Taiwan is a modern industrialised megalopolis clinging to the fringes of an ancient culture; a string of teeming cities at the foot of a glorious mountain range. lt’s traditional noodles from a 1-Eleven, aboriginal tribes in miniskirts and a day of temple rituals followed by waterslide rides. lf you step outside chaotic Taipei, you’ll discover why Taiwan is known as llha Formosa, ‘the beautiful island’. Mountain peaks puncture a sea of clouds, slick black volcanic rock wraps the coastlines and waterfalls shroud themselves in mist. Taiwan is a computer-generated Chinese watercolour.

Autumn weather from September to November is the most pleasant

Discovering the finest collection of Chinese artifacts in the world at Taipei’s National Palace Museum lndulging in the pleasures of Tainan, famous for fine weather, wonderful food and a multitude of riotously colourful temples Being overawed by Toroko Gore, one of the world’s great natural spectacles: sheer limestone and marble cliffs towering over a fast-flowing jade-green river Taking the spectacular scenic road that winds up the east of Taiwan between the mountains and the sea

Read Harmony in Conflict by Richard Hartzell, an often-recommended primer for Westerners thinking about living in Taiwan

Listen to Mando-pop, the soothing, soft-pop schmaltz with Mandarin lyrics, epitomized by singers S.H.E. and Sun Yan Zi

Watch Betelnutby Lin Cheng-sheng-a raw film dealing with the mean streets of Taipei and the city’s second-most notorious occupation (the betelnut vendor)

Eat anything you can find on the mainland, as well as Taiwan’s own Fujian-Taiwanese cuisine. The adventurous must try ‘stinky tofu’: ubiquitous in Taiwanese food stalls

Drink thenational brew, Taiwan Beer-it won second prize at the Brewing lndustry lnternational Awards 2002, and it’s pretty cheap, too

Wei? (used when answering your mobile phone)

Sabre-rattling with the PRC’ English teaching; Chiang Kai-shek; ‘mede in…’

Taiwan’s aborigines are only 2 per cent of the population. They are most numerous in the mountainous regions in the east of the island, where they still preserve vestiges of their original culture (with many making a living from tourism).

lf you want to understand Taipei, just cross the street The little green men on the ‘walk’ lights don’t just flash; they’re animated, ambling amiably as displays above them count down the seconds until the light changes back to red. As you cross, the street alongside you turns into a river of trucks, buses and cars, and motorscooters too numerous to count. ln those last crucial seconds, the little green man goes into double-time. That’s Taipei in a nutshell.