 5-28-2018
Braised Bean Curd with Crab Powder tastes good, but got no answer if they used G.M.(genetic modified) , GM was called as "national scandal", The China Times, 3-29-2013.

◎

Sushi ? eat it SOON !!!

pic.: United Daily (聯合報) 6-10-2017: Gov. urged eating raw fish as SOON as possible !! 12 minutes after those raw fish slices left cold-storage (7c), the number of Vibrio Parahaemolyticus (腸炎弧菌) keeps growing double every 20 minutes (倍數滋生) or so, in normal temperature (常溫 30c~), ... ref to https://udn.com/news/story/7186/2512857;TVBS,11-1-2016.
　

◆ Shangri La's Hotel in Taipei Taiwan (6F, 8-28-2018) expressed, their raw fish slices leaving cold-storage will display on serving plates for 45 minutes for customer's taking.
◆ A Hong Kong media revealed some widely-known Japanese restaurant in Taiwan displayed raw fish and other sushi more than 30 minutes.

◎

		◆ pic. left: watermelon, grape, tuna in Sheraton buffet (top~bottom) 　　　 ◆ pic. middle: tuna in Shangri La's Taipei, cafe (8-9-2018) 　　　 ◆ pic. right: Tuna and Salmon in a 5 star hotel (9-12-2018) .
◆ Raw Tuna fish slices - how do you choose for 100% safety ?? No too beautiful-color ones ! No dark brown (tan) ones ! 　 ◆ University studies (高雄海科大) found that 80% of raw fishes (Cobia, Tuna, Sword-Fish, Tilapia 鯛) in Taiwan market were stained ―― business men pump CO. (carbon monoxide) into those fishes in an enclosed space for beautiful or bright color look / CTS TV news, 2-20-'06 ◆ Fishes adding CO is illegal in Europe, Korea, Singapore, etc, because of possible food-poisoning, or even causing Sepsis to die / Epoch Times, 2-20-'06 ◆TVBS 8-15-2018: M.D.江守山 commented Taiwanese government ignoring pumping CO into fishes which is illegal in Taiwan (法律禁止政府未執法) , therefore Taiwanese have risk of eating slough and some unknown consequences. Some other business people used chemical addictives (e.g., 檸檬酸鈉) to keep raw-fish's color unchanged. Red meat fishes after being frozen are still "bright red" colour might be "processed" meat. (ref. to 《食在安心》book by 江守山) ◆TVBS 12-12-2013: Nitrite，NO2⁻( '亚硝酸盐' may cause cancer ) may be applied to raw tuna for bright red color look - ref to https://news.tvbs.com.tw/life/513840 ◆ ETtoday News : Cutting red-meat fishes like Tuna to slices made its Myoglobin (「肌紅蛋白」)，iron having oxidized and its meat becoming tan or brown in color. Brownish-red colored meat can indicate spoilage. Taiwanese gov. advised that people should avoid eating those brown colored, or drying out, or no longer elastic fish meat, which were cut long time ago. Eating cooked fish is perfect safe. (health.ettoday.net/news/1017291) ◆ Daily Mail, UK reported an American guy having raw Salmon almost every day had a 167 cm parasite in his stomach. ◆ 今周刊(1-19-2018): The best way to avoid parasites and bacteria, e.g., Listeria monocytogenes or Vibrio parahaemolyticus , is eating cooked fish. (www.businesstoday.com.tw/article/category/80731/post/201801190019)
\|pic. : TVBS news of Taiwan - color was fixed in 3 seconds, harming our health
pic. ( left side ) : Tuna before and after being illegally treated with CO. pic.: ( right side ) : Salmon before and after being illegally treated with CO.	pic.: Media of UK reported sushi raw fishes are being treated with 'DEADLY' CO (carbon monoxide) to fix the color of the flesh (ref to May 2018 https://www.auliving.com.au/zh-tw/201805/91186.html)

◎

pic. left: Wild Salmon ( without or with little oil stripping), pic. middle: farmed salmon, pic. right: shrimps in 5 star hotels

◆ Almost all 5 star hotel buffet restaurants served farmed Salmon, instead of wild Salmon (expensive).

wild Salmon are orange in color, because they eat shrimps and crabs containing carotenoid, farmed Salmon suppose are sort of gray, because business won't feed them with shrimps which are more expensive than Salmon itself.
However, many dye Salmon by canthaxanthin (斑蝥黃素) to be bright orange in color, eating many those Salmon hurts your liver.

◆ In 5 star hotels in Europe etc, you might see fresh nature "black-headed" shrimps, some Taiwanese business men used chemical addictive (「蝦鮮」保鮮劑，亞現酸鈉plus聚合磷酸鈉) to modify that unpopular black color, eating too many those shrimps might cause allergy、asthma those problems ... ref. to 《食在安心》book by 江守山MD

◆ Lots of seafood problems / Epoch Times (大紀元, 3-14-2017):Okura Prestige Tpe (大倉久和, a 5 star hotel) sold expired frozen shrimps, molded taro (vegetable 芋) etc; SETN news ( 三立新聞 5-16-2016): Some 5 star hotels in northern Taiwan sold black-hearted expired seafoods ; LTN (5-17-2016): 5 star hotels Ambassador and Howard (國賓、福華) clarified this news; Apple Daily (蘋果日報 6-7-2016): Sheraton (喜來登) 's white shrimps contained bleaching agent (漂白劑)，4 times higher than the legal standard，Ranina (Spanner crabs 旭蟹) contained heavy medal Cadmium poisoning (重金屬镉) 14% higher than the standard...

◎

sanitary problems◎

◆ pic. right: a fly in a most popular buffet restaurant
of 5 star hotel (Mar. 2019)

◆ pic. left: a flying insect was caught by me
in Taiwan's 5 star hotel restaurant,
one of most popular ones. (Sept. 2018)
I also saw a fly in
another Taiwan's world famous hotel restaurant in 2018,
and a top hotel buffet restaurant in South Korea about 20 years ago.

◆

◆ 東森新聞(EBC TV news), 12-27-2017

Customers saw a fly (「果蠅」) flying around,
and another one fly in their soup, while having
buffet in 5 star hotel restaurant (NT 1000 per person)

https://news.ebc.net.tw/news.php?nid=92189

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8O7sI_Wmsg

◆

◎

Taiwanese foods
　

US president Bush was in Taiwanese restaurant

Beaviss : dummy ! there's no poison, addictives, MSG, lard oil, gutter oil, etc

being added in these Chinese heritage

arts - pork stone and cabbage jade
Butter-Head: so, we can eat these health foods now?!

a creativity by Z. Zu　

pic. below: former US president Bush was in

Taiwan's restaurant - Beijing Do It True; the

restaurant said Bush had their dishes
ps: DIT doesn't have Bush's favorite, Beijing roast

duck

Snake Alley, HuaXi street's special ― snake (Cobra, etc) soup (a bowl for USD 5 ), snake gall, snake blood
Pic. above is a huge golden-color Patteraless (python)
Vedio below shows peeling a painful, curling, long snake for a regimen-meal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUX6sVx3pFU

●
     ◎
    ◆ 2. World best restaurants (2013 - 2017) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World's_50_Best_Restaurants   http://www.theworlds50best.com/list/1-50-winners/
         There's no any Taiwanese restaurant on the best-50 list.
         On 2015's top 50 list, Japan is No. 8, on 2013's list, top 10 all are Western restaurants (No. 1, Spainish El Celler de Can Roca 、No. 2, Danish Noma 、No. 3 Italia 、4. Spain 、5. USA 、6. Brasil 、7. U.K. 、8. Spain 、9. Austria 、10. Germany), the highest ranking Asian restaurant is No.20 Narisawa which is located in Tokyo Japan, No. 75 is Hong Kong's Candonese restaurant "龍景軒".

◆ 3. According to New York Times (12-12-2015), French La Liste's top 10 best restaurants include 3 Asian restaurants, but no any Taiwanese restaurant was included, the Liberty Times (12-13-2015) mentioned no Taiwan's restaurants included in top 1000 list.
◎◎
◆ 4. Miele Guide (2012) : No any Taiwanese restaurant is included in top 20 Asian restaurants list.

◆ 5. Michelin Taipei ( Mar. 2018) : pls click to see

ps1: Taiwan's restaurants intro. by world reports pls. ref. to the table at end of this web-pages
●
◎

◎◎◎
◎

2. Taiwanese food - night market, small eat ( 小吃)

Michelin 2022 / street food comparisons among Asian countries
Singapore	1 street food stall with 1 MICHELIN Star 5 Bib Gourmand street food stalls (including 1 new) 6 MICHELIN Selected street food stalls (including 1 new) 40 Bib Gourmand hawker centre stalls (including 3 new) 62 MICHELIN Selected hawker centre stalls (including 1 new)
Hong Kong	15 Street Food establishments (including 2 new additions)
Macau	8 Street Food establishments
Taipei	none PS: intro some street food: guide.michelin.com/us/en/taipei-region/restaurants/street-food

1. ◎ Taipei mayor Ko: Our night markets and markets are too dirty ! United Daily 1-20-2020: Ko wants them to be cleaner, and the food safety standard should be upgraded. ◎ Liberty Times (自由時報) 1-6-2019 : Taipei City Hall's "Model Night Markets" project, aims at " Japanese tourists are willing to sit down to eat "，however, quite many stalls of Nin-Xia night market, an used to be highly cooperative tourists site, opposed, in that elevating the hygienic level and class increases their running costs (new tables & seats, tableware, etc)， and might loses their characteristics, and human touch ...
◎ Michelin Guide Taipei announced at 4-10-2019 starred restaurants of Taipei Taiwan. Unlike other Asian street food stalls earning some Michelin stars (e.g., Singapore's Liao Fan soya sauce chicken rice & noodle, Hong Kong's Mammy Pancake and Thailand Bangkok's Jay Fai's wok-fired dishes), there's no any Taiwanese local specialty (night market cheap eats, street food) won any starred title. Furthermore, even Michelin 3 star winner Le Palais Hotel was found snacks containing Hydrogen peroxide (過氧化氫) and Benzoic acid (苯甲酸), many tourism hotels / 5 star hotels were found food hygiene not up to standard, e.g., 5 star hotels used expired no-good ingredients, such as HsinChu and Taipei's Ambassador Hotel, The Grand Hotel, Regent Formosa, and so on, reported by CTV evening news, BCC , LTN (12-19-2019) https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/breakingnews/3014179 , therefore it's within reason for us to suspect food-safety of night market's cheap eats.
◎ Michelin Guide Taipei announced at 3-14-2018 starred restaurants of Taipei Taiwan. Unlike other Asian street food stalls earning Michelin star (e.g., Singapore's Liao Fan soya sauce chicken rice & noodle, Hong Kong's Mammy Pancake or Thailand Bangkok's Jay Fai's wok-fired dishes), there's no any Taiwanese street food (night market, cheap eats) won any starred title. night markets (street food) !

◎ The United Daily (3-1-2017): Many Taiwanese night markets closed down due to lacking of distinguishing feature or quality, and the number of Chinese tourists sudden reducing.

◎ The China Times (5-26-2015), a critique in media commentary<掉漆的文創> mentioned :"Something we should pay attention to is, a Hong Kong poll on the net selected Taiwan as the most disappointed point of interest or attraction on this planet ― Taiwan's night market is the only place being worthy of visiting".
◎ The China Times (8-8-2015) : Taiwan failed to establish a high-quality image of tourism & travel, but just impressed tourists a place filled with cheap goods, e.g., small-eat, because of marketing strategy problem.

2.
◎ CNN, 12-11-2020 :Today, what was once a roadside stall is now a burgeoning empire, whose growing fame on the Taiwan food scene owes far more to its delicious specialty than it does its brush with international fame ...

Tainan is known as the epicenter of Taiwanese street food culture, but turkey rice is a bit of an anomaly there. The dish actually hails from Chiayi ... they were recruited into their third location, a stall at the food court in Taipei 101 -- the tallest building on the island. There's a proud CNN logo on their signage ... In Taiwan, there's prestige attached to being mentioned by international media. edition.cnn.com/travel/article/taiwan-turkey-rice-rou-bo/index.html

The secret of gua bao: The Taiwanese street food ... "With the perfect gua bao, everything dissolves, the softness of the braised pork belly is only met with a slight texture of the fermented mustard greens and peanut powder. Sweet and savory with a sourness from the pickle in one go." ( Chinese: 刈包的秘密：台灣街頭食品佔領世界 / 完美的刈包，一切都溶解了，紅燒五花爌肉的柔軟度配搭一點發酵芥末和花生粉的味道... edition.cnn.com/travel/article/gua-bao-taiwan/index.html)

◎ CBS, 12-9-2020 : The diverse selection of sweet and savory items can be found throughout different parts of Taiwan, ...There is “something for everyone’s price range,” ; ... Like any metropolis, the food in Taipei is just better. core Taiwanese dishes like lu rou fan, shabu shabu, beef noodle soup, Taiwanese breakfast, and more. https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/12/09/explore-taiwans-food-scene-with-hailey-and-adam/ video; https://www.willflyforfood.net/taipei-food-13-must-eat-restaurants-night-markets-in-taipei-taiwan/

◎ CNN readers to Vote (June 15, 2015): "Which destination has the world's best food? ",... ◎ CNN's article ( 2 -11- 2015) "10 things Taiwan does better than anywhere else",... ◎ CNN Go (3-23-2012) selected Taiwan's Taipei as one among "Asia's 10 greatest street foods cities"... ◎ Business Insider (6-10-2015) introduced Taiwan's tour ―― Let's start with the food. ... please ref. to Taiwan night markets .
◎

But, this web-site comments:

   (1) stinky tofu (臭豆腐): This tasteful food may has some problems, including G.M.(genetic modified) soy as material, and deep-fried food being not healthy ― widely known already.
   (2) beef noodle (牛肉麵): They usually use a source namely DorBanJian(豆瓣醬), so, better select restaurants with reputation to avoid aflatoxin which may contains in 豆瓣醬 and may leads to liver cancer.
   (3) oyster omelet (蚵仔煎) : It is most typical Taiwanese food ( you can see this street snack in any night market), but not exquisite & elaborated food.    The oyster omelet in Discovery channel uses peanut-powder. Be careful of fatal aflatoxin may be in peanut-powder in infamous shops, since a famous peanut product made in USA found aflatoxin before. The Liberty Times (9-18-2015): some businesses used soaking in phosphatic water to enlarger oysters, formaldehyde (HCHO) to extend oysters expiration, borax(硼砂) to whiten (or avoid dark / black color) oysters ... details (night markets)    details (dangerous foods in Taiwan)

      3. CNN（7-24-2015）recommanded in large sized page that "40 Taiwanese foods we can't live without"，although Bizarre Foods of Andrew Zimmern in Nov. '15 mentioned Americans are afraid of street foods ...
          No.1 is Braised pork rice ("金鋒滷肉飯" 10 Roosevelt Road, Section 1, Taipei).
          No.2 is beef noodle ( Lin Dong Fang store, Taipei, 274 Ba-de Rd., and Lao Wang, 15 Tao Yuan Street ，Pin Chuan Lan "品川蘭" , No. 10, Alley 11, Lane 216, Zhongxiao East Road, Section 2, Taipei)。
          No.3 is oyster omelet ( Lai Ji 198-22 Min-sen W. Rd. ,Taipei Nin-Xia night market,),
        No.4 is Bubble tea ("台中春水堂"48 Yi-shu St., Longjing, Taichung , and "台南翰林茶館"313, Section 2, Minzu Road, Tainan 。
          No. 5 is Milkfish (虱目魚/ "小隱私廚"65 Yongkang St., Taipei) 。ps: this site thinks the grilled/roast sea-milkfish (烤虱目魚, one piece for NT295) smells good but probably too salty or bit burned for some people (my families).
◎   CNN's Next 35 are ...Taiwan night markets
◎
◎

Discovery (USA) called oyster omelet as "Taiwanese Viagra". Taiwanese government announced it will spend about USD 30 million dollars on promoting "country brand" by popularizing Taiwanese typical foods, oyster omelet and stinky tofu (Chou doufu). Although Bizarre Foods of Andrew Zimmern in Nov. '15 mentioned Americans are afraid of street foods ...
		pic. above: Tourists' popular point of interests - Shih-Lin night market's "Grandmom's family" (「阿婆之家」) oyster omelet was one of 2 stores earliest-selling oyster omelets in Taiwan. "Loyalty" / "Zhong Cheng Hau" (「忠誠號」) is another most famous Taiwanese oyster omelette in Shi-Lin night market, Taipei, Taiwan.
Discovery (USA) visited and introduced "The Circle Side" ("圓環邊") oyster omelet, which indeed smells better. (46 Nin-Xia Rd. Taipei, in tourists district - Nin-Xia night market).	CNN (July 24, 2015) ranked "Lai Ji" oyster omelet as No.3 among "40 Taiwanese foods we can't live without". Lots of "Free Range"/native chicken eggs at front-door as its advertisement, Lai locates tourism area - Nin Xia night market.

●

Best food - braised pork rice in Taiwan

CNN（ 7-24-2015）"40 Taiwanese foods we can't live without" - ranking No.1 is Gin-Fon(金鋒)Braised pork rice,
which is next to Nan-Men Market (on Roosevelt Rd. - for honoring US former president);
NT50 for Large-sized rice, NT30 Small-sized. But, pls. note : no braised egg (NT50) in CNN website's pic. (8-4-2015) is
included, besides, according to United Daily (4-30-2011, 6-5-2014), braised pork rice was selected as one of 10 unhealthy,
dangerous Taiwanese foods in night market (see tbl. below), however this never affects a long queue at front of Gin-Fon restaurant.

