People who have not been to Taiwan (and does not have cable tv) may have a bad impression of Taiwanese - aggressive. Why? Because of the fist-waving and shoe-throwing seen in Taiwan parliament.
My mum is one of them, she is afraid that she will engage in a bickering session with the vendor if the price is not right. Her impression changed after hearing from relatives' experience and watching cable tv (her fave 冰冰好料理).
During my first visit to Taiwan, I experience the friendliness of Taiwaneses. I remembered fondly that after the first night staying in a hotel in 林森北路 which happened to be a mini red light district, I decided to change to a hotel in Ximenting. When I was carrying my luggage down the stairs of the MRT station, an old grandfather came up to me and offered help. He was at least 70 years old and was carrying a big bag himself too.
Over the week, I was emailing homestay and hotel owners to book my accomodation, again, their warmth oozed out from simple email replies:
Homestay owner 1: 以上兩種匯款方式擇一選擇即可，如果你們那邊的匯款方式跟台灣不同的話，只要您確定您已經訂購到來澎湖的船票及返台的機票之後並告知聯絡方式，我一樣可以為您保留並不收取任何訂金，畢竟國外的朋友舟車勞累，加上有許多困難需要排除，所以這部分我們可以不收取您的訂金。
Homestay owner 2: 因为我们常有许多国外的客人来住宿我们家，接待的经验之中，到目前为止，我们也认同大部分国外的客人是很守信用的，都可以在约定的日期准时前来，即使若是客人临时改变行程时，客人也都会在第一时间尽快主动地与我们联络，还不至于让我们造成空房的困扰；所以，只要我们双方都秉持互相信任的原则，一旦有任何变动之处，都能立即而且主动地通知对方，所以我们很愿意帮有需要的国外客人直接保留客房，这样也可以避免您跨国汇款定金的困扰（而且跨国汇款的手续费是很高昂的，不必要浪费金钱喔！）。
Basically, they mentioned that since I am a foreigner and is not able to do a fund transfer to Taiwan, they are fine with reserving the room for me without any deposit.
I have always enjoyed visiting Taiwan and I think the Taiwaneses is one of the reason.
To me, these define an enjoyable trip:
- not overcrowded
- not fast-paced
- no language barrier
- friendly and helpful locals
- beautiful nature and rich culture
Taiwan, has it all.
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