Tourism Administration, Republic of China (Taiwan)-Taiwan Tourism Administration's Taiwan Tourism Information Website

Cultural scenery

Diversified culture

The history of Taiwan can be traced back to at least 7,000 years ago. Between 7,000 and 400 years ago, Austronesians, the ancestor of the island's indigenous peoples, arrived in small groups and became the earliest known inhabitants of Taiwan.

During the age of discovery in the 16th century, Western sailors arrived in the Far East to set up colonies and conduct trade.

As Taiwan was located at the conjunction of the East Asia and the ocean, as well as being where the Northeast Asian waters meet the Southeast waters, it became the focus of the Western powers that were operating in East Asian waters at the time.

In the first half of the 17th Century, the Dutch established a presence at Anping (in modern-day Tainan city). They conducted missionary activities, trade and the production of various goods. They also recruited many Han Chinese immigrants from the China coast, leading to a multicultural history of Taiwan. The number of Han Chinese immigrants in Taiwan steadily increased during the short-lived Cheng (Koxinga) regime and Qing period over the next 200 years, creating a primarily Han society in Taiwan.

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  Anping Old Fort

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  Eternal Fortress

In the late 19th century, the wave of imperialism touched the shores of Taiwan. The island became a colony of Japan and remained under Japanese rule for 50 years, during which time it evolved from a traditional society into a modern society. At the end of World War II in 1945, Taiwan was liberated from colonial rule. Since then, the island has experienced an economic miracle and introduced political democracy achievements that have attracted the world's attention.

Today, Taiwan boasts an excellent infrastructure, convenient transportation system, and high-quality communication services. It also has accomplished, in the face of several international energy crises and economic downturns, a remarkable record of economic development and political democracy by virtue of the perseverance and unremitting efforts of its people.

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  Fort San Domingo

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  Presidential Office Building

The friendly people of Taiwan

Taiwan has a population of 23 million. The larger part of the country's inhabitants are the descendants of immigrants from the various provinces of mainland China, but in particular from the southeastern coastal provinces: Fujian and Guangdong.

Because the different ethnic groups have fairly well integrated, differences that originally existed between people from different provinces have gradually disappeared. Nearly 500,000 indigenous people, the original inhabitants of Taiwan, still live here; they are into 16 different tribes, namely Amis, Atayal, Paiwan, Bunun, Puyuma, Rukai, Tsou, Saisiyat, Yami, Thao, Kavalan, Truku, Sakizaya, Sediq ,Kanakanavu ,and Hla'alua.

Language

In 1949, following the relocation of the Nationalist government to Taiwan, new arrivals came from various provinces and regions of China, bringing with them a complex diversity of languages. Subsequently, with the implementation of policies promoting Mandarin, Mandarin gradually became the primary common language of Taiwanese society.

Many people in Taiwan speak Taiwanese Hokkien, commonly known as Taiwanese. Taiwan's Indigenous peoples and Hakka communities have also preserved their respective languages. As Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule for half a century, many members of the older generation who were educated in Japanese before the end of World War II can still speak some Japanese.

With the development of democratization and multiculturalism, Taiwan has gradually promoted mother-tongue education and enacted the Development of National Languages Act, placing greater emphasis on the preservation, transmission, and equality of the languages of different ethnic groups.

English is the most widely used foreign language in Taiwan and is an important subject in the national education system. For foreign visitors who are concerned about language barriers when taking a taxi, it is advisable to check the Mandarin name of their destination in advance or have the destination translated into Mandarin.

Taiwan is also the ideal place to learn Mandarin. There are numerous language schools that offer Mandarin classes, ranging from hourly-based classes to recognized university programs. Many foreigners from Europe and the United States, as well as other areas, come to Taiwan to spend their holidays, or one or two years, studying Mandarin.