◎◎

CNN: 40 Taiwanese foods we can not live without

CNN（7-24-2015）recommands "40 Taiwanese foods that we can't live without", the picture above is No.2 food
― Lin-Dong-Fang beef noodle in Ba-de road, Taipei. (neighborhood of the headquarter of KMT,
Taiwan's ruling political-party '08 ~ '16) you can see a long queue in each weekday's dining time , but,
It looks bit awful, even it tastes awesome, how do Westerners feel about the "restaurant"?
another one CNN recommended is TaoYuan Street Lao Wang beef noodle, their beef is
pink-colored (look like roast beef), very tender, and less salty than Lin D.F.'s.
ps: moved to new shop an-dong str in 2018; Mar 2019, moved to BaDe Rd near FuXin N.)

　◎

Taiwan, a ripping-tourists-off paradise

Shi-lin night market

Shi-Mun Din (西門町)

Keng-Tin (墾丁大街)

◆

Taiwan tour & travel

pic.: Apple Daily headline news 4-8-2018: Taiwan became a ripping-tourists-off paradise, scholars criticized
Taiwan government kept blind eyes and did nothing about this.
ps: CTS 4-11-2018: Keng-Tin's ripping tourists off already seriously damaged Taiwan image.

United Daily 10-24-2019: some of the night markets or street food stalls in Taipei do not provide tourists or customers
with price-list menu, or their menu is not clear enough, now Taipei gov. is trying to do something for this ...

蘋果日報 (Apple Daily), 12-9-2018:

ripping-off controversies

what's about

Dec., 2018 / Yi-Lan City, LuoDong night market (宜蘭羅東夜市)
(was blamed as 2nd Keng-Tin) crispy spare-ribs (排骨酥), NTD 60 for only 4 pieces

Dec., 2018 / Rei-Feng night market, Kao-hsiung (高雄瑞豐夜市) water-boiled corns, NTD 220 for 4 pieces, was scolded if chose leaving

April, 2018 / Shi-Lin or Shih-Lin night market, Taipei (士林夜市) fresh-cut fruits , NTD 30 for 100g ,
NT1500 for 7 bags (Korean tourist complained)

April, 2018 / Keng-Tin night market, Kao-hsiung (墾丁夜市) both look alike,
minced pork on noodles (肉燥乾麵) NT180,
3-colored plain noodles (三色拌麵) NT220

Dec. , 2017 / Keng-Tin night market, Kao-hsiung (墾丁夜市) <吳師傅魯味> - braised flavour (滷味2盤) 2 plates NTD1845

Jan., 2017 / Kao-hsiung City, Liu-Ho night market (六和夜市) stir fried La's Jargon (炒烏魚膘) NT1680,
price down to NTD840 after reporting to the police

ps: Consumer Ombudsman Officer (消保官) advises asking price and quantity in advance for self- protection

ps2: Taipei City Gov. gave 174 tickets to Shih-Lin night market

◎
◎◎

CNN introduced Taiwanese food at least 3 times within 6 months, seems bit unusual,

2.5 However, Are those "Taiwanese small eat ('cheap eat')" healthy to humans??

◎

◆ The China Times (中國時報), 2-28-2019, opinion (editorial) questions Taiwan officials are trying very hard to hide the epidemic state of Marek's virus in chicken eggs ...

◆ The Apple Daily (蘋果日報), 2-22-2019: Food safety is still Taiwanese most concern issue since Melamine event of 2008, Fipronil residue in eggs and pesticide residue in vegetables recently drew attentions again. (brief) / by legislator & National Taiwan Univ. professor 吳焜裕

◆ Jiang So-San M.D. (江守山, 12-2018, <早安健康 - 名醫餐桌> ) : 「Food safety issue matters !」"generally speaking, what we eat nowadays are "very dirty". Minimize the times of eating/dining out to control poison exposure to be within a margin of safety (控制毒物暴露量在一定程度之內)，Taiwan ranks world No.1 in usage of pesticides per unit of land area (單位土地面積使用農藥)，according to a study by National Yang-Ming University, 98% of urine samples randomly chosen from kids in Taipei, Taiwan, contain pesticide, the Plasticizer of dust in our houses as well as pregnant women's urine both rank world No.1. Besides, there're really too much addictives inside our food 。 More than most of Taiwan's restaurants currently use artificial chemical soy sauce(化學水解醬油)，which inevitably produces chemical 3-MCPD (單氯丙二醇) and may results in tongue cancer, kidney cancer, lliver cancer, we all ate them too much already ! Taiwanese over-value economic price, therefore we got too many terrible stuffs in home or in our body.

◆ The China Times, 10-20-2018 opinion (editorial) https://opinion.chinatimes.com/20181019003889-262101 :

Taiwan's food safety failed again and again, Dioxin, Fipronil poison-eggs in last year, Nicarbazin illegal drug residue event in this year. Europe was very cautious about Fipronil event, in contrast, Taiwan did nothing about it. Even worse, Taiwan officials hide Nicarbazin issue from Taiwanese people to baby related business ― indulge business to retrieve problematic eggs and then resell them as promotion goods..

Why do high-ranking officials always fudge Taiwanese people's only, and humblest request ？? (brief)

◆ The China Times, 5-21-2018 : Taiwan food safety became nothing but a slogan for the government's relaxation of pesticide residue standards in these 2 years. TVBS, 9-12-2017 : Scholar (中興univ. professor 曾德賜) expressed the amount ( per hectare ) of application of pesticide in Taiwan was ranked world No.1, according to India's study.

◆

◆ Chang Gung Mem. Hospital professor T.H. Yen M.D. (顏宗海, Doctor, Univ. of London ): Minimize the times of dining out to protect your health ! ( ref. to book <食品不安全的年代如何自保>("how to survive in this bad food-security time", April 2016))

◆

◆ Apple Daily, 4-25-2018 : Taiwan's food safety systems failed for gov. lab's intentionally throwing away test samples immediately after the tests, which is similar to destroying the evidence and trace. （方儉）https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/daily/20180425/37995680. ● Apple Daily, 11-20-2017 : Almost all world countries are more and more strict with food safety, only Taiwan is more and more relaxed in legislating for food safety. In this way, how can Taiwan have a reputation on "fine food kingdom" ? (breif) / by 邱致穎, chair, and teacher of food science, TungHai University. ● UDN ( medical edition, 3-31-2018) : "food safety problems happened again and again, I prefer to eat at home" (食安連環爆我在家吃便當)

◆ Apple Daily News (蘋果日報) 8-28-2015, A2 Prime News Edition

The incidence rate of Taiwanese people suffering colon/rectal cancer was ranked world No.1 (2nd is Korea, 3rd Slovakia) , Taipei Medical University Hospital's director of surgeons expressed Taiwan's food scandals constantly happened in recent years, many black-heart tainted foods containing Carcinogen (cancer producer) is a factor causing high incidence rate.

◎
◆ TTV (台視 2-11-2017 12:24pm) news reports: People dining out should be careful not to eat food containing Borax, Sodium borate(硼砂), fluorescent brightener(螢光增白劑), plasticisers (朔化劑), Rongalite (Sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate dihydrate 吊白塊 )... deep-fried foods, plastic container, and pesticide residue may cause cancer.

◆ United Daily News, 10-13-2015: "A great survey to Taiwan's aged-100 centenarians" found that "... they seldom dine out".
◎
◆ The Liberty Times - Weekender 9.18.2015 Industrial bleaching agent, plumping agent with Aluminum, Industrial adhesives Maleic Acid, Sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate dihydrate (CH3NaO3S) , Gypsum of pharmaceutic , corn starch, phosphatic, formaldehyde (HCHO), borax, etc were used as foods addictives for better selling. (for full details pls. ref. to Liberty Times)

Business Today.no.856, 2013 : not only banned colouring agent, copper chlorophyllin cooking oil, toxic ('poisonous') starch, dangerous levels of industrial plasticisers, poor-quality rice, deceptive advertising bakery ... were exposed in Taiwan media, but also dangerous materials/ingredients like hydrogen peroxide, Rongalite (Sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate dihydrate 吊白塊 ) , Formaldehyde Solution(福馬林), borax(硼砂) , salicylic acid (水楊酸), NaNO2 nitrite (亞硝酸鹽), fluorescent whitening/bleaching agent (螢光增白劑), copper salts (铜鹽), Sudan (蘇丹红), Butter Yellow(奶油黃), Rhodamine B (鹽基桃紅精), Auramine (黃色色素鹽基性芥黃), H202 (過氧化氫), 4-ethoxyphenylurea(乙氧基苯脲), Lead oxide (氧化铅), potassium bromate；bromic acid potassium salt (溴酸钾) etc food additives were found in Taiwan's black-heart food and cuisine industries. ● CLICK for dangerous foods in details : food scare in Taiwan

◎

◆ Apple Daily 11-20-2015: Taiwan food scandals is still flourishing and still in the ascendant, even the law was amended to increase punishment, major events include poisonous (Methyl yellow, chemical 二甲基黃 illegally added) dried bean curd, chemical-soak kelp, sea tangle, pepper powders with industrial-used Magnesium carbonate (工業級碳酸鎂), and Unagi Kabayaki eels with Malachite green, tea drink with DDT residue, food scraps and kitchen waste entered food market supply chain, besides, food imported from Japan high-radiation area were hidden or covered / NTU professor 林鈺雄. Furthermore, The Liberty Times (9-4-2016): black-heart sauce entered night market, and street-front shops ― small-eat shops, breakfast shops ... in Northern Taiwan for 1 year already.

◆ Apple Daily News (蘋果日報) 8-29-2015, Prime News Edition

Dark brown sugars commercially available all contain Carcinogen ("丙烯醯胺", acrylamide , inspected results - max up to 2740 ppb ). Drinking one cup (700 c.c.) of Pearl Milk Tea (full brown sugar) per day, may have risk of getting cancer.

◎

◆ Top 10 dangerous street food in Shih-lin night market
(<Liberty Times自由時報> & <United Daily News聯合報>, 10.1.2013)

night market food	heat (Kcal)大卡
Deep fried chicken breast (炸雞排)	657
蚵仔煎 Oyster Omelet	525
油炸臭豆府腐 deep fried Stinky Tofu	496
天婦羅	482
士林大香腸 Large Sausage	385
大餅包小餅 Small pie in Large pie	385
士林大煎包 Pan-fried Pork Dumpling (Large sheng jian bao)	340
fruits/fruits slices水果	297
Fried Cuttlefish Soup / sautéed octopus/ stir fried octopus, squids 生炒花枝	209
十全排骨	175
Ps: (1) advice: share food with your friend, peel the fried chicken skin, etc (2) measure Kcal compared with : 1 bowl of cooked rice has about 280 Kcal

◎

◆ National Taiwan Normal University - graduate school of Chemistry, dean Dr. Wu (化學所長吳家誠教授)'s book <Those black-heart products toxin-experts never buy (毒物專家絕不買的黑心商品)> (Nov. 2013): Most of the time I eat at home, and has never dined out in street-side shops / small-eat markets (路邊攤), because those small-eat shops usually/always do not meet the minimum standards of cleanliness. In case I can't reject some dinner party or must dine out, I select only some restaurants I fully trust. Besides, I've never touched processed food or cured products, and any drinks commercially available(市售飲料) in Taiwan, particularly, pearl milk tea which already is a world known Taiwanese food. PS: The China Times (8-15-2015): Taiwanese favorite drinks contain high Kcal/g heat, you will gain 5.1kg if having pearl milk tea one regular cup (not less-sugar option) per day for 2 months. Green Tea with Yakult(多多)'s Heat 341 Kcal/g, which is 3.2 times the upper limit of free sugar(游離糖) advised by WHO., Yakult drink, Orange juice, milk tea are high-heat too.

90% of what we eat and use contain poison or toxin - The secret that Taiwanese business won't tell you. pic. is the cover of consultant of Taiwan's government & professor Wu's book <Those black-heart products poison-experts never buy (毒物專家絕不買的黑心商品)>
　

◎

◆ night markets / Risks everywhere Black heart addictives harm the whole Taiwan, including almost all night markets, small eat shops, restaurants(幾近全淪陷) Taiwanese government lacks of ability to handle this food-scare (<今周刊Business Today>健康生活專刊04, Sept. 2013)
small-eat street-foods	j addictives	why dangerous ?
(大腸包小腸) Small Sausage in Large Sausage	nitrite, NIT,NaNO2(亞硝酸鹽)	Used to add red-color addictive for sausage, Eating too many may cause cancer增加紅色並防腐，過量食用恐致癌
(珍珠奶茶)Pearl milk tea、(青蛙下蛋粉圓)Tapioca (ball) tea	(防腐劑)Preservative	Eating too many increases burden of liver and kidney, and may cause cancer過量食用增肝腎負擔，恐致癌
(炸雞排)Deep fried chicken breast、grilled chicken breast (烤雞排)	(嫩精) Tenderizer	Used for soften the texture, Eating too many may lead to cardiopalmus, lips numb/tingle, temporary ageusia/loss of taste sense (心悸、唇麻、短暫失味覺)
(現切水果)fresh cut fruits、(糖葫蘆)sugar coated Chinese hawthorn fruit	(糖精)Saccharin、 (甘精)glargine	Eating too many hurts liver and alimentary canal or may cause urinary bladder cancer過量甘精傷肝與消化道、過量糖精致膀胱癌危險
(泰國蝦、烤蝦、蝦仁煎) Thailand shrimp, grilled shrimp, shrimp prawn Omelet	(硼砂)borax	May get roseola、feel like throwing up、diarrhea 、shock to stupor; coma; muzziness. Taiwan law already prohibited the use of food/ food products患者皮紅疹、嘔吐、腹瀉diarrhea 、休克致昏迷、已禁用於食品
ps: ps: expert M.D. expressed : (1)Taiwan's law is behind of medical studies, we already ate lots of legal but suspicious dangerous food addictives. (2) medical tests only for single chemical compound, not for 2+ chemical compounds (which may be interactive to increase probability of getting cancer) .台灣美食風險(1)法律落後醫學，我們早已吃下許多合法但疑慮食品添加物 (2)檢驗只針對單一化合物，若化合物相互作用則不查 English version : Food in Taiwan( 危險美食)
◎ ◆ <CTV> (中視 "新聞一點通"), 9.25.2013 13:35pm Even you cook by yourself, still have chance to eat some black-heart ingredients/materials... ("台灣小吃幾乎淪陷" 就算你三餐自己烹調也不見得避開所有黑心食材) ◎ ◆ <BBC>, 6-6-2013 "台湾来鸿：危机四伏的饮食" High-risk industrial starch foods like oden (黑轮, fish cake), Taiwanese meatball, black tapioca pearl (粉圆) are popular Taiwanese small eats in night markets, Most of toxic/poisonous soy sauce were sold and delivered to night markets, including best-known Shih-Lin night markets... Taiwan is the only country eating cured products made by animal-feed, G.M.(genetic modified) soya beans. (主妇联盟说台湾是世界上唯一直接食用饲料级基改黄豆加工的豆制品国家。)

◎

Taiwan
food

◆ <Business Today>, Taiwan

Pic. above: The secret that restaurant bosses don't dare to speak out !
Fatal & Horrible cooking materials/ingredients !
A top chef : "These cuisine are made for customers, you guys (assistants in kitchen) don't eat them ! "

Pic. right: Taiwan's government is unable to do administration on food industry, all Taiwanese people are in deep risk !
Black hearted soy sauce harms the whole Taiwan! it appears almost all night markets, snack shops, restaurants ... <Business Today> no. 856

◆ The New York Times, The Economist (11.29.2014) comment and analyzed that a series of food safety scandals is one of few main factors causing the KMT, Taiwan's ruling party, has suffered one of its worst electoral defeats since Chiang Kai-shek and his forces fled to the island at the end of Chinese civil war in 1949.

◆ Taiwanese government never does some soul searching and corrects the wrong, according to Business Weekly (No. 1436, June 2015), "It's weirdo !!, Taiwanese government's food-safety check only focuses on 3 dried products - dried daylily, dried radish, and preserved fruits (snacks)", National Taiwan University professor Wu K.Y. comments it as "Completely evading the crucial point", "those 3 items are very low risky products", and "Taiwan's food safety is nothing but a slogan (台灣食安只有口號-apple daily 3-28-2015 http://www.appledaily.com.tw/realtimenews/article/new/20150328/582381/)".

◎

◆ United Daily News(聯合報)/Liberty Times(自由時報)/China Times(中國時報) etc, 6.5.2014 ― Top 10 horrible combination-foods (十大恐怖外食) in Taiwan for office ladies/men and dining out groups, please click to read details in Taiwan night markets

◆ The China Times (8-15-2015): Drinks commercial available contain high-heat, and may cause cancer ( Apple Daily (蘋果日報) 8-29-2015, Prime News Edition ; United Daily News(聯合報) 8-29-2015)，please click to read details in Taiwan night markets .

◆ Taiwan dangerous food, pls. click Food Scare for full details !

◎

, pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan travel " (Chinese version) on US Yahoo at 2022-1-4, 2021-8-8

pic.: No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism " (Chinese version) on US Yahoo at 2022-1-4, 2021-8-8

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan restaurants" on Yahoo Japan (largest search engine in Japan), 2021-8-8, 12-11-2020, 10-31-2020

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan night markets" on Yahoo Japan (largest search engine in Japan), 12-11-2020, 10-31-2020, No.3 at 2021-8-8,

◎◎◎◎

◎◎
◎

3. Taiwanese food - all you can eat buffet

               ◆ During CovID-19 (CoronaVirus) outbreak period, all-you-can-eat buffet is not safe for you.
               ◆ United Daily 11-20-2019 reports that Taiwanese people love all you can eat buffet. However, facing challenges from buffet restaurants with various positioning (e.g., lower price strategy) or customers/markets segmentations, some high-end 5 star hotel buffet restaurants transform from all-u-can-eat buffet to semi-buffet, or to ordering / a la carte, or different "theme" buffet by seasons, or just closed (Sherwood buffet in B1 ).
                   ◆ SET TV news ( 三立新聞網), 9-14-2018 "a clever chef revealed the cruel truth of all-you-can-eat-buffet in Taiwan": 「You turn into a loser (虧本) as soon as you step in buffet restaurant ! 」―― Why ? You will see all about in this website !

