A Brief Introduction to Taiwan

lol the scooter picture looks like a faggio race in GTA lol.

Apparently you can sit at the top of the tower in a typoon and your tea won't even spill.

very interesting article. cheers

nice article

Really nice article!

But the Taipei 101 is 1671 FEET high and 80 METRES deep on earth? Gotta love measure differences.

@ Ending Credits: You sit at the top of a tower? That didn't sounded very much manly... JUST KIDDING!!!

I thought the Burj Dubai was the tallest now at 2,684 feet high.

Originally Posted by Almightyrastus
I thought the Burj Dubai was the tallest now at 2,684 feet high.

it doesn't officially count until it's finished and measured i think...

Originally Posted by Baz

Quote:

Originally Posted by Almightyrastus
I thought the Burj Dubai was the tallest now at 2,684 feet high.

it doesn't officially count until it's finished and measured i think...

Yup. Will probably be September 2009 when it takes the title.

Ahh got you, that makes sense. It is the tallest structure but not the tallest building until finished.

Very nice article. I thought Taiwan is independent country. If only chinese governement took a lesson or two from Taiwan...

It seems there are 2 invalid links on pics on page 2.

(and the last sentence on page 2 - "The building is so tall, the rest of the city looks flat, like a texture in a game." - it would be more correct to add "with displacement mapping turned off" :) )

Very interesting read! Thanks! ;)

Although I have been reading bit-tech for ages, I have just registered to comment on this post!

As a Canadian studying Chinese in Taiwan, I really appreciated you writing this article about Taiwan, giving many readers the chance to learn a bit about a country that is pretty much the PC capital of the world. A lot of people here love PC's and all things high-tech, but don't know much about the PC Mecca of the east. It is not Tokyo, it is Taipei (Taibei for Mandarin speakers). Even though I am not ethnic Chinese, and even though my Chinese language ability is still lacking, I find Taiwan to be one of the friendliest and easiest places to live in Asia.

So everyone, next time you are in east Asia region, give Taiwan another look!

Oh, and Bit-Tech, on the off-chance that you are hiring, please consider this Canadian-English Chinese student as a potential hire. I live in Taipei, 5 minute walk away from Gigabyte HQ and I spell colour with a "u". Thanks! :D

Originally Posted by Terru
and I spell colour with a "u".

Lol, SOLD! That's really the only requirement anyone needs to get by in the world.

I was in Taiwan in the 70's and 80's and no one caused me any problems with more than 10 persons, had a good time there and stayed in the Grand hotel which was fabulous, however i believe that you have to be a real Top nob to stay there now !!

Having lived in Tapei and Shanghai and in and out of Hong Kong in the past two, three years, the difference between the three cities is amazing.

Taipei: people queue,
Hong Kong: people sometimes queue.
Shanghai: people shove you out of the way.


Taipei: the gap between poor and rich is not so far, poor means you dont have a sports car or a big house, and probably a student
Hong Kong: Same as above I think.
Shanghai: very big difference, poor means youre begging on the streets, picking in the bins for food. They are everywhere.

Taipei: walking in the computer market, its smoke free and people smile at you. You will probably pay market price, and get a small discount if you can.
Hong Kong:same as above mostly, but do shop around.
Shanghai: quickly develop lung cancer in the computer market, and people grab you by your cloths and beg you to buy things you dont want for way over the real price, get a massive discount if you know what the real price of things.

Taipei: clean, most the time, people put rubbish in bins!
Hong Kong: same as above, with the added effect of SARS and Bird Flu, making everyone even more careful.
Shanghai: not very clean, litter bugs every where, very dirty in some parts, very polluted air.

Taipei: normal everyday food is tasty, clean, people serving you are also clean.
Hong Kong: same as above.
Shanghai: normal everyday food is a gamble, mostly very oily.

Having been to Beijing, Shanghai and Shenyang, I'd have to agree with Vampalans observations (although I didn't find Shanghai to be *quite* that bad..)! Shenyang is by far the better of the three though, not being a well known major city.

It's awesome seeing bikes go by with hulking great PCs/printers/you name it on the back of them though :)

Originally Posted by Sifter3000
Yup. Will probably be September 2009 when it takes the title.

~naaa it isnt THAT big... honest~

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p285/LAGM0nkey/03092008018-1.jpg

Just out of interest, what camera was used to take the pictures in the article?

I was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. It's interesting to see my homeland being brought up here. I guess not many of you here have experienced a confused or pretended reaction on answers to the simple question of "where are you from?" :-)

The fair view of Taiwan is really appreciated, Mr. Watson. And yes, we do use Need for Speed for our driving test, and it will be updated with Grand Theft Auto soon~ ;-P

Taipei is by far, my favorite city, next to Hong Kong(allright people) and Canton(Delicious food). Sucks though since I'm only fluent in Cantonese. But Taipei is as someone has said before, the Mecca of PC.

Taipei 101 is only 6m taller than the Sears Tower, though it does look a lot cooler. I do wish that you visited more tech manufacturers though!

Ha! About time you Westerners start realizing Asia is not as crappy as you think! :) I live in Singapore, and its very much like Taiwan, just that our economy is a little more diverse, though just as high tech :)

Originally Posted by pullmyfoot
Ha! About time you Westerners start realizing Asia is not as crappy as you think! :) I live in Singapore, and its very much like Taiwan, just that our economy is a little more diverse, though just as high tech :)

aaah singapore... i LOVED sing when i was there. granted it wasnt for long but i still loved it.

one of my favorite drinks is from singapore too :D

a singapore sling... mmmmmm

Originally Posted by Aragon Speed
Just out of interest, what camera was used to take the pictures in the article?

Tim took the panorama on the first page with a Canon 450D and the kit lens; the other shots I took on my Nikon D40, again with the 18-55 kit lens.

Originally Posted by pullmyfoot
Ha! About time you Westerners start realizing Asia is not as crappy as you think! :) I live in Singapore, and its very much like Taiwan, just that our economy is a little more diverse, though just as high tech :)

I've considered moving to Taiwan many times - and it's something I still do consider regularly - there's so much more to Taiwan even beyond this article. The local people are brilliant and the food outside of Taipei is amazing - the best food is actually in the rather non-descript family run places from my experience. I've toured most of the island and rural Taiwan is very different to Taipei city in my experience. I spent the weekend before Computex this year in Danshui and Keelung (both in Taipei County) with friends - I love it up there. The local seafood from Keelung harbour is excellent.