■ Money Exchange

Taiwan’s unit of currency is the New Taiwan Dollar (NTD or TWD).

The most convenient place to exchange money is at the airport because the window for exchanging money is easy to find and it is open 24/7. In general, if you exchange money at theBank of Taiwan (operated by our government; Taiwanese also exchange money here when we go aboard), the rates at all the branches are the same no matter you exchange the money at the airport or in the city. The only difference is that the branch at the airport will charge the processing fee of 30 NTD (around 1 USD) per time (no matter how much you exchange at one time.) Since the processing fee is pretty small, we recommend you to exchange the money at the airport. Besides, you don’t have to waste time finding a bank in the city. Please note that it is not easy to come across a bank in the countryside.

Most importantly, If you are planing to exchange with US Dollar, please bring new USD banknotes to exchange. Otherwise, the bank will charge you the old banknotes processing fee which is 0.3 TWD per 1 USD old banknotes. This means that if you bring 100 USD old banknotes to exchange, the bank will charge you 30 TWD processing fee which is around 1 USD.

Please note that the rate at the hotels, department stores or in the Taipei 101 may be lower than the one at the bank.

Most ATM machines in Taiwan accept international systems like Cirrus and Plus. Therefore, withdrawing cash from ATM machines will be the easiest way to get money. Before you leave home with your ATM card, please make sure that the Cirrus or PLUS networks are readily available where you’re going.

Traveler’s checks are not commonly used in Taiwan.


■ Daily Budget

The standard of living in Taiwan lies in the middle among Asian countries. It’s lower than Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong; but it’s a bit higher than China and the rest of Southeast Asian countries.

– Coca Cola 600 ml: 29 NTD (nearly 1 USD)

– Mcdonald’s combo meal: about 3-5 USD

If your tour fee includes meals, you only need to prepare 500 NTD per person per day for local snacks/drinks and souvenirs. If your tour fee excludes meals and entrance fees, we suggest you prepare 1,500-2,000 NTD per person per day.

Price in Taiwan are generally reasonable. Travelers don’t need to worry about being ripped off. Therefore, bargaining is uncommon in Taiwan. Generally speaking, we don’t bargain in department stores and shops. Sometimes, We do bargain a bit in night markets or with street side vendors in tourists spots. As a gauge, the reasonable range for bargaining is 5-10% discount. It’s likely that the more you buy, the more discounts you can get.