Although world media always introduced Taiwan's "small eat", Taiwanese also love "big eat" ―― There's a widely-known slang in here: Taiwan has 3 "worth-the-value" stuffs: health insurance, labor insurance, and all you can eat buffet.(台灣有三"寶"，健保、勞保、吃到飽) Apple Daily of Taiwan, 9-5-2018: All you can eat buffet is very popular in Taiwan, main-stream buffet emphasizes themed, diversified, and delicate, average price is about NT1000. The China Times (中國時報) 2-3-2018 , United Daily (聯合報) 9-23-2017: Taiwanese love having all-you-can-eat buffet, even economic is still bad. Apple Daily (10-31-2015): Euro. style all you can eat buffet turned into "Cash Cow".

The article, Taiwan's 5 star hotel - all you can eat buffet , has been ranking world top on US Bing, google and yahoo for years, pls. click for full text.

● 5 star hotel scandals - ◆ A book (Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taiwan Veterans General Hospital's physician Jiang So-San M.D. 江守山 "食在安心" (10-2014)) said many 5 star hotel restaurants don't wash vegetables ... some 5 star hotels made sashimi raw fish slices by using fresh-water fishes, this may increase the probability to get cancer (for details 台灣餐廳 or 台灣美食Taiwan Night Markets ) ; ◆ Epoch Times (大紀元, 3-14-2017):Okura Prestige Tpe (大倉久和, a 5 star hotel) sold expired frozen shrimps, molded taro (vegetable 芋) etc; ◆ SETN news ( 三立新聞 5-16-2016): Some 5 star hotels in northern Taiwan sold black-hearted expired seafoods ; ◆ LTN (5-17-2016): 5 star hotels Ambassador and Howard (國賓、福華) clarified this news; ◆ Apple Daily (蘋果日報 6-7-2016): Sheraton (喜來登) 's white shrimps contained bleaching agent (漂白劑)，4 times higher than the legal standard，Ranina (Spanner crabs 旭蟹) contained heavy medal Cadmium poisoning (重金屬镉) 14% higher than the standard...; ◆ Apple Daily (蘋果日報 7-2-'13): Taiwan's tourist hotels' food ingredients expired 2 years, only 3 out of 21 hotels passed the security check and sanitary examination etc conducting by Taiwan Administration, e.g., Shangri-La's (tnn) did not separate their cutting tools for cooked foods and raw foods; ◆ FTV news, 5-18-2017: 13 ingredients / materials expired in a 5 star hotel in Taiwan; ◆ CTI TV news (5-17-2017, 19:33): What can we eat in Taiwan? people are uneasy for food here... ◆ United Daily, 11-26-2017: Only 2 pieces of Japanese sashimi (raw fish) slice ( e.g., Tuna, Swordfish) exceeds safety standard, because those kind of large-size deep sea fishes in Taiwan contain "甲基汞" (CH3Hg, heavy-metal material, methyl mercury intoxication). ◆ CTV 5-8-2018 19:23 reported that some restaurants or business may add something (non-nature Astaxanthin) to farmed salmon's feed for better look (orange color) ◆ TVBS 12-12-2013: Nitrite，NO2⁻( '亚硝酸盐' may cause cancer ) may be applied to raw tuna for bright red color look - ref to https://news.tvbs.com.tw/life/513840

● Cheaper buffet restaurants are everywhere too, but "Eastern Broadcasting Co., Ltd.，EBC (東森) TV" evening news (11-30-2015, 8:42pm): having those fake / restructured / glued meat (beef, pork, mutton, seafood: abalone, calamari, etc) is easy to get food poisoning.

◎◎

pic. : No.1 "5 star hotel buffet" (Chinese version), on US Google search engine, 7-16-2019.
　

No.1 "5 star hotel buffet" (Chinese version), "5 star buffet in Taiwan" (Eng. version) on Yahoo search engine, 9-3-2018.

5 star hotel all you can eat buffet in Taiwan

ref. to Apple Daily (蘋果日報), Liberty Times(自由時報), United Daily(聯合報), China Times (中國時報) and dining experiences, interviews, etc

5 star hotel

Mandarin Oriental
Taipei (文華東方)

Hyatt
(君悅)

Sheraton

(喜來登)

Hi-Lai Harbour Taipei
(漢來)

饗食天堂

Sherwood
(西華)

Howard(福華)1F, 4F, 2F

Ambassador
Hotel(國賓)

Grand Taipei (圓山飯店)

Le Meridien, (艾美)

Shangri-La's(香格里拉遠東)

Regent Taipei

all you can eat buffet

1-29-2019 data:

weekdays buffet:

Beijing duck, US strip sirloin, braised US beef in red wine sauce, pan-fried salmon dill cream sauce, sweet sour pork vegetables w dried scallop, braised mushroom, wok fried prawn soy sauce stewed sea bass, pan fried Radish cake XO sauce,US beef Bolognaise Lasagna), deep fried dim sum, Thai seafood fried rice w pineapple, crab sweet corn soup, clam chowder, wined chicken. seafood bar: snow crab, brown crab, mussel, sea shell, mussel, shrimp, etc

Sat. and Sun. 'semi' all-you-can-eat buffet feast serves various red crabs (12-1-2018 data)

2-18-2019 updated

seafood bar added: scallops, ,mussel,catfish,whelks, ... hot dish: wok fried lily asparagus shrimps...

12-26-2018 data

Western signature dish: roasted US beef rib eye chimichurri (weekdays), Sirloin steak (weekends);

Western: sauteed pork knuckle green pepper, Caribbean grilled fish, char grull lamb chop rosemarry, pork piccata,

5-6 kinds Japanese raw fish, sea whelks, crab, shrimp, a-bu-ri-su-shi ;

Chinese main: made to order mutton soup (weekdays), made to order seafood (fish, shell, squid or tiny oyster 蚵)soft rice;
Ningbo style braised eel fillet yellow chive, braised sea cucumber, Shanghai dumpling, roast duck, wok fried chicken basil, braised pork belly bamboo shout preserved bean curd sauce, wok braised fish preserved vegetable...;

8 Häagen-Dazs, blue cheese, cheese cake, kiwi, orange juice

3-4-2019 updated

hot dishes same, add clam chowder soup, fruits add kiwi and small apple

2-22-2019: updated hot dish: soak rice with abalone、braised crabs w wine sauce、 grilled salmon w sea salt 、braised fish vegetable Turmeric、beer stewed pork、roast chicken w Truffles, nuts、pork spare rib w salt pepper、stir-fried pork w black pepper、rose ginger marinated chicken、

5-6 raw fish slices : salmon, cobia, snapper, swordfish, etc (no tuna 11-13-'18);

seafood bar : shrimp, small crab、、mussels , squid;

NZ Natural ice cream 6 items, Haagen-Dazs 4 items;

12-10-2018 updated /
Hot dishes:soak rice with abalone..., ox-tongue garlic butter, grilled salmon w sea salt, spicy spare-ribs pork, stir fried beef w water bamboo, green onion, grilled pork w herb, crab & onion w curry, braised pork w sweet sour sauce, roast beef ...

11-13-2018 data / hot dishes: braised pork rib w sweet olive, fried crab w egg yolk, stir fried vegetable, chicken w chili, stewed fish (basa) w SiChun(四川) sauce or steamed fresh-water fish w lemon, wok fried squid w celery, grilled salmon w sea salt ...

updated 3-13-2019:11 different sashimi, but raw fish about 7 :salmon、swordfish, tuna、snapper, sand barracuda、Aishin、cuttlefish; attractions:

spanner crabs and crabs; mussels (

黑貽貝與孔雀), beef a-bu-ri-su-shi(握壽司),assembled abalone(貴妃鮑)

hot: Kung Pao frog legs, Si-Chuan spicy prawn, Xi-Lin sausage, beef soup, Beijing roast duck, 滷大腸、BBQ chicken thigh, steamed sparerib w Fermented black beans, steamed crab shiao-Mai(蟹黃燒賣)、Fried shrimps ball, Thai green curry w duck, seared scallop, German pork knuckle, US roast beef, smoked salmon fried rice, abalone soup, stir-fried cuttlefish w snap bean,Japan deep fried shrimp;

8 items Häagen-Dazs icecream.sorbet,

lots dissert, home-made yogurt

EBC (東森/靖天育樂TV) 5-4-2018 3:00pm :

Hi-Lai serves 10 different kinds of Japanese raw fish slices,

and abalone;

Middle-east Blue Crab (奶油蒜香中東花蟹)、

Thai style spicy pepper Pacific White shrimps(泰式辛辣胡椒藍鑽蝦)

、

steak(

肋眼牛排)、

fried scallop(煎干貝)、

French style shoulder mutton(法式羊肩排)、

Sushi( Japan's beef a-bu-ri-su-shi和牛握壽司)、

baked oyster(焗烤生蠔)

3 different items of raw fish slices : Dolphin fish (鬼頭刀), Nagao Coast snapper(雞紅鯛), Bonito (鰹), from Tai-Dong, Taiwan.

Germany cuisine festival ~ 10-21-2018 (德國美食節 ― 包括德國豬腳, 烤蜂蜜帶皮火腿, etc)

3-4-2019 updated:

lunch, mainly, serves South-East Asian (Thai, Malaysia) cuisine, all are cooked foods, no raw fish sushi those cuisine, dinner adds shrimps (L) and duck, etc

afternoon tea buffet:

South-East Asian (Thai, Malaysia) cuisine,

cold seafood bar : shrimps, crabs, etc,

hot dishes : Malaysia spicy assorted seafood, Thai style steamed fish, fried mussels, Singapore fried rice-noodle, vegetables, HK style disserts (4 different kinds);

small sweet cake/dissert should be taken by working staff, not allowed to take freely.

Haagen-Dazs ice cream.

4th floor is American style buffet, dinner's main are oven ribeye steak, baked scallops, shrimps (明蝦), 3kinds of raw fishes (price about : mon~thur 950, 1050; 1050, 1150, from 2019)

2nd floor offers semi-buffet or economic buffet

4 items of raw fish slices : : Tuna、Cobia、Salmon、竹莢魚or swordfish，all are fresh cut upon req. (it's fresh cut, but not too "free" for foodie);

deep fried shrimp, and

、deep fried 4-season beans (四季豆)、corn flour (玉米粉);

crabs: Three-spotted Crab (三點蟹)、Spanner/Crimson (旭蟹)、white shrimp (熟白蝦) ;

rib (牛小排) and prime steak in dinner only, lunch only serves roast beef

Häagen-Dazs and Cold Stoneice cream, 8 flavors each brand

4 different kinds (afternoon tea usually 2~3 kinds) of raw fish slices (生魚片) : BigHead Carp (鰱魚?), Cobia(海儷), Swordfish(旗魚) and Great Amberjack(紅魽);

lunch and dinner attractions: N.Z. roast beef，all-u-can-drink beer(生啤酒)，seafood include shrimps and crabs, hot dishes usually varies day by day

various hot dishes(蘿蔔絲餅(Crispy pasrty with silky turnip ) 、燴香菇(braised mushroom)、海鮮小干貝(braised small scallops), etc), more items than those in Sheraton's afternoon tea buffet ;

But, LTN (自由時報)10-13-2018 gave bad score to their buffet - see http://ent.ltn.com.tw/news
/breakingnews/2579148

raw fish slices 3~4 items;

emperor crabs soup out, oyster & pork rib soup in (原帝王蟹改香菇鮑魚雞湯現再改為牡蠣排骨湯);

oven ribeye steak(爐烤肋眼牛), HK dim-sum(蒸籠港點)、grilled chicken(烤雞)、grilled large shrimp (烤大蝦);

厚切赤味噌烤牛舌(grilled Miso thick-cut beef tongue )、鳳梨蒲燒鰻(grilled eel w pineapple)假日不定時提供;

脆皮烤乳豬(crispy bbq suckling pig), 焗烤生蠔(baked oyster), served irregularly

Seafood bar serves tiny snail, tiny octopus, mussel, shrimps, sushi,

and Japanese raw-fish slices : tuna/ swordfish, salmon, Great Amberjack(紅魽)

;

Haagen-Dazs4 items;

India style cuisine 5 items;

Candonese style Siu Mei / Barbecued cuisine (廣式燒臘) , a few items;

data of Sept., 2018

3-12-2019 updated/
buffet's main attractions:seafood bar: Three-spotted Crab (三點蟹)、Spanner/Crimson (旭蟹)、sakura crab(櫻花蟹),

手卷bar: a-bu-ri-su-shi(握壽司)、炙燒、12~15 different sauces;

raw fish slices about 5~6 different kinds;

signature hot food: oven roast beef(爐燒牛排), Japanese wine (清酒) steamed clam;

CTV(中視)evening news, 12-18-2018: Regent's breakfast buffet serves many Chinese style cuisine, which was intro. by CNN;

Deputy mayor of Shanghai has breakfast in Regent buffet restaurant, has dinner in Grand Taipei (圓山飯店)

price

lunch Mon ~Thurs NTD 1580, weekend lunch NTD 1980~3380, depends which main dish you order; 02-27156888

weekdays 1480, Sat., Sun.1680, fri, sat. 8:30 pm~10pm 30% off late bird price

lunch NTD1090,
dinner1190

Taipei Dun-Hua(敦化),天母 branches: 850,600,980;

Others: lunch 730, afternoon580,dinner 850;

reservation: 02-87736656

lunch NTD 798,
dinner 898

lunch 888, Fri, Sat, Sun dinner 1288, Mon~ Thurs no dinner

afternoon tea buffet about 600; Mon.~Thur.750, 800; Fri, Sat, Sun 800, 880

NTD 980 , NTD 1280

afternoon tea buffet about NTD 600;

lunch 900、dinner 1080;
weekend lunch 1100、dunner 1180

Mon~Thur lunch, dinner NTD 1590;
Fri, Sat, Sun 1690

Mon~Fri lunch 1090; Mon~Thu, sun, dinner 1290;
Fri, Sat dinner 1390

lunch 1180、dinner 1380;
weekend lunch 1480、dunner1480

ps: Marriott Hotel : SEMI buffet, need to order a main dish, together with salad & dissert bar, Sat. Sun. have seafood bar, but number of seafood are limited, weekdays NTD 980-2280, weekends NTD1280-2880, ps2: Palais de Chin Hotel buffet are semi too; ps3: Westin Taipei's closed in Dec. 2018; ps 4: further details pls. ref. to the web-pages

Taiwan / 5 star buffet brief of The Liberty Times (自由時報), 7-15-2016, 7-16-2016, 7-17-2016

W Hotel / Taipei

(寒舍艾美酒店)
Le Meridien / Taipei

Hyatt
(君悅) / Taipei

(六福皇宮)
Westin / Taipei

Shangri La's Far Eastern
(遠東) / Taipei

Howard
4F / Taipei

Howard
1F / Taipei

(漢來海港)Grand Hi-Lai / Taipei

(晶華)
Regent / Taipei

(漢來海港)Grand Hi-Lai / Kaohsiung

(漢來海港)Grand Hi-Lai / Taichung

(國賓)Ambassador Hotel / Kaohsiung

(饗食天堂) EatTogether / 台中店

Sheraton / Taipei

(欣葉) Shin Yeh / Taipei

oven roast pib-rib tender, various countries flavors for more choices, but, pork chops in Chinese medicine soup(藥燉排骨) tasted not tender & juicy;
part of seafood open for freely taking ; cakes limited

Emperor crab、mussels(貽貝)、stone-crabs(石蟳)high class and fresh, lots of Sashimi raw fish slices served , various and fresh seafood in mini-bar refrigerator, but 3-Spot-swimming-Crab (三點蟹) not fresh;
various-items and fine quality desserts

roast duck、oil-chicken(油雞)、roast beef steak and roast mutton are high quality ;
Sashimi raw fish slices、white shrimps(白蝦)、whelk meat (香螺) are fresh ; crabs not too fresh ; desserts are 5 star ranking

special made roast Ribeye Steak(乾式熟成肋眼牛排)smells great;
frozen Boston lobster tasted bit too soft after being defrosted, more than 50 hot dishes tasted great, lots of drinking options

India curry flavor is great, various meats , HaiNan chicken tender, India spicy meat overdone, fresh appetizer , high class vegetables

shrimp, scallop(扇貝) fresh, advice starting from seafood;
Grilled pork ribs(炭烤豬肋排)、ham(火腿) tender;
traditional style desserts

meat is not upto 5 star ranking, roast duck not tender;
Haagen-Dazs ice cream without clear marks ;
white shrimps, (旭蟹)Spanner Crabs are fresh, 3 Spot swimming Crab (三點蟹) not fresh，large shrimps, middle-sized Inshore squids(中捲) good flavor(海味足)，fish soup taste good

flagship food is various seafood:
4 kinds of fresh crabs,
Assorted Sashimi(綜合生魚片)、smoked shark(鯊魚煙)、meat roll with green onion (三星蔥肉捲)、roast pork rib with plum sauce(蘇梅醬燒豬肋排) are good

angle red shrimps、epicure beef steak, Grilled pork ribs(炭烤豬肋排)、freshly-made Frei(現烤布蕾)、brown-sugar bee-nested cake(黑糖蜂巢蛋糕) good;
Sashimi fresh, 3 kinds of crabs

flagship food is seafood:
Spanner Crab、Mangrove crab(旭蟹), Mud crab　 (紅蟳)，lots ice at the bottom to keep them fresh;
Hong Kong style pot boilcookcrab with XO sauce(港式XO蟹煲)、grilled Ayu(烤香魚)taste good; grilled beef suppose US Prime ramk, various desserts for selection

8~10 different kinds of Sashimi raw fish slices，seafood are various kinds and fresh，cold dishes and hot dishes both are excellent;
30+ different kinds of desserts

beef ribs(牛小排) great，，bratwurst sausage(德式香腸)smells good ;

various cooking styles of seafood cuisine (料理手法多元), particularly Pan-fried Sea Bass fillet(鐵板煎鱸魚排);
many items and high quality desserts

a lot fresh and different items of cold plate seafood

Emperor crabs fresh ，short-necked clam(熱炒海瓜子)no good;
pan fried chicken、oven roast beef(爐烤牛肉)、india flavor curry clay oven rolls(印度咖哩燒餅)、 Vietnamese noodle soup usually served with beef (pho bo) or chicken (pho ga 越南河粉) Good;
most of cold-plate meats are Semifinished products;
desserts less items and bit too sweet

Sashimi raw fish slices fresh ; not enough meats on the bar, but the balance of rare and well done is controlled in right place ;

desserts are not open for freely taking (須服務人員協取)

77038887

66228000

27201230

35183078

23763238

27002323

87736656

25238000

07-5555113

04-23105533

07-2115243

04-22585006

23211818

23713311

◎
How to eat & worth-the-value??

1.Focus on seafood and roast beef/steak
2. Pay attention to: where those food came from, materials ranking, current season fresh food? how's the sauce, staff taking care the buffet bar often? room-lighting, desserts kept in ice/cool box? too much addictives or original flavor? etc.

Health info. see full text
1. FTV (民視) - July 5, 2012 : British latest studies found eating 60% full in each meal can last your life for 20 years more.
2. TTV news 2-27-2015: Buffet triple your stomach in size - A study found 65% buffet restaurant customers' gastric capacity increased from about 800 c.c. up to 2000~3200 c.c., which can be main reason to be a fatty.

◎◎

◎◎
◎
　

◎

4. Transportation full text: transportation

             United Daily News 1-20-2020: The death rate caused by traffic accidents in Taiwan is 5 times that in Japan.
                  United Daily News 6-12-2019: 42 died in the high way in recent 2 years, do we have enough lessons?
                       2 days ago 3 died in <阿囉哈> bus, the government reviews the same issue again and again ...

(1) Japan, USA, Canada ... issued warnings to their citizen-tourists to Taiwan

	◎Foreign countries' warning messages 　 Bad road designs, vehicles and motorcycle all mix on the road ... Japan, the US, Canada issued warnings to their citizens again and again, be cautious of transportation safety while staying in Taiwan. ◎ Canada government also issued warning messages, like bad drivers, bad road condition, pedestrians not in orders, roads in mountains lack of maintenance, riding motorcycle is dangerous ... ◎ Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association's warnings :( Japanese version as pic. left) as below: 　 ● Taiwan has "bus exclusive lane"！ No other vehicles are allowed to drive there. ● Traffic control for holidays or some special time . Only taxi and tourist-bus are allowed to enter some tourism areas！ ● In single-lane drive-way without speed-limit sign you should drive within 40km/h，double (or more) lane driveway: 50km/h！ ● Out rushed the car, particularly motorcycles is possible to encounter. Some vehicles changing lane at will is possible to encounter. ● On some roads without traffic signs, be aware of pedestrians jaywalking at will and cars out-rush at will ！ ● Keep safety distance, avoid an emergency brake , Beware of moving vehicles. Using hazard warning lamp in case of traffic jam ahead. Clear parking move. ● On high-way, be aware of vehicles violating of safety distance and changing lanes at will.
pic. from website of Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association
台灣交通太可怕日本美國加拿大各國早示警

    (2) Fatal train accidents
            ● 2021 : CNN, 2021-4-2: Passenger train carrying 490 derails in Taiwan, with at least 41 dead (ps: 48 till 16:34 Taipei time) and dozens injured. The derailment could have been caused by a vehicle which that from a slope near the tunnel, and hit the moving train, ...In 2018, 18 people died and 175 were injured when a train derailed in northeastern Taiwan, in the island's worst rail disaster in more than three decades. edition.cnn.com/2021/04/01/asia/taiwan-train-derail-intl-hnk/index.html   UDN, CTN, Apple Daily editorial、2021-4-3: Serious transportation accidents repeat - all are SOP ignoring man-made disasters, no one treats seriously the warning message behind each accident, The gov. is good at risk management and focus-shifting, instead of preventive management in advance, all these lead to tragedy again and again. The event is just a tip of a iceberg, Taiwan should establish a culture respecting human life. Taiwan railway bureau got rigid grading system and reform failure.
                  ref. to <New York Times>: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/world/asia/taiwan-train-crash.html

            ● 2018 : Taiwan Train Accident in biggest curve in Taiwan Kills at Least 18 and Injures about 187 Others ( ps: CTV (中視新聞) 19:45pm, 10-22-2018, Prosecutor: over-speed might be the cause of accident, other suspicious points under investigation include "Automatic Train Protection (ATP)" being turned off, abnormal track, etc; ps2: CTV 20:30pm, 10-22-2018 : speed 140km, should be 80km or 65 km)
                        United Daily News, 12-4-2018, editorial : Reviewing the train accident is a shit, find out the truth? or cover the truth ? Taiwan's investigations of disaster (except aviation) events have been always distorted, once judiciary and control power are involved, the clarification goes afar ...     ("普悠瑪檢討簡直敷衍了事" "了解真相還是掩蓋真相"，台灣災害調查情境，一直處於扭曲局面，除飛航事件之外，一旦司法權刑事、監察權行政介入，純粹釐清真相即遙不可及) ... (brief)
            ● 2011: at least six people were killed and more than 50 others injured after a tree collapsed into the path of a tourist train also serving Ali Mountain.
            ● 2003: last crash of a similar scale taking place in 2003, when a train serving the mountain tourist destination of Ali Mountain derailed, killing 17 people and injuring 156 others.

                ● 1981: a collision in Miaoli County, in the island’s northwest, killed 31 people
                  Apple Daily, 10-29-2018: Taiwan's train 太魯閣號 brake acting up is still running on the railway
                  United Daily, 10-29-2018, headline news: Taiwan president: Find out systematic problem !
●

(3) Tourist-bus accidents again and again in Taiwan ― The United Daily (2-15-2017, front-page): So many self-criticisms in the past never stop next tragedy !

         ● 2017 tour bus accidents
               ◆ The SUN, BBC (UK) 2-13-2017: "BUS CRASH HORROR!" , Taiwan's tour bus "has come under fire in recent months over safety standards"...;
                      ◆ TTV HD (14:21pm 2-14-2017), CCTV(China): Taiwan laws in vain, lax management (administration) makes disasters.
              ◆ Apple Daily, Editorial (2-15-2017): Such a high casualty rate most likely ranks No.1 among all civilized states in the world, public opinions and official blames are useless at all, because they saw right through the government, called government's bluff ...
               ◆ ◆tv.ifeng凤凰视频 "The most miserable bus accident ( at least 33 dead ) in Taiwan history"；

Taiwan's tour-bus problems:

Taiwan travel

                  (1) Drivers overwork/overtime ― many work longer than the time-limits in the US (California 10 hrs per day) ,Euro. , Japan, Thailand, etc .
                  (2) The number of tour-buses in Taiwan is about 17000.   More than 90% (or almost all) tour buses are self-assembly vehicles. Taiwan lacks of heavy industry's broad and firm base, travel business can't afford a bus (body plus chassis) made in Europe...
                  (3) Most tour buses are so-called fake or "pseudo" double-decker bus ― assembling bus-body made in Taiwan with Western biaxial chassis instead of high safety specification triaxial automobile chassis, this may result in high center of gravity and accidents.

                  (4) Most tour-bus are top-heavy & bottom-light, unbalanced architecture ― narrow vehicle width/length ( max 2.49 m, not Euro. standard 2.55m) being assembled with imported Euro. chassis.
                  (5) All Taiwanese self-assembly buses have never done rollover test.    Bus structure strength is not good enough   ―    the upper limits for gross weight of automobile chassis is less than Euro. and American specification.   The related laws have never been amended for 30 years.
                  (6) Importing automobile chassis using for low power, commuting local Express in Europe to make tour bus - this results in potential risk .
                  (7) not enough early warning systems for those dangerous sections of highway.   Many accidents occurred on that curve where "bus-crash-horror" happened at 2-13-2017.
                  (8) Lax or improper management/admin. for tour bus, for drivers qualification for reg. certificate, and for driver's training mechanism.
                  (9) Vehicle examination or inspection not able to be earnestly implemented.
                  (10) About 70% tour-bus drivers illegally/trickly reg. in bus companies (靠行) to save cost, it is a long-time corruption or malpractice, some drivers are temporary substitutes or touters.
                  (11) The government usually has not seriously put administrative law and regulation for bus safety into practice.   Old bus and overwork drivers are travel agencies' two best (or only) ways to earn good benefit. (China Times Weekly no.2035)
                  (12) Many tour buses don't have safety-belt, buckle-up is not the law, some poor-condition chairs are fixed by iron-strings. Besides, tourists are not used to fasten safety belt.   / above brief Apple Daily, Liberty Times, China Times, UDN, Next magazine, Want Daily, ERA TV news, etc 2-15 ~ 2-17-2017

● 2016 tour bus accidents

      ● Chinese official news (People Daily's Global Times 環球時報 7-19-2016 editorial) : Taiwan's tourism system are flawed, how can they goof off year after year?? tourists are gambling their lives if Taiwan still won't take any step to change this ...
                    ● People's Daily (China) editorial (8-4-2016): Chinese tourists not dare to visit Taiwan in the future without safety assurance / Taiwan tour disasters are sort of man-made disasters , Taiwan tourism's major problems include loopholes in law and regulation、careless mistakes in administration 、or not-good-enough system of organization, other malpractices are traveling load-bearing capacity (旅遊承載能力)、road-traffic safety 、aviation safety、road maintenance 、safety standard for tour bus、Modified Automobiles/Fix-up tour bus、Low-end tour groups … traveling accidents happening again and again open Pandora's box, too many tourist victims reveal Taiwan tourism's problems, Taiwan authority tried to do something (亡羊補牢) each time a tragic accident occurred, but it seemed late and same kind of tragedies never cease. (brief)
                    ● Apple Daily (7-20-2016) : Since Taiwan opened to Chinese tourists in 2008, in total 90 Chinese tourists died, 390 injured, 62% dead/injury was caused by tour bus; The Guardian (UK) 7-19-2016: Taiwan tourist bus fire kills all (Chinese tourists ) on board...   Apple Daily (7-20-2016 head-page) : "The most miserable & tragic bus accident in Taiwan history"；
                   3 major problems in tour bus:

Taiwan travel

                 (1) bus structure / United Daily (7-20-2016): Taiwan's tour bus is vulnerable because of assembling Taiwan's bus-body with imported chassis ; Hitravel.tv (寰宇新聞二台, 7-19-2016 8:16pm): Taiwan's assembled buses are top-heavy & unbalanced in architectures, bus becomes weak tofu while encountering traffic accident.   TVBS : Taiwan tour bus bad welding ... details ref to http://news.tvbs.com.tw/entry/319226;
                 (2) wires / PTS (公視) 7-20-2016: too complicated electric wires for entertainment program, refrigerator, etc caused fire.
                 (3) dead lock / Liberty Times (7-21-2016 A3): More than 90% of tour bus install a dormant/secret lock in an emergency EXIT door and may block tourists escaping fire...

How to survive in Taiwan's bus fire:

Taiwan travel

           ★ Apple Daily (7-20-2016): Min-Chuan Univ. professor: In Taiwan's tour bus, the best seat is behind the driver, and avoid the last few rows.
           ★ CTS(7-24-2016): window breaker should be used on emergency EXIT windows (The Liberty Times 7-2016 : Legislator tests it may take 1 or even 3 minutes, depending your health status ...), not good on others... it takes precious time...
           ★ Next Magazine (7-28-2016): When bus fires, lower your body, cover your nose and mouth, no jostling or elbowing or losing your head out, go to the nearest emergency EXIT, window breaker should be used on nearest emergency window, knock 4 corners, then smash it by your feet or a fire-extinguisher, then escape after the whole glass piece falling down...
              ★ UDN on-lines (7-21-2016): Leader of Taiwan Transportation Dept. expressed that In this year all tour buses need to keep maintenance records on hand for checking.

● The China Times (12-16-2015）:The PRC government (State Council Office for Taiwan Affairs) concerned and urged Taiwan to take traffic accidents frequently happened to Chinese tourists groups seriously. (車禍頻傳國台辦促台重視) The UDN video (2-3-2016): Chinese tourists groups traffic accidents in HuaLien, 18 persons injured.

                   ● The China Times (3-3-2016）editorial: suggest using small or middle sized tour bus with carbon fiber top/roof for safety for trips to HuaLien.

       ● 201x tour bus accidents

● Serious accident in 2010 - a tour bus fell into the sea in HuaLien, all tourists on board were killed. (China Times, 7-20-2016 : a horrible coincidence, the number of death in 2010's bus accident is same as that in 2016 )

● ● Others pls ref to Ps18

(4) Taiwan's aviation safety - MSN, Reuters, EuroNews, Mirro(UK), NewsWeek, CNN, etc (2-4-2015) :"Taiwan has had a poor aviation safety record in recent years" , full text pls. click... Taiwan's aviation safety

●

◎ ps: Taiwan's train and high-speed train - comparatively safe.

◆ Although Rough Guides (UK, 2017) reported "High-speed trains will whizz you out of cities to steamy forests and jagged mountains", however, tourists still need to take vehicle into the mountains/forest, in most cases. Telegraph (1-25-2017) "The 50 greatest train journeys on Earth" introduced the excellent and frequently scenic railway network to visit Neiwan, for traditional Hakka cuisine, and Tainan, the Alishan (A-Li ) Mountain Railway, was built to extract logs from the forest but now provides access to a magnificent vantage point for sunrise.

◆ Wikipedia: 3-1-2003 A-Li forest railway train accident, the biggest ever disaster - 17 death, 205 wounded/injured。
Baidu: 4-27-2011 A-Li forest train accident again, Taiwan media again questioned the safety of this train. Apple Daily (蘋果日報 4-28-2011): A-Li-Shan forest train (350 Chinese tourists loaded) accident caused 5 death, 107 injured/wounded.

★★◎

●

●●

PIC: moving coffins and flying coffin / 2010-2017

2-4-2017 tour-bus traffic accident again in Kaohsiung Taiwan - 21 tourists are injured

●

5. entertainment/recreation services in Taiwan
Taiwan was using a "nude massage" advertisement to promote its tourism and for marketing Taiwan.
WikiSexGuide (2022-8-29) : There are Thai massage places all over Taipei and in most massage salons you do have a good chance to find extra services like a HJ or BJ.
Wikipedia's interWiki wikisexguide.com/wiki/Taipei (April, 2021): There are Thai massage places all over Taipei and in most massage salons you do have a good chance to find extra services.
Although they name it Thai. massage, actually it's hard to see Thai. women over there ( except few parlors ), most workers are from mainland China. In contrast to so-called "astonishingly affordable" price USD 50 plus tips per hour in N.Y. (New York Times, 2021-3-21), about USD25 per hour in here ― tips for "extra service" is not included.
★

massage

◎ pic. left: Taiwanese massage / Zola Zu's cartoon, exhibited
in Japan, Israel, and Taiwan (originally printed in the China Times)

◎ pic. right: hidden erotic deals in massage parlors /
Zola Zu's cartoon applying the foot-massage sign

◎◎◎
massages

New York Times, 2021-3-21: In Asia, massage is legal, normal and necessary. In America, it’s stained by sexism, imperialism and sex trafficking. ― “Aren’t they all sex parlors?" (nytimes.com/2021/03/21/opinion/atlanta-shooting-asian-massage.html?_ga=2.4229488.2143597131.1619676290-916182465.1606396806) However, in Asia's Taiwan, erotic/porn massages are everywhere. WikiSexGuide (Mar. 2015) " there are Thai massage places all over Taipei and most places you have a good chance to find extra services". brief wikisexguide.com/wiki/Taipei
　

The China Times (1.19.2014) : The massage became most popular business in Taiwan, opening more and more in recent years since Taiwan's bad economic. Apple Daily news (Dec. 25, 2014) reported a scholar's study ― the reason that barber shops and massage parlors in Taiwan offer "something additional" is Taiwanese sexual repression and men's "needs"/hormones (ps: many Taiwanese customers do it just for "entertainment" and casual fun-fun - ref. to Next magazine 2015, No.722 ). Most masseuse in Thai. massage parlors (usually rub-and-tug) are mainland Chinese women. If Taiwan's Thai. massage parlors all get together in one street, that'll be a "China Town" in Taiwan ― definitely the most special, largest China Town on this planet.

Some massage houses are so popular (e.g., Foot-Massage Spa Villa) that seems customers flock to it, you may need a reservation in advance (just like Michelin one star restaurants in New York ), otherwise will be in a queue for service. Taiwan's media equated Taiwanese (foot) massage with National Palace Museum (exhibiting ancient China's treasures) and reported they are Taiwan's major attractions to int'l tourists, therefore, "Taiwanese massage" certainly needs to be explored and studied.

Having massage in Taiwan, you should be cautious of 2 things :

● United Daily News (8-23-2018) reported that any Taiwanese massager without MD license declares massage as therapy or has curative effect (e.g., lymphatic detoxification, cure plantar fasciitis, pathological massage) will get penalty fine. EBC TV (東森電視, 靖天育樂, 9-30-2018, "Hello Doctor"): There's one case scraping (刮痧) improperly caused paraplegic problems ...... massaging improperly may cause LDH, Erectile dysfunction, Gatism, stroke....... Taipei City Hospital (Renai branch) 's M.D. in 康健 Magazine (12-4-2017) said the main difference between massage-naprapathy in medical clinic and massage in massage shops is that the clinic will find out the pathogeny (cause of disease) and give right treatments. CTS 5-4-2018 reported a Taiwanese people with hyperglycemia/hyperlipidemia/ hypertension almost die for having massage in Taiwan.

● BBC 12-13-2019: The back-cracking Thailand massage has been added to intangible cultural heritage list by UNESCO, however, Thai massage changed its form in Taiwan. Mirror (鏡周刊) 5-14-2019: Recently, lots of East-South Asian young girls entered Taiwan to be prostitutes ... you may see them in Thai. massage parlors, as well as in some traditional massage houses. Some underworld (gangsters) own both Thai. massage (erotic) and traditional massage business which may not be "clean" as well. ○

Yahoo headline 11-27-2017 ( and Chicago Tribune, CNN, USA Today, etc) : Massage Envy, a behemoth in massage therapy, is facing hundreds of sexual assault allegations, because massage has "built-in risk" , "just like there was opportunity in the priesthood, there's opportunity in the massage room... your guard is down completely". Washington Post (11-27-2017): "ONE incident is too many". Mirror Media of Taiwan reported at 3-30-2018 that Japan's China massage shops, particularly in "新橋站" (west exit of New Bridge station), offer sexual services ps1 and free-trials such as 'hands down to the lower part of body' as WP reported occurred in some Taiwanese parlors too. CTV(中視)、CTS(華視新聞) TV News at 9-3-2019: a girl college student was separated her legs and was sexual harassed while having massage in tourist-site Xi-Mun-Din area, TVBS News reported a similar case, suspiciously, was happened in the famous brand 『李炳輝第二代』("疑爆猥褻性侵" for details - https://news.tvbs.com.tw/local/353431). Apple Daily (蘋果日報) 12-16-2019 : a massager in Xi-Min-Din (西門町) foot massage shop did "kiss" "outrageously" a lady customer's private part when she was sleepy, the high court can't give him heavy penalty because of lacking evidences。 CTV (中視新聞) evening news, 5-19-2017, 19:07: a female customer was hurt and was drew blood by a massager's "needle" . The Liberty Times (1-8-2016), a massager in a popular night market (RaoHe Street) did sexual assault (by fingers, and kissing) to a cute house wife...
Hence, please keep in mind to select 5 star hotels or best-reputation massage shops for your perfect safety, the popular or crowded ones may not be clean ones. Besides, having body massage in a private room is much more risky than foot massage in an open space (usually in 1st floor).

Click to read Massages in Taiwan/ Chinese version , Taiwanese massage /English version.

prostitution

US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 (state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/taiwan/):

nThe Control Yuan reported in August that its analysis of official statistics from 2005-20 showed the number of male victims of child sexual exploitation was increasing and that male and female minors of indigenous heritage were targeted at higher rates than those of other ethnic groups.

nNGOs raised concerns about the online sexual exploitation of children and reported sex offenders increasingly used cell phones, web cameras, live streaming, apps, and other new technologies to deceive and coerce underage girls and boys into sexual activity; the NGOs called for increased prosecutions and heavier penalties.

Apple Daily news (Dec. 25, 2014) reported that the percentage of those Taiwanese male aged above 20 visiting porn business (2.33 million men per yr. ,ps1) ranked world No.1 ( the next 5 are Spain, Australia, Norway, India, U.K.). The annual value of production of Taiwan's sex industry's is at least USD 200 million. But, according to the China Times (Jan. 17, 2015), the number of legal Taiwanese prostitutes is extremely small: Tai-Chung city 3 (avg. age 55), Tai-Nan 2 (aged 60), Tao-Yuan 10, I-Lan 10, Pon-Hwu 6.

A well-known politician Wu B.S. (吳伯雄) has a widely-known saying: Every Taiwanese, except the police, knows illegal Casino houses are everywhere in Taiwan. Taiwan's prostitution situation is about the same as Taiwan Casino's. (Police announced at 5-5-2015 "completely root out sex business" (according to The China Times, 5-5-2015 標題"...全面掃除色情"), eventually, only 3 cases in massage parlors got caught, according to official report by Taiwan's Central News Agency, 5-10-2015 )

According to The United Daily News (7.27.2014) and Apple Daily News (4.12.2014), most massage parlors in Taipei (Taiwan capital) involve or actually run porn business. Prostitution business in Taiwan are, firstly, Thai massage parlors (「掛羊頭賣狗肉」的按摩店(或養生館)), second, call-girls controlled by agents, thirdly, individual working studio or so-called one-woman brothel (「一樓一鳳」). The United Daily (8-19-2015): The area with highest density of night clubs ("酒店") / specialized profession ("特種行業",a beautified term of sex related business including massage parlors ) in Taipei city locates LinSen N. Rd. stretching from JinZhou street to ChangChun Rd., this erotic-landmark area is "a city never sleeps". EBC evening news 3-4-2018 8pm: about 30 night clubs in ChungShen District - LinSen N. Rd, lots of disorders happened in this area. Taiwan's phony crack down on prostitution /English version.
◎◎◎

erotic Thailand massage in Taiwan

foot massage in Taiwan HuaXi Street

pic. : Taiwan's travel advertisement in middle East (2016), a phony or inappropriate piece?
Critiques:
1) Even massage parlors in Taipei's 5 star hotels are not greenish at all, let alone enjoying being purified by the forest's unpolluted atmosphere, besides, u probably won't see Buda decorations appeared in many Western hotels.
2) If "full if green" functions analogical juxtaposition as adjective/adverb, it's an ad for massage itself (not exactly for TW), tourists' 1st choice will be leading brands (instead of Taiwan) in massage field. Most Taiwanese massage parlors got tiny & crowded space, some basement smell ... not know how often they clean the filter of air condition?
3) probably not too easy to do "Buddhist meditation" there because next room may be noisy. more...

Pic. left : body massage (Dragon-phoenix Town Thai Parlor)

ads. are everywhere in Taipei;
many Vietnamese, Communist Chinese girls/women

entered this market

Pic. right: foot massage - Hua-Shi Street hard working girls / masseuse concentrated on customers' feet

pic courtesy UDN 5-5-2016 http://udn.com/news/story/7314/1673634-%E6%8C%89%E6%91%A9%E8%BE%A3%E5%A6%B9%E5%90%B8%E4%B8%AD%E6%9D%B1%E5%AE%A2%EF%BC%9F-%E8%A7%80%E5%85%89%E5%B1%80%EF%BC%9A%E6%9D%9C%E6%8B%9C%E5%AF%A9%E9%81%8E

◎
◎

6. Sight-seeing in Taiwan Taiwan ads bet on attracting small-eaters, instead of sightseers.

228 Peace Monument for political massacre

Taiwanese Presidential Office Building

◎ pic: 228 Peace Monument ― was not best award winner in the int'l monument design contest, but was selected as a sign for that massacre event.

◎ pic: Taiwanese Presidential Office Building ―
this original Japanese governor office which was a
symbol of Japanese power's colonial domination sparked
a controversy about moving to new place for transitional justice.
Taipei mayor Ko also stated it's really weird !

◎ pic: Taiwanese government - Control Yuan, functioning as high-ranking officials supervisor,
but it together with Legislator Yuan
(like Congressmen house) were criticized as "prostitutes house" by media.

◎

World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan is ranked No.87 in "Natural resources", No.58 in "Natural & cultural resources".

World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> (released at 4-6-2017) shows, Taiwan's most important indexes for promoting tourism, like "Attractiveness of Natural Assets" (parks, beaches, mountains, wildlife, etc) ranks world No.87, "Natural Resources" ranks No.55. In 2015's report , Taiwan's "Prioritization of Travel & Tourism" was ranked world No.82, "Quality of Natural Environment" No.75, "Natural Resource" No.62.

Forbes (3-5-2017) "3 Things Chinese Tourists Are Surprised To Find When They Travel Abroad To Taiwan" : "It’s not very modern !", " the wealth wasn’t invested in architecture. So the cities are full of decayed apartment blocks.... the housing isn’t as good.”. The Liberty Times and the China Times (3-10-2017) : local scholars described Taiwan as "ugly cities".

Taipei City mayor Dr. Ko pointed out during a trip to Japan that Taipei is short of aesthetic elements or sense of beauty (欠缺城市美學/美感). / The China Times 1-26-2016.

TVBS (9-15-2015) : Unlike China, Taiwan has no spot of attraction (「亮點」). Apple Daily's Next magazine (12-16-2015) reported that government's statistics found the No.1 attraction tourists visited is night markets, instead of cultural or heritage sites or any national beauty. The cover page of red China's New Weekly (新周刊, 2012) wrote "The best attraction of Taiwan is the people" (ps:◆ Human rights in Taiwan ), mainland Chinese newspaper in early days mentioned Taiwan has no good view. (台灣景觀不「亮」) Taiwan's latest tourism commercial being broadcasted in Japan bets on Taiwanese foods, you only see the Japanese star (木村拓哉 Kimura Takuya) keeps eating Taiwanese small eats and shaved ice with mango, nothing about sightseeing - this supports an argument, Taiwan has no sight of attractions, Taiwan has little choice but to attract small eaters instead of sightseers.

Professors in Tourism like to teach a case study ― the TV drama "Grandpas Over Flowers"(花樣爺爺) let Korean see Taiwan's beauty from certain angle and increases the number of Korean tourists by 50% (compared to that of previous year). But some mainland Chinese college students also complained in TV talk-shows that Taipei does not looks like those exterior/scenes in TV soap operas they saw before coming Taiwan.

Taiwan, indeed looks much worse than Niagara Falls or Grand Canyon in the US, mountain view in Swiss, or poetic & romantic Paris in France, ancient city Roma in Italia ......

In spite of so many critiques, somehow Business Insider (6-2015) still introduced some places for tourists:

◎ Hehuan Mountain and Ali Mountain are two top-rated scenic spots on TripAdvisor. (阿里山等) ◎ Sun Moon Lake(日月潭)

◎ Kenting National Park(墾丁). 9 nationall. parks, which make up 8.6% of its land. Taroko National Gorge (太魯閣) alone is worth spending at least two days hiking its numerous scenic trails.

◎ hot springs Beitou outside of Taipei, and Jiaoxi in Yilan (北投宜蘭等溫泉)

◎◎
◎
◎
◎

7. Architectures in Taiwan

Taiwan is a free country, however, almost all architectures are not free-style designs or boundless creativity, they are just real estates or huge money properties. You won't see something like MIT's CSAIL, or Las Vegas Lou Ruvo Center.

◆ Taipei Performing Arts Center was selected as one among "the transformative buildings set to shape the world" in 2021, in that the eye-catching building has a planet-like sphere protruding from one side - will undoubtedly serve as a contemporary landmark for the Taiwanese capital; however, some look-alike sphere buildings were already designed earlier ― all "plug" into a central cube.
　

Taipei Performing Arts Center

www.world-architects.com/en/architecture-news/insight/year-in-architecture-2020

slideshare.net/manishkhageeshrestha/desing-concept

ge.com/news/reports/sphere-of-turbulence-whats-hiding-inside-a

UDN (聯合報) 10-23-2019: Taiwan is far behind in urban construction, in contrast, some metro in Asia always have astonishing architectures ... (brief)

◎ Taipei 101 tower / Taiwan's pride and landmark, Taipei 101 tower, was ranking world No.1 highest construction cost (about NT55.8 billion) business/office building by Global Property Guide on April 26, 2011. But The Huffington Post on 9-17-2012 comments Taipei 101 tower as one of "Ugly Skyscrapers around the world". Its aesthetics elements (like gradation, repetition, texture, shape, rhythm, etc) are obviously much worse than Malaysia's twin towers or Shanghai's Grand Hyatt. Anyway, Taipei 101 boasts the world's fastest elevator.

◎ Dr. Sun Yat-Sen (National Father) Memorial Hall in Taiwan / it dramatically enlarges Chinese-culture roof, but cancels "dougong" or brackets, to show elegant, mild personality, which is totally different from, or even opposite the icon of communist China ―― China's Pavilion in EXPO Shanghai, namely "Oriental Crown" ―― dramatically increase huge number of "dougong" or brackets, layer upon layers, but without roof at all. click for China Pavilion in EXPO Shanghai ...details

◎ Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (October 31, 1887 ~ 1975 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Kai-shek ) / Former president Chiang was China's leader to fight against Japan's invasion during WWII (ref. to <Economist>, 8-15-2015 ).

◎ 228 Peace Mem. Park / for victims in 228 Incident/political event, one of the most important events in Taiwan's modern history, the massacre marked the beginning of the Kuomintang's (KMT) White Terror period in Taiwan...

Sun Yat-sen Mem. Hall Taiwan

◎ Nation's Father, Dr. Sun Yat-sen Mem. Hall (Taiwan)

◎ China's icon - China Pavilion in EXPO Shanghai, namely, Oriental Crown
(China)

◎ pic: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall ― pls. note the name on the mem. gateway
"Great Kai-shek (大中至正)" had already been rewritten as "Square of Freedom".

◎ pic: The personality of Sun Yat-sen Mem. Hall
reflecting introversive, calmness-loving tradition, opposites that of communist
China's icon, Oriental Crown
(The China Pavilion at EXPO) ― an aggressive and domineering look.

ps: only 3 authentic calligraphy works by Dr. Sun were collected in the hall.

◎◎
◎
◎

◎

8. Expenses

World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan is ranked No.78 in "price competitiveness".

According to 2015 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report, Taiwan's "hotel price index" is ranked world No. 82, "Purchasing power parity" ranks world No. 64, "price competitiveness" ranks No. 38. (No.1. Iran, No.2. Egypt, 3. Indonesia)

UK's Economist Intelligence Unit - Liveability Country Level Index (2015), evaluates "Cost of Living" of Taipei as "72" (scores 1~131, "1" means the cheapest, e.g., Mexico City is "73")。 In Swiss UBS's "most expensive cities" report, Taipei's commodity price was ranked No. 26 - but in last time's report Taipei's ranking was No. 42.

FOX news web-site (USA) at Nov. 27, 2011 selected Taipei as one of ten "Top Budget Travel Destinations for 2012" (the list includes Egypt, San Diego, Canada, Belize, San Antonio, Poland, Taipei, Kansas city, Athens, etc )for hotel price NT4380, the best time to visit Taipei is Oct. and Nov. for better climate .

But, latest information (The China Times, 9-14-2015) shows the average price of 5 star hotels for Taiwanese tourists is NT dollars10494 (more than double of FOX news reported price), price of 4 star hotels is NT5591, some Taiwanese hence prefer to travel in Japan for cheaper expenses.

☉

PS: <Michelin Guide> of March 2018 recommends hotels (25 in total)

Rankings (5 : top)	Hotels
Red - 5	Mandarin Oriental, Taipei
Black - 5	Shangri-La's Far Eastern, Taipei
Red - 4	Grand Mayfull Hotel Taipei, The Okura Prestige Taipei
Black - 4	Hyatt Taipei, Courtyard by Marriott, Le Meridien, Sheraton, Sherwood, Regent Formosa, W hotel.
Black - 3	誠品行旅, 寒舍艾麗, 日勝生加賀屋, 君品(Palais de Chin Hotel), 老爺, 萬豪
Red - 2	S Hotel, 三二行館
Black - 2	怡亨, 慶城商旅, 慕軒, 美麗信花園
Black - 1	home hotel信義, home hotel大安
source : UDN, 3-23-2018

☉
◎
◎

9. Arts & cultural creativity ―― National Palace Museum (故宮)
　

    ♣ The Guardian (UK), WION, 2022-11-1: National Palace Museum is home to the world’s largest collection of Chinese artefacts. msn.com/en-in/news/world/taiwan-national-palace-museum-admits-breaking-artefacts-worth-over-70-million/ar-AA13APIG
   ♣ Global Times, 2022-10-31: The highest record is that of visits of millions of mainland tourists a year. NPM cultural treasures have become the cultural link and historical bonds that cannot be cut off between the Taiwan island and the Chinese mainland. In all those political manipulations, the valuable cultural relics of the Taipei Palace Museum have been taken as political resources, and the manipulations have consumed and undermined the professional ability and awe in the protection and management of cultural relics. globaltimes.cn/page/202210/1278338.shtml
    ♣ Taiwan's United Daily (聯合報 11-30-2020) editorial points out : The pro-independence DPP ruling party has regarded NPM as a sting in the eye or a thorn in its side for a long time, for political reason. (udn.com/news/story/7338/5053545?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2) 。 DW (Germany), 2022-8-17: Taiwan considers evacuating cultural artifacts amid China tensions; National Palace Museum denied these rumors in a statement. dw.com/en/taiwan-considers-evacuating-cultural-artifacts-amid-china-tensions/a-62836646   Global Times, 2022-8-9: CNN on July 30 revealed that "in the event of an evacuation, the museum said it would focus on saving around 90,000 relics from its 700,000-strong collection, prioritizing artifacts of higher value and those that take up less space... to the US and Japan.... it hard to dispel public concerns....

    ♣ UK's Telegraph.co at 3-13-2015 : "Curiously, one of the world’s greatest collections of Chinese antiquities is not in China – but across the Strait in Taiwan.". (ps: in Taiwan's National Palace Museum (故宮), but foreigners most likely can't see the value of those Chinese calligraphic works)
　

♣ But, Google's top ranking (2-11-2020) website ChinaHighLights has different information - Taiwan's National Palace Museum, only about 1,700 pieces are on display at a time. China's Palace Museum, less than 1% of total collection 1,862,690 pieces are on display at any one time. For further details please read : The Beijing Palace Museum's collection is much bigger https://www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/forbidden-city/vs-taipei-national-palace-museum.htm

SHU professor (陳家瑜) in Tourism expressed the US and Korea attract tourists by their culture and creativity being exported to the whole world via movies and television, etc. A paper "The study of the influence of Mainland tourists on Taiwan tourism industry" by Ming Chuan University (郭慶萍, 駱芬美教授): "as the former president of Taiwan Tourism Association, Mr. Yen, said “culture is absolute a added-value critical in Taiwan Tourism industry”", Taiwan's cultures promote tourism sustainability.

Taiwan's national palace museum is a place being worthy of visiting, world largest collection of ancient Chinese arts ― treasures in painting, calligraphy, statuary, ceramics, bronzes, jade, laquerware, etc, are on rotation to be exhibited, so, if tourists love to see all of them, need to come Taiwan many times. The China Times (3-17-2016): argues about who owns NPM's treasures? KMT? ROC Taiwan? or China? leader of NPM expressed she won't hand it in to China ...

Taiwanese government named those 5000 years treasures as "Chinese Creativity", but, today's Taiwanese creativity is weak and poor, ...

According to latest statistics till Aug., '15, the number of tourists visiting NPM fell down 220 thousands compared to that in the same time of last year. Likely it's because younger or aged 30-39 tourists (major part of visitors - according to papers) are not too interested in old stuffs.

●

<NPM (故宮)> creative products	comments	ps
Alessi "the Chin Family"	(1) <NPM> cooperates with Japan, Italy, hence, NPM's products are not purely Taiwanese or Chinese flavor. (2) Mr. Chin got slant eye (or "raising eyebrows"), it's western view-point, the Oriental usually don't draw that way.	Taiwan's tourists guidebook (pic. above) calls 5000 yrs treasures "Chinese Creativity" . How about "Chinese Creativity" by today's Taiwanese ??
"Jadeite Cabbage" tray-pillow for chop-sticks to rest on (「翡玉白菜」筷架)	(1) most products directly use antique-art shape. (2) At least 20 years ago, various assorted dedicated vegetables and fruits glass chopsticks tray-pillow already were made-in-Japan (best-sellers too) .
Don Dynasty ladies picture slippers (唐朝仕女拖鞋)	just directly applied antique pictures on products.

<NPM> should designs Chinese treasures, and makes witty, humorous artworks to represent Taiwan's modern arts. Western tourists suppose like to buy souvenir with Chinese culture & flavor created by ourselves. "Mercenaries" cannot represent Taiwan to Olympics.

○

Critiques

Taiwan's creativity? a fly in each urinals ― you also can see dark-green-fly prt.-drawings in Swiss toilets everywhere, every man hates that dirty insect in white environment, so aimed and shoot (piss) it; but Taiwan's fly is a cute, colorful scarab beetle .....

Cultural & creative products
in National Palace Museum
(click for Chinese version)

Taiwan needs boundless creativity and

vivid imagination

( ＜故宮＞的文化創意商品簡評

........「西方眼中的東方鳳眼」 )

printed in the United Daily News, 2008,

by Zola Zu, FECO president Taiwan

Ancient Chinese ladies picture

printed in slippers or cups, in there

see no clever idea, those are just avg. cartoon image simplifying

old painting.

◎◎
◎
◎
　◎

10. Best-Buy Shopping ― spending all day spending ...

◎

Dept Stores/ Malls

● At end of 2016, suspiciously contaminated foodstuffs from Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident area being already found in a number of major markets and Dept. Stores ( SOGO, Breeze, Taipei 101 Jasons, etc ) angers Taiwanese people, hence, the premier of Taiwan government announced there's no time-table to lift the ban on foods from Japan's nuclear accident area (福島、茨城、群馬、櫪木、千葉5縣).
● According to 2015 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report, Taiwan's Purchasing power parity index was ranked world No. 64, however, in contrast with large department stores or malls, outlet stores in Taiwan are normally quite popular.

● Department stores or malls are comparatively 'empty' (except small-eat street, supermarket, and in those anniversary-discount days), some widely known department stores failed to pass security check again and again, e.g., Breeze Center was reported by media in recent years - United Daily (聯合報)11-13-2015、Epoch Times (大紀元) 10-09-2013、11-21-2013、10-15-2012...; besides, SOGO(天母branch) failed in public safety check - Liberty Times, United Daily, China Times...10-7-'11.

● Not all major dept. store's customer services are very good, e.g., SOGO Taipei took more than one month to reply customer's unbiased email. (12-19-2016).

◎

Outlet stores:

   1-21-2017, <the Liberty Times, Weekender 自由時報> /   Happy Shopping in outlet malls !

2-9-2017, <China Times Weekly 時報周刊 >

Out Let	contact	Brands - attractions	address / location
麗寶台中 outlet mall	04-3702-2888	● Alessi, ABC-mart, Levis, Citizen, "鬼洗", etc, in total 120 brands ● Exclusive brands: sapporo drug, Japanese Puding 北海道天使布丁、"北海道新發現"、及Japanese noodle 北海道拉麵"次郎長"、"虎鐵", etc	Taichung 后里福容路201
華泰名品城Gloria outlet (US style)	03-273-8666	Totally 167 brands, Exclusive 20 brands, Jack & Jones, Palladium, Lanvin, Level 6ix, Maison Promax, "野獸國", Guess, Lock&Lock, etc	TaoYuan 中壢春德路189
MITSUI outlet park 三井林口 (Japanese style)	02-2606-8666	220 brands, Porsche Design, agnes b, Cath Kidston, Stayreal, les enphants, "山本耀司" , etc	New Taipei City 林口文化三路一段356
Leeco Taichung	04-2258-5166	Brand Off Tokyo, Arnold Palmer, Traveller, etc	TaiChung City 市政路480
Taichung 日曜天地	04-3611-2366	Coach, Roots, North face, Prada, Gucci, 150 brands	TaiChung City 自由路二段94
高雄義大	07-656-8100, 0800-656-800	All Saints, Michael Kors, Desigual, top-brands, totally 700 brands	Kaohsiung Cityb學府路1段12

Aug. 5, 2015, <the China Times> / newly-open outlet malls
　

Gloria outlets (華泰名品城) - TaoYuan city : about 260 brands, open in Q4 2015
三井 outlet park - New Taipei City : about 200 brands, open in Q1 2016
麗寶台中 outlet mall - Tai-Chung City: about 104 brands, open in Q3 2016

Nov. 3, 2013, <United Daily News>
　

   Taipei Leeco outlet , 2 branches (Neihu, 公館): (02) 8792-6668,
   Kaohsiung outlet (義大) : (07)656-8100, largest outlet in Taiwan.
   Gloria outlet : will be open expected end of 2014.
   林口中商36 (invested by Japanese 三井): open in 2017 expected.
   蘭城新月: largest one in Eastern taiwan.
   Taichung outlet (日曜) : (04)3611-2366, The only outlet in middle Taiwan.

◎ Apple Daily News (May 6, 2012): headline ― Outlet is 3 times popular than before.
◎ TVBS news CH55 (13:01pm, May 6, 2012): Taipei outlet 10% up, EeLan outlet 20% up.

info. 2012
　

Taipei Leeco outlet : (02) 8792-6668,
   Eelan city outlet (爾本): (03) 932-8800, UNIQLO, 無印良品will be here.
   Taichung outlet (日曜) : (04)3611-2366,
   Taichung outlet (月眉): (04) 2558-2459,
   Kaohsiung outlet (義大) : (07)656-8100, Includes YSL, Gucci, etc

info. 2011
　

(1) There was a "out-let" store street in Tian-Mum : Section 6, Chung San North Road (adjacent to Tian-Mum Circle). Till now many out-let stores have already moved out because the house-rent rose in recent years, some stores remained the same place still offers economic price, i.e., about NT 700 for Ralph Lauran POLO long-sleeve shirt.

(2) A large out-let building Leeco (about 160 brands) located in Nae Hu.

Nautica : phone (02) 8792-6668

Ralph Lauran POLO : 8791-3721, 2719-1838 (head-quarter),

Levi's etc outlet : 8791-2449

Timberland & DATA outlet : 2791-4393

LEECO outlet (Roots, Boss, Samsonite, Rockport, Givenchy, Swatch, CERRUTI, Escada, Max Mara, Moschino, etc) : 8791-3745

a few other outlet stores are nearby.

(3) EDA (義大) Outlet Mall (tel: 07-657-7077) in Kaohsiung city, includes about 300 brands, like Gucci, YSL, Ralph Lauren, etc

(4) A XL-sized clothes store at 81, Sec. 2, JinShan South Road, which is adjacent to the Gas station, near Tamkang University, downtown campus, Taipei.

(5) Some stores around no. 163, section 1, Dun Hua South Road, near the Haagen Dazs Ice Cream Store.

(6) A store namely <King Cheu Store>, located around lane 190, Section 1, Dun Hua S Rd., adjacent to Bossini, a block from Royal Host.

(7) In addition to Taipei, Taoyuan Tai-mall has a few out-let stores.

(8) Some stores in the lane ( cross point : 9, WenZou Street & 260, Section 1, HePing S. Road) not too far from National Taiwan Normal University.

(9) Some other outlet with very economic prices, see The Liberty Times of Mar. 14, 2009, Apple Daily of Aug 10, 2008, or phone (07) 225-5208 etc.

◎◎◎
◎

●

11. society security
　

● Taipei Times, 2022-9-13 : The results of a survey released yesterday by the Foundation for the People showed that 73.6 percent are dissatisfied with public safety in Taiwan, while 25.5 percent are satisfied. taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2022/09/13/2003785231

● The China Times, 2-25-2020 editorial: Due to bad Income distribution, Taiwan's social security (offender rate) has worsened 50% from 2001 till 2018. (bit better in '19)
　

● 《 United Daily》, 11-1-2020 , editorial: "Is Taiwan still safe？" A Malaysian girl student in 長榮 university was strangled to death and abandoned her corpse by a Taiwanese young man, this criminal case showed the loophole of social security and campus safety network. The ignorance of city administration, police, and university leads to public doubts concerning our government's determination to protect safety of all the people in Taiwan.

● World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan's "safety & security" got an Eastern Asia-pacific average score 6.0, and is worse than Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Singapore.

● 《 Apple Daily》, 11-2-2020, editorial: This sort of S.O.P. can not improve Taiwan's social security。 social security certainly is national security, in addition to the system, we need to rely more on the excellent execution, which is the key to safety of all of us. (tw.appledaily.com/headline/20201102/HBOAZYRFNFBXHORRYQYY2XQL4Y/)

● People's Daily, 10-15-2020, commentary: Taiwan strictly monitors its own people, which is called "Green Terror". http://js.people.com.cn/BIG5/n2/2020/1015/c359574-34350271.html

● Radio Taiwan International (中央廣播電台, 12-26-2018) : illegal migrant workers will lead to public security concerns。 brief

Liberty Times (自由時報) 4-3-2018 : illegal migrant workers is not only public security issue ( count for 58% criminal rate ) but also state security problem (epidemic prevention, nearly 10 thousands of abandoned babies) brief

台灣醒報 5-6-2019 : Legislative Yuan points out so many illegal foreign laborers...，leads to crime issue concerns.

UDN (聯合報), China Times (中國時報), 9-5-2019: illegal migrants lead to loophole of social security... the government should not avoid the problem。

pts.org (公視), 9-5-2019: Kaohsiung city mayor says illegal migrants make more problems ...

● Many Korean media, e.g., Yonhap News Agency (韓聯社), Donga Ilbo (東亞日報), and largest web portal Naver, reported in Jan. 2017 in large scale or great length to lash out Taiwan's no-good society security. The China Times (1-17-2017) reported Korean netizen criticized a number of internet celebrities took money to do propaganda work for Taiwan ― however, they "over-beautified" Taiwan's image. This may harm the increasing-rate (32.5%, reported by The Liberty Times12-11-2016) of Korean tourists to Taiwan. ps: Japan increased 17.5%, Hong Kong & Macau 6.43%, East-Southern Asia 12.86%.

The United Daily (1-18-2017): Korean media are busy in warning their tourists to Taiwan, and even criticized Korean diplomatic dept. and Korea office in Taiwan both did a bad job... (UDN Public editorial)

● Taiwan's police was one of corrupt/extremely corrupt institutions in Taiwan according to survey-reports by <Transparency International>, Germany. Taiwan's National Chung Cheng university's survey (1.27.2014) found nearly 70% Taiwanese people are not satisfy Taiwan's society security (criminal rate, public order), 50.4% Taiwanese worry becoming next victim in criminal cases, which reach a new high within recent 5 years (<Apple Daily>, 1.27.2014).

      ◎ Police (No.1 on google by English keyword "comment Taiwan police", 6-23-2016, No.1 ranking on google, yahoo by "comment Taiwan police" in Chinese at 1-1-2017, 6-23-2016 ) or backup file http://intlHumanRights.com/BadPolice.htm
     ◎ Judiciary    (No.1 ranking on Yahoo, No1. on google at 11-14-2016, but can't be open in some random-selected governmental institutions - e.g., National Library ( test at 2-19-2016) , ) or backup file http://intlHumanRights.com/TaiwanJudiciary.htm
        ◎ Prosecutors     (No.1 ranking on Google by English keyword "Taiwan prosecutors" at 6-23-2016. but can't be open in some random-selected governmental institutions - e.g., National Library ( test at 2-19-2016) ,)  backup file http://intlHumanRights.com/ProsecutorsTaiwan.htm

◎

pic. left: Singapore's the Straits Times (head-page and main page) reported Zola Zu organized world No.1 ranking cartoon contest to promote human rights and freedom of expression
pic. middle: Zola Zu criticized Taiwan's judicial system and prosecutors via the United Daily News system (half-page) 20+ years ago, however, Taiwan has resisted changes till now.
pic. right: Zola Zu criticized Taiwan's pollution problems via the United Daily News system (half-page) 20+ years ago, however, Taiwan has resisted changes till now. / July 2016

　

　◎◎◎
◎


pic:The monument (1999) at front of National Assembly (ZhongShan Hall, Taipei) to celebrate the triumph in the war of resistance against Japanese invasion and Retrocession of Taiwan. In Aug. '15, textbook protest students want the phrase "(接收)take over Taiwan" instead of "(光復)Retrocession or recovery of Taiwan", in their deep mind, they are against one-China policy.
M.D.s advised Taiwanese favorite new-in spicy hot-pot may causes illness if having much; pic. above is tranditional Chinese ShanXi hot pot in Taiwan for instant boiled meat, was no longer popular.	I ate turtles and alligator-tail in Florida before, a widely saying in China & Taiwan ― eating soft-shell turtles is good for regimen, however, Taiwan just found turtles (甲魚/水魚) in a famous restaurant chain contain poisonous LMG, etc. (CNA, 7-25-2015) pic. above is a tourism site in S. TW.	Hong Kong's TimHoWan is a Michelin star restaurant, but Taiwan's branch restaurant is not.	Original Shanghai flavor foods, was intro. by Wall Street Journal. Chiang or Jiang G.K. (蔣經國), Former president's favorite-food restaurant was no longer crowded.	After being remodeled, the Northern Gate no longer looks like a heritage-treasure

				Black-glass-front-door barber shops are no longer popular, only a few were survived till present - in there you find nostalgic flavor and more likely have 'entertainment' service by aged female, mostly. Taiwan police turn a blind eye to erotic business for so many years. The barber shop (pic. above) was renamed and recruited with heavy-makeup, "beautiful", "sophisticated"-looked women servers, those house-wife style servers were pushed out and hardly survive in another "barber" shop.

◎◎

HOT !

Taiwan food

Taiwan hard power

Taiwan soft power

Taiwan democracy

Intro to Taiwan

Taiwan personality

bully

persecution

◎
◎

12. Taiwan's tourism strategy & tactics (brief of experts' opinions)
　

● United Daily (1-21-2017): embedded marketing / product placement using world movies e.g., Martin Scorsese<Silent>, or Luc Besson <Lucy> work well to boost Taiwan's tourism. / by 王長安

● United Daily (1-21-2017): High mountains and sea are Taiwan's attraction - Penghu Islands was selected as No. 6 The World's best secret islands by Lonely Planet (6-12-2012). High mountain ridges and cloud belt forest are good ... / 郭瓊瑩 Chinese Culture Univ. TW.

● Increase the number of those "travel independently without tour-guide" (自由行), decrease the number of tour groups, so as to benefit more fields of business in Taiwan.

● Promote high-quality tour, theme tour, high-end tour groups ―― 5 star business travel groups, cruise ship tours, in-depth native Taiwanese visiting tour, etc

● Focus on South-East Asian new rich class, as well as Korean and Japanese, As for European and Americans still regard Taiwan as an electronic factory, so Taiwan can first off be a "supporting actor" , doing joint marketing with neighborhood countries.

● Ref. to neighbor countries' strategies ―― mainland Chinese "vacation with pay", Korea's "vacation economy", giving employee 3+ days off in a row, Japan's opening in wide-range duty-free shops to attract Chinese tourists, Singapore's creative-learning tour, USA's exporting pop-cultures to promote tourism ...

● According to statistics, tourists' major purpose is sight-seeing, more are female, aged 30-39, Taiwan better expands other marketing fragmentation, adding family tour, medical tourism, learning tour, etc, and attracts more foreigners by cultural creativity, business cooperation ways, and customization projects. Higher-education tourists benefit Taiwan's economy more...

● Establish a better living environment, and a more civilized state by improving infrastructures, sanitary / hygienic degree, medical quality, law & regulation, etc.

● United Daily News Group's Economic Daily News (9-10-2015 經濟日報 ): KMT presidential candidate (洪秀柱) in a meeting advised tourism business to promote the safety of accommodation and transportation, and the quality of souvenirs, presents and others, tourism businessmen suggested raising the upper limit of daily entry number for Chinese tourists - group tourists as well as independent tourists up to 10,000 per day respectively. ( ps: Liberty Times 11-4-2015: Tourism government: it's inappropriate to open more Chinese tourists ; Liberty Times 11-20-2015: Taiwan suddenly open more Chinese tourists, 3000 persons extra per day, it's not a health policy ... )

● CTV (<中視>) evening news (10-21-2015): opinions on the net criticize that Taiwan's tourism commercial (by world famous director John Wu) only focused on eating, Taiwan's tourism leader even don't know who Kimura Takuya (leading actor in that film costing NT50 million) is.

     ●   The Liberty Times (10-22-2015): Legislator criticized Taiwan's tourism ads. flattering & focusing on "small eat" (street foods), but those small eats in each night markets are highly homogenous, all about the same, and lack of "culture".   Lots of red Chinese tourists came with little budgets - USD94 per person, in contrast, tourists from Germany or Australia often spent USD1000+. In last year, the number of tourists visiting Taiwan is 9.91 million, but Taiwanese went overseas is up to 11.84 million, foreign countries earned Taiwanese money 159.6 billion, everything says Taiwan's tourism strategy went the wrong route. Taiwanese tourism government expressed the proportion of Chinese independent tourists will be increased, South-East tourists' visa procedure will be simplified.
     ● The United Daily (12-21-2015): The number of tourists to Taiwan in 2015 grows a lot, but foreign exchange income decreases, Taiwan needs more attractions, and better high-end tours and value-added (historical & experienced) elements.
     ● The Liberty Times (12-20-2015): Taiwan's number of tourists reaches 10 million persons, It is "win face, loss the real beef" ! because foreign exchange income is far from expected, one problem is Chinese tourists only visit their own subcontractor shops and evade lots of taxes.

◎

◆ Without Chinese tourists, Taiwan tourism industry entered emergency room / middle Sept. , 2016

major mass media	critic essays	points	author	cyber links
The Liberty Times, 9-9-2016	Taiwan tourism nothing special, once is enough (觀光沒特色一次就看光光)	Taiwan tourism has no attraction, e.g., landmark spot ― Sun-Moon Lake, attracts neither foreigners nor local people, let alone other places (沒有陸客的日月潭，其實並沒有甚麼外國遊客前往，連本國人民來捧場的都不多。像日月潭這樣具台灣指標性的景點尚且如此，那其他的景點怎麼辦？...根本原因就在於我們的觀光對於消費者沒有吸引力。)	邱智淵	http://talk.ltn.com.tw/article/paper/1030401
The Liberty Times, 9-7-2016	Taiwan tourism should have forward thinking - no longer "short swing trading" (台灣應反轉中客觀光的短有長空思維)	Both declined tourism quality and political-conflict factors resulted in the number of Chinese tourists decreased... transformation & upgrading are solutions for Taiwan tourism (中客減少，或許不光是政治因素，台灣日漸低落的觀光品質也該負起部分責任... 提早轉型提升，才是台灣觀光業的百年大計。)	林子堯	http://talk.ltn.com.tw/article/breakingnews/1818692
The Liberty Times, 9-8-2016	Taiwan tourism dies without Chinese tourists? (中客不來觀光業會死？)	Taiwan needs self-criticism for lousy quality of tourism (沒品質自己要檢討)	陳沂	http://ent.ltn.com.tw/news/breakingnews/1820337
The China Times, 9-15-2016	Face the truth why the number of Chinese tourists decreased(<社論>面對陸客減少的真相)	a more serious alarm-bell sounds, Chinese society disguises Taiwan, against Taiwan, abandon Taiwan...	Editorial in chief	brief
The China Times, 9-7-2016	Wrong prescription for Taiwan tourism (觀策站/開錯藥方的觀光轉型政策)	Please no more allowance policy to rescue Taiwan tourism, it's immoral and useless (千萬拜託不要再搞什麼補貼政策...。這樣不僅不道德，也對扭曲的台灣觀光環境沒有幫助。)	包正豪/淡江大學全球政治經濟學系主任	http://opinion.chinatimes.com/20160907004995-262110
The China Times, 9-9-2016	short-term bailout won't save Taiwan tourism industry ( 短期紓困難讓觀光業質變)	Taiwan should do better in Marketing Segment by internet (陸客消費方式也從單純滿足購物欲望轉往體驗型消費，因此如何藉由線上旅遊平台精準招徠分眾客源...)	楊家豪/台灣經濟研究院產經資料庫產業分析師	http://opinion.chinatimes.com/20160909006287-262105
United Daily system, 2016-09-09	Slogans won't rescue Taiwan tourism (口號喊一喊觀光就會活？)	Taiwan government figured out no specific solutions to save tourism industry (新政府更提不出具體解決的方法，只會一再拋出新南向政策鼓勵東南亞旅客、陸客市場轉型、推廣國旅等口號。但這些緩不濟急的方案...)	冷眼集	http://udn.com/news/story/10272/1950542
United Daily, 2016-09-09	Broken fishing rod can't get fishes (業者「釣竿都折斷了怎抓魚？」)	shift-funds policy won't save Taiwan tourism industry (300億救觀光？要救產業，不是只有挹注資金就能救)	記者侯俐安	http://udn.com/news/story/1/1951394
United Daily, 2016-09-09	Only aromatic flowers attract bees (觀光產業「花若芬芳蝴蝶自來」)	Taiwan needs a neat, clean, convenient environment to entertain our tourists and customers(重新檢視整備健全美好的接待環境，讓台灣也有如日本、歐美般的整潔便利...)	賴瑟珍／台灣觀光協會會長	http://udn.com/news/story/7339/1949493
Apple Daily, 2016-09-09	How to rescue freezing Taiwan tourism industry (觀光產業寒冬如何解)	Taiwan government took a wrong initial step which resulted in local tourism business expanded rapidly before they were prepared for tourists ( 始作俑者是過去政策，未考量國內觀光產業硬體接團條件，導致業者盲目擴充)	高洺塗/實踐大學觀光學系講師	http://www.appledaily.com.tw/appledaily/article/headline/20160909/37376340/
Apple Daily, 2016-09-09	Taiwan tourism under emergency treatment (搶救觀光業)	Tourism industry should take time to improve their weak constitution, otherwise, government can't do anything but concessional loan (政府要觀光業者改變體質，也要給段時間，否則最後也只有優惠貸款這一招了)	辣蘋果：余艾苔	http://www.appledaily.com.tw/appledaily/article/headline/20160909/37376308/
Apple Daily, 2016-09-09	Analyse & comment Taiwan tourism in crisis (陷入危機的－觀光「慘」業評析)	Politics cross Taiwan strait is not the only, truly and objective reason, Taiwan tourism needs transformation (若全歸咎於政治，恐難理出真正且客觀要因。其次是藉機促成觀光產業轉型...)	王維堅／企業顧問	http://www.appledaily.com.tw/realtimenews/article/new/20160909/945385/
The Liberty Times, 9-9-2016	Taiwan ready for tourism age? (觀光時代來了台灣準備好了嗎？)	Taiwan needs a policy in an open attitude ( 台灣此刻必須做出快速明確的政策，開放簽證、開放導遊、開放以觀光引導全面政策)	簡余晏/北市觀光傳播局長	http://talk.ltn.com.tw/article/paper/1

●

Taiwan tourism & travel 台湾の観光&旅行
★ The sites group ranks No. 1 : 2020~22, 2017~18, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2010~12 ★

★ Top since 1998 ★

home brief Taiwan TW FB tour personality food medical restaurants night markets buffet Costco women speech massage prostitution watching judiciary police corruption illegal migrants foreign labor prosecutors soft power death penalty happiness housing avia image creativity human rights US cartoons US Design intl Human rights judicial persecution repression&oppression bully univ ★ Top since 1998 ★

●

jump to

int'l views restaurants night-markets buffet transportation massage entertainment natural beauties architectures expenses art&culture heritage outlet/shopping criminal rate

PS: The site has been top ranking

pic. left: No. 1 on Google by keyword "comment Taiwan tour" in English and Chinese , 3-8-2020, 1-1-2020; pic. right: This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Yandex of Russia by "comment Taiwan tourism", 12-1-2019; No.2 "comment Taiwan tourism" on Yahoo Japan (largest search engine in Japan), 7-7-2020

pic. upper right: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan tour" on US Google, 11-11-2019;

pic. upper left: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan tourism" on US Google, 11-11-2019;

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan travel" on US Google, 11-11-2019

pic. right: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan tourism" on US Google, 8-27-2019, 7-15-2019;

pic. left: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan travel" on US Google, 8-27-2019, 8-3-2019
This websites-group was ranked No.1 on US Google by "comment Taiwan travel", 3-7-2019, 6-22-2018

This websites-group was ranked No.1 on US Google by "comment Taiwan tourism" and "comment Taiwan tour", 3-7-2019, 9-4-2018, 6-22-2018

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China
by "comment Taiwan tourism", 9-5-2018, 6-22-2018

This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Euro. MetaGER
by "comment Taiwan travel", 9-5-2018, 6-22-2018

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Google
by Chinese keyword "comment Taiwan travel", 9-4-2018, 6-22-2018

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on ASK
by "comment Taiwan travel", 9-5-2018

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on DogPile
by "comment Taiwan tour", 9-5-2018

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on DuskduckGo
by "comment Taiwan tour", 9-5-2018

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on AOL
by "comment Taiwan travel", 9-5-2018
　

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Lycos
by "comment Taiwan travel", 9-5-2018

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on DuckDuckGo
by "comment Taiwan travel", 9-5-2018

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Yippy
by "comment Taiwan travel", 9-5-2018

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Webcrawler
by "comment Taiwan tourism", 9-5-2018

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on DogPile
by "comment Taiwan travel", 9-5-2018

ps0 top 10 tourism destinations in Asia & the Pacific / World Tourism rankings

The World Tourism rankings are compiled by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as part of their World Tourism Barometer publication. In 2014, the top ten destinations :

Rank	country	Tourists arrival 2014
1	China	55.6 million
2	Hong Kong (China)	27.7 million
3	Malaysia	27.4 million
4	Thailand	24.7 million
5	Macau (China)	14.5 million
6	S. Korea	14.2 million
7	Japan	13.4 million
8	Singapore	11.8 million
9	Taiwan	9.9 million
10	Indonesia	9.4 million
11	Vietnam	7.8 million

ps: No.125, then changed to n/a.

◎

ps 00

For Taiwan's real images, pls. ref. to these commercial ads. made by a Japanese Air: https://www.behance.net/gallery/10130791/Japan-Asia-Airways.

◎

ps 1 Taiwan's restaurants intro. by world reports :

< Miele Guide> of 2011/2012	<The Daily Meal> (USA) , 5-16-2013	◆ <The Daily Meal> (USA) , 10-10-2014
● Din Tai Fung ● 銀翼 (best dishes:文思豆腐,蔥開煨麵) ● 欣葉 (02-25963255, best: 煎豬肝, 菜埔蛋) ● 樂沐法式餐廳, a French restaurant (excellent, evaluated by Relais & Chateaux in 2011) in Taichung city (04)23753002(best dish: 經典套餐NT3800) ● La Cocotte, a traditional French cuisine restaurant own by Fabien Verge (02)33223289 (best dish: NT980白酒墩牛肚)	●台南(Tainan)度小月擔仔麵 ●非零餐廳 (meaning translation: Non-zero restaurant) ●義大利餐館(Osteria by Angie), an Italia restaurant ●七十二牛肉麵 (Seventy-Two beef noodle restaurant) ●法式餐廳(La Cocotte, a French restaurant) ●鐵匠鐵板燒居酒屋。 ● Din Tai Fung	●No.6 Din Tai Fung (was already wiped out of Michelin star list of 2014/2015) ●No.43 Le Mout, Taichung (the official website spelt wrongly - "Taiching") ●No.42 DN innovation, Taipei, Taiwan ●No.61 Osteria de Angie, Taipei, Taiwan ●No.73 La Cocotte, a French restaurant, Taipei, TW ●No.79 七十二牛肉麵 (Seventy-Two beef noodle restaurant, Taipei, Taiwan)
ps: also may ref. to Apple Daily's Next magazine "The Best Restaurants 2013 - high end & low end" in Taiwan (<壹周刊> "美食大賞2013"之"高檔餐廳"與"平價餐廳"二版本)。

◎

ps 2 CNNGO introduced (3-23-2012) Taiwanese street-side snacks in night markets and ranked Taipei as No. 2 among Asia's 10 greatest street foods. (台灣台北的夜市小吃排名亞洲第二) No.1 Malaysia's Penang, No.3 Thailand's Bangkok, No.4 Vietnam's 河內, No.5 Singapore, No.6 Korea Seoul, No.7 China's XiAnn, No.8 Philippines Manila...

台北的夜市小吃

Top 10 street foods in Taipei's night markets名亞洲第二

●1. Sheng jian bao (生煎包) / Taiwan Normal Univ. night market( 師大夜市) ● 2. Chou doufu (stinky tofu,臭豆腐 ) / Raohe St. Night Market (饒河夜市) ● 3. Oa misua (oyster vermicelli, 蚵仔麵線 ) / Shilin night market (士林夜市) ● 4. Gua bao (pork belly bun or "Taiwanese burger," as it's sometimes called, 掛包 ) / Taiwan Normal Univ. night market( 師大夜市) ● 5. Hujiao bing ( wheat buns more accurately, pies or pockets, 胡椒餅 ) / Raohe St. Night Market (饒河夜市) ● 6. Niu rou mian ( spicy beef soup with hand-pulled noodles, 牛肉麵 ) / LaoPai Niurou La Mian Da Wang, Chongqing Nan Lu Yi Duan 46 Gang, Taipei ● 7. Douhua 豆花 / 士林夜市 (Shilin night market) ● 8. Ba wan (Taiwanese meatballs)肉丸 / Taiwan Normal Univ. night market( 師大夜市) ● 9. Cong you bing ( a flaky scallion pancake made with hand-rolled dough) 蔥油餅 / Shilin night market (士林夜市) ● 10. Da chang bao xiao chang (Small Sausage in Large Sausage , big sausage wrapped around small sausage)大腸包小腸 / Shilin night market (士林夜市)

◎

ps 3

103年來臺旅客按目的分
Visitor Arrivals by Purpose of Visit, 2014

居住地
　

合計
Total

業務
Business

觀光
Pleasure

探親
Visit
Relatives

會議
Conference

求學
Study

展覽
Exhibition

醫療
Medical Treatment

其他
Others

百分比（%）

100.00

7.77

72.57

3.97

0.64

0.57

0.13

0.62

13.73

data: Tourism Bureau, Taiwan

◎

ps 4

Taiwan travel & tourism balance sheet / 2015 Q2 unit: 0.10 billion USD
Yr.	Receipt	Payment/Expense	Balance
2011	27.51	24.90	Surplus / favourable balance 2.61
2012	29.20	26.07	Surplus / favourable balance 3.13
2013	31.30	30.75	Surplus / favourable balance 0.55
2014	37.19	36.09	Surplus / favourable balance 1.10
2015	35.92	40.90	Deficit / unfavourable balance 4.98

data: Taiwan Central Bank, Liberty Times 9-5-2015

◎

Deficit in Balance between income and expenditure in tourism for three consecutive qtrs / Liberty Times 1-3-2016

Taiwan travel & tourism balance sheet 2014 ~ 2015 unit: 0.10 billion USD
Yr.	Balance
2014 Q3	Deficit 3.21
2014 Q4	Surplus 2.05
2015 Q1	Deficit 0.76
2015 Q2	Deficit 7.08
2015 Q3	Deficit 4.78

data: Taiwan Central Bank, Liberty Times 1-3-2016

◎
ps 6 Some best-known doggerel (slang) by communist Chinese tourists (group sightseers) who visited Taiwan already -「傷痕文學」順口溜

Taiwanese media	slang	PS
● CNA (中央社) 2013/01/19 （記者林恆立、黃國芳19日綜合報導）	"Getting up be earlier than the cock do, hurrying on be faster than the racing horse do, sleeping be later than the thief do, dining be worse than the pig do" ( 「起得比雞早、跑得比馬快、睡得比賊晚、吃得比豬差」)	http://www.cna.com.tw/topic/newstopic/393-4/201301190013-1.aspx
● The China Times (中國時報), 10-6-2015, editor-in-chief ● CNA (中央社)2013/01/19	"Not coming Taiwan is a lifelong regret, having come Taiwan regrets for the rest of our life" (不來終身遺憾，來了遺憾終身」 )	http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20151006000523-260109
● The China Times , 中國時報電子報, 5-5-2015, 旺報(記者林瑞益綜合報導)	「上車睡覺、下車尿尿、停車買藥、回家丟掉、下次還要」幾乎是陸客來台旅遊團的通則

◎

ps 7

budget for tourism advertising, the China Times, 10-15-2015
Taiwan	NT1.90 billion
Japan	NT2.40 billion
Malaysia	NT2.40 billion
Hong Kong	NT2.47 billion
Macau	NT4.80 billion
Thailand	NT5.85 billion

◎

ps 8

TVBS 12-19-2015 20:56 : tourists revisit rate / Chinese 11.08%, Japanese 50%, Macau & Hong Kong 70.11%.

◎

ps 9

◎The China Times (2-13-2016), editorial <Never lie to your people>: According to report by Union pay intl. , the total amount by Chinese tourists' ATM cash money and slotting credit card in last year was more than 200 billions dollars, Some Taiwanese media reporting Chinese tourists brought no benefit is not true obviously, and those reports confused businessmen's benefit and macro economics benefits. (混淆了業者獲利與總體經濟獲利的不同。)

ps 10 tourism government official site: http://www.taiwan.net.tw/

ps 11

Chinese tourists National days long holidays' most popular sites, according to mega data (United Daily, 3-6-2016) : 1. Xi-Mun Din,西門町 2.Kenting Park 3. Sun Moon Lake 4. Taipei 101 5. YehLiu 6. Shih-Lin Night Market 7. TaroKo 8. Ali Shan 9. Taiwan's National Palace Museum 10. JiuFen

ps 12: Economist 3-16-2016, brief of Taiwan

As the EIU expected, Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won a comfortable victory in the presidential election on January 16th. The DPP also secured a landslide majority in the simultaneous legislative poll, in part because many Kuomintang voters stayed home on election day. We expect momentum behind stronger cross-Strait ties to ebb as a result. Economic growth will average 2.5% annually in 2016-20 as external and domestic demand remain relatively weak.

ps 13:

Hot spring in Taiwan / 12-18-2015, Liberty Times

溫泉	type	contact
TaiNan Guanziling Hot Spring Scenic Area	Mud Springs (泥漿溫泉)	06-6823456
TaiNan 台南景大莊園	Mud Springs (泥漿溫泉)	06-6822500
yilan 宜蘭頭城東森酒店	Sulfur Salt Spring (硫磺鹽泉)	yilan ehr hotel
北投青磺名湯Beitou or Peitou district of Taipei City	sulphur spring (硫磺泉)	02-28953030
Beitou park open-air 北投公園露天溫泉	sulphur spring ( 硫磺泉)	02-28972260
舊金山總督溫泉	Sulfur Salt Spring (硫磺鹽泉)	02-24082628
TaiDong 台東綠島朝日溫泉	Sulfur Salt Spring (硫磺鹽泉)	089-671-133

all others in gov. website http://admin.taiwan.net.tw/public/public.aspx?no=272

ps 14: The Liberty Times, 6-16-2016 / To promote tourism industry, Taiwan is simplifying visa process for 8 South-East Asian countries - Thailand, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia.

The United Daily, 6-20-2016 / The strategy of attracting South-East Asian tourists probably is hard to be put in practice : Lacking of tour guides, complicated VISA procedure, not enough Muslin-friendly environment, half-done English road-signs in points of attraction ...

★

ps 15: : Rough Guides ― Things Not To Miss In Taiwan

https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/asia/taiwan/things-miss/

1. Sun Moon Lake 2. KinMen 金門 3. Hot Springs 4. Kenting National Park墾丁 5.Taroko Gorge 太魯閣 6. LuGang 7.Orchid Island 蘭嶼 8.Aboriginal culture 9.TaiNan, myriad temples 台南 10.Surfing

Rough Guides (Jan. 2017 ) intro Taiwan's new wave cafés, all-round sophisticated city life, and TW cuisine and night markets remain world renowned...China’s influence is obvious, of course, and the cultural remnants of the island’s past occupation by both Japanese and American forces are still discernible. But as the only democracy in the Chinese-speaking world, Taiwan has a unique geography, mentality and identity.....Non-stop nightlife is never far from bubbling hot springs and sunny sub-tropical shores... https://www.roughguides.com/best-places/2017/top-10-countries/

●

ps 16:

National Geographic (2-22-2016 http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/best-winter-trips-2016/): New Taipei City, Taiwan is one of Best Winter Trips 2016, for "The Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival is one of Taiwan’s most beloved Chinese New Year events. Staged in New Taipei City’s mountainous Pingxi District, the festival’s main lantern launch site is Shifen Sky Lantern Square."

●

ps 17:

                     ● traffic accidents twice between Feb. and May 2015
                TVBS – 4-6-2015: 3 cars accidents in A-Li mountain ( Alishan 阿里山山區)，5 Chinese adults and 2 children were wounded, one is in serious condition. ...
                    CNA 中央社(2-17-2015）: Some red Chinese tourists in Pin-Dong tourist-bus accident (東航旅行社及歡笑旅行社負責接待，詳細人數及傷勢仍在了解中。)
                    Apple Daily (12-12-2015): A bus loading Chinese tourists got a 1-death & 4-wounded traffic accident.   Police issued 355 violation sheets to large vehicles in A-Li drive-ways in this year.

● Too many accidents in 2011-2012 ―― statistics below
Epoch Times(大紀元時報) reported tourists accidents within 2011-2012: (1) Beijing tour group got bus accident in HuaLien (花蓮), 3 serious injury, 28 injury (2012-09-25) (2). Tour bus entered motorcycle line, bus roof destroyed, 24 injuries (2012-08-25) (3). Eight tour-bus and cars collision in PinDong (2012-04-04) (4). Ali mountain tour bus accident, 7 in hospital (2011-07-10) (5). tour bus accident, 7 in hospital , one driver died (2011-03-26) details pls. ref. to http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/tag/%E9%99%B8%E5%AE%A2%E5%9C%98%E8%BB%8A%E7%A6%8D.html

●

◎

ps 18

Northern Taiwan	CoronaVirus infected fellows and travelers from Diamond Princess cruise ship visited Northern Taiwan at 1-31-2020... full text
Taipei(台北)	Taipei 101 tower, National Palace Museum(故宮), LongShan Temple(龍山寺), BaoAn Temple(保安宮), Confucius Temple (孔廟), XiChang St. (西昌街香草街), Yang Ming Shan, Zhu Zi Hu (陽明山竹子湖), NanMen Market 南門市場), The National Chiang Kai-Shek Mem Hall (中正紀念堂自由廣場), ZhongShan Auditorium (中山堂), Martyrs Shrine (忠烈祠), Yong Kang St. (永康商圈), Di-Hwa St.(迪化街), ZhongXiao-DunHua (忠孝-敦化), ZhongXiao-FuXing(忠孝-復興), Grand Taipei Hotel (圓山飯店) etc / ref. to FTV morning News (民視) 2-8-2020, 9:50am
New Taipei (新北)	Jiu-Fen old street (九份老街), Yeh Liu GeoPark(野柳), Shih Fen (十分寮), Shih Fen old street(十分老街), Rui Fang (瑞芳南雅奇岩), Wan Li (萬里龜吼), etc / ref. to FTV morning News (民視) 2-8-2020, 9:50am
Keelung(基隆)	Keelung night market (廟口), Keelung Harbor (基隆港), Keelung Cultural Center (基隆文化中心), Xian Dong (仙洞), Diao He St. (調和街), HePing Island (和平島), Wai Mu Shan (外木山), BaiMiWon Fort battery (白米甕砲台), Bi-sha Fishing Port (碧砂漁港), Cheng-Bin Fishing Port(正濱漁港), Jhong-Jheng Park (中正公園)
	and some other places unknown / ref. to <寰宇新聞 2台> 2-8-2020, 14:06
Southern Taiwan	hundreds of travelers from MS Westerdam ( CTV 2-16-2020: 1 Covid-19 confirmed ) took about 60 taxies to visit many attractions in Kaohsiung, and major city in southern Taiwan
Kaohsiung, and major city	FTV: 2-42020 ~ 2-5-2020，hundreds of travelers from MS Westerdam came TaiNan Anping Fort (安平古堡), Chihkan Tower (赤崁樓), pier 9 (9號碼頭), pier Banana (香蕉碼頭), ChiMei Museum (奇美博物館), Kaohsiung Museum(高雄博物館), Kenting(墾丁) - ref to Apple Daily, 2-17-2020

ps 19

Taiwan's tourism & travel vs. CovID-19

◆ Next Shark, Yahoo news, 2022-9-24: Taiwan announced its plan to remove inbound quarantine for international arrivals by Oct. 13. The government stated that it would also increase the weekly quota for arrivals from 50,000 to 60,000 by Sep. 23. Tourists who qualified for visa-free access before the pandemic are now allowed to visit the island without a visa. news.yahoo.com/japan-taiwan-hong-kong-lift-215712514.html
◆ Reuters, 2022-9-5: the resumption of visa free entry for visitors from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Europe and diplomatic allies would start from next Monday news.yahoo.com/taiwan-resume-visa-free-entry-063459045.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
◆ Washington Examiner, 2022-8-26: China's temper tantrum over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan seems to have sparked a mini-boom in congressional tourism toward the island. washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/seventy-year-lie-china-has-never-had-a-serious-claim-to-taiwan

◆ Reuters, 2022-9-5: the resumption of visa free entry for visitors from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Europe and diplomatic allies would start from next Monday

◆ Washington Post, 2022-6-2: a poll this week found that 70 percent of Taiwanese wanted the government to retain stricter border control policies. washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/02/taiwan-covid-relaxed-border-policy/

◆ Diplomat, 2022-2-3:Taiwan, is bucking the trend and is one of the few places still sticking with its zero-COVID strategy.thediplomat.com/2022/02/how-long-will-taiwan-stick-to-its-zero-covid-approach/

◆ The Guardian, 2021-11-8: Cost of Taiwan’s pursuit of Covid zero starts to show In 2019 there were more than 29 million international arrivals in Taiwan. In 2020, during the height of the pandemic and prior to vaccines, the figure dropped to 3.9 million. So far this year there have been just 335,000.“Taiwan sacrificed international collaboration in commerce and exchange.”despite the toll on tourism, trade and lifestyle there is no plan to reopen theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/08/how-long-can-you-maintain-it-cost-of-taiwans-pursuit-of-covid-zero-starts-to-show

◆ New York Times, 2021-10-29: China is now the only country still chasing full eradication. The approach is unsustainable. China may find itself increasingly isolated, diplomatically and economically, at a time when global public opinion is hardening against it.

◆ Economist, 2021-10-9 : Asian countries are abandoning zero-covid strategies. Despite the risks, they are right to do so. Yet those with a good first act in the pandemic are struggling in the second.

◆ aljazeera, 2021-11-26: Taiwan continues to pursue an isolationist "zero CovID-19" policy. Taiwan's border restrictions remain some of the strictest in the world.
◆ aljazeera, 2021-11-17 (brief): Asia's cautious stance is increasingly at odds with Europe and North America; mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong sink deeper into isolation under a strict “zero COVID” policy, even Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia are following a middle path under which non-essential travel remains tightly restricted.

◆ South China Morning Post, 2022-7-13: many Taiwanese are ‘protecting themselves’ by shunning what are normally some of the most crowded spaces, and the trend continues to keep pressure on tourism operators scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3185049/how-taiwans-tourism-industry-surviving-its-biggest-ever-covid

◆ National Interest, 2022-6-16: The CCP has used import and tourism bans to inflict pain upon Taiwan’s economy...
◆ DW, 2022-5-20: Taiwan's tourism industry in crisis (Taiwan 'is not ready to face an outbreak at this level) dw.com/en/is-taiwan-learning-to-live-with-covid/a-61878438

◆ Asia Nikkei (Japan), 2022-6-2: Taiwan's lengthy success in keeping out COVID-19 is complicating the island's path away from a pandemic posture as a relaxation of travel curbs fuels a record spike in cases; Taiwan ranks world no. 113 in Nikkei's CovID-19 Recovery Index. asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Taiwan-s-COVID-success-story-hits-snag-with-shift-to-reopening

◆ New York Times, 2022-3-5: Since Tuesday, people in Taiwan have no longer been required to wear masks in settings where they were previously mandatory, both indoors and outdoors: exercising, taking selfies and group photos, driving with household members, in spas and in video broadcasts, speeches and lectures... Taiwan's record (20,717 cases and 853 deaths ) is low by the standards of the hardest-hit countries. nytimes.com/live/2022/03/05/world/covid-19-tests-cases-vaccine

◆ 《Yahoo Taiwan》, 2021-11-23: all opposition parties blast the government not fulfilling its promise to patch the loophole of social security network. 《Next TV news 壹新聞》, 2021-11-23, 12:11: a big loophole in our social security net.

◆ New York Times, 2022-5-9: Restaurants, bars and gyms that were once packed are now noticeably quieter...fear of outbreaks is not uncommon nytimes.com/2022/05/09/world/asia/taiwan-china-covid.html

◆ CDC (USA), 2022-5-18: Taiwan travel Level 3 - Even if you are up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines, you may still be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19, Anyone 2 years or older should properly wear a well-fitting mask in indoor public spaces (wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-3/coronavirus-taiwan)
◆ aljazeera, 2022-4-14: Taiwan's COVID-hit tourism stews as island shuns global reopening.

Taiwan is a rare holdout in Asia that remains closed to tourists and still mandates quarantine for arrivals.

aljazeera.com/economy/2022/4/14/for-taiwan-tourism-frustration-as-island-misses-global-reopening

ps 20 some other tops


pic. upper right: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan tour" on US Google, 3-8-2020, 12-3-2019, 11-11-2019; pic. upper left: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan tourism" on US Google, 3-8-2020, 12-3-2019, 11-29-2019, 11-11-2019; pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan travel" on US Google, 3-8-2020,11-29-2019, 11-11-2019
	pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Yahoo search by "comment Taiwan tourism", 3-7-2019, 9-4-2018, 6-22-2018 　 pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Yahoo search by "comment Taiwan travel", 3-7-2019, 9-4-2018, 6-22-2018 　　　　　　　　　　 .
	Pic. top: Ranking No.1 on google by English keyword "comment Taiwan restaurants" , 2-2-2018, 1-10-2017, Sept. 2, 2015. Pic. : Ranking No.1 on Yahoo by Chinese keyword "comment Taiwan foods" or "comment Taiwan delicacies", 1-10-2017, Sept. 2, 2015.

★

◆

◆

pic: This websites-group was ranked
No.1 by keyword "understand Taiwan"
on Google, 1-11-2018, 9-8-2017,1-6-2017

related studies: TAIWAN

pic: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by keyword "comment Taiwan"
on Google, 1-11-2018, 9-8-2017, 4-4-2017, 12-4-2016, 11-25-2016
top ranking : review Taiwan 1-11-2018

◎◎
◎
◎

This sites-group was ranked No.1 by the keyword

"understand Taiwan" on Bing,
tested at 1-11-2018, 9-8-2017, 5-8-2017

This sites-group was ranked both No.1 and No. 2
by "comment Taiwan" on Bing,
tested at 1-11-2018, 9-8-2017, 5-8-2017

◎

◆ this sites' top rankings :

Pic. No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on US google,

tests at 3-5-2018.

ps: upper 3 are ads.

● Pic. No.1 "comment Taiwan travel" on google, 3-5-2018, 1-27-2018, 9-9-2017, 1-10-2017, 6-6-2016

Pic: This webpage was ranked No.1 on US Google
by keyword "comment Taiwan travel" or "comment Taiwan tourism",
tests at 3-5-2018.

ps: below is Taiwan Travel Rules by Washington Post

● Pic. : Ranking No.1 on Google by English keyword
"comment Taiwan tourism" at 3-5-2018, 1-27-2018,

9-9-2017, 1-10-2017, 6-6-2016, 11-9-2015 .
　

○○

a survey to find political persecutions in Taiwan

theworlds50best.com/asia/en/list/1-50

economist / The world's most liveable cities in 2023
City liveability index, Mar. 2023 - Taipei ranks world No. 65, Asia's No.14

US News & World Report - These Countries Are the Best for Tourism (2023-4-13)
These are the top countries viewed as good for tourism by global survey respondents.

Most Visited Countries in Asia

Adventure / The best countries to fulfill your wanderlust

Travel and Tourism Index by country in Asia

International tourism receipts / Asia-Pacific countries

The 30 Most Visited Countries in the world in 2021

● Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2020 3-24-2020

www.theworlds50best.com/stories/News/asias-50-best-restaurants-2020-list-in-pictures.html

◎
◆ One of the fastest-growing tourist destinations in the world

2.
◎ CNN, 12-11-2020 :Today, what was once a roadside stall is now a burgeoning empire, whose growing fame on the Taiwan food scene owes far more to its delicious specialty than it does its brush with international fame ...

theworlds50best.com/asia/en/list/1-50

economist / The world's most liveable cities in 2023 City liveability index, Mar. 2023 - Taipei ranks world No. 65, Asia's No.14

US News & World Report - These Countries Are the Best for Tourism (2023-4-13) These are the top countries viewed as good for tourism by global survey respondents.

Most Visited Countries in Asia

Adventure / The best countries to fulfill your wanderlust

Travel and Tourism Index by country in Asia

International tourism receipts / Asia-Pacific countries

The 30 Most Visited Countries in the world in 2021

● Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2020 3-24-2020

www.theworlds50best.com/stories/News/asias-50-best-restaurants-2020-list-in-pictures.html

2. ◎ CNN, 12-11-2020 :Today, what was once a roadside stall is now a burgeoning empire, whose growing fame on the Taiwan food scene owes far more to its delicious specialty than it does its brush with international fame ...

economist / The world's most liveable cities in 2023
City liveability index, Mar. 2023 - Taipei ranks world No. 65, Asia's No.14

US News & World Report - These Countries Are the Best for Tourism (2023-4-13)
These are the top countries viewed as good for tourism by global survey respondents.

2.
◎ CNN, 12-11-2020 :Today, what was once a roadside stall is now a burgeoning empire, whose growing fame on the Taiwan food scene owes far more to its delicious specialty than it does its brush with international fame ...