My trip to Taiwan, the abbreviated version (because I'm jetlagged and worn out :P):

Random demographics: Taiwan, R.O.C. (Republic of China) is a small island off the coast of China, farther south of Japan, with a very tropical climate ('Winter' there right now was about 70 degrees :P). Population is around 22 million or so. Without going into a long history lesson, Taiwan was once occupied by the Japanese, who built up the infrastructure of the island, and the island was later populated by political dissidents fleeing their loss on the mainland, and again after the cultural revolution on the mainland during the 50s-60s. Their party was the Republic of China, and they behaved as a government in exile for quite awhile. China claims them as part of China, Taiwan says they are independant. Only about 30 countries worldwide recognize Taiwan. Both China and Taiwan are now part of the WTO.

Environment/Ancient eastern chinese ambience: -10. It's essentially a polluted industrialized strip of cities running along the western coast of the island from tip to tip. The pollution is so thick you can eat it (indeed, I did, and coughed every day I was there. gf still doesn't have her voice back :P). We even went up in to the mountains, and I STILL could not see to the horizon. There were some instances where the sky was dark gray, and the horizon line was about half or less of what you could see on a clear day here. Looking out my window at the clear blue sky right now is a pleasure, as is breathing the air. The eastern parts of the island are heavily mountainous, and not suitable for development, which means that the western coast of the island is even more crowded that the population and the size of the island would indicate.

Cities: Everywhere, filthy, and crammed with more traffic than you have ever seen in your life, anywhere. It literally defies description. Despite this, I found road travel to be entertaining, not terrifying, probably since I have a quirky sense of humor. Oh, and motor-scooters were omnipresent. Typically loaded down with say, 3-4 people +/- a pet, +groceries/other things. Picture a horrendously dirty LA with more neon, far more cars, far more pollution, far more people, and you're getting the rough idea.

Food: Cheap, plentiful, good. I think I ate every part of every animal we commonly eat in the US (cows stomach, pigs ear, pigs feet, pigs blood bars), and a few animals we don't :P (entire seahorse, fish, etc). I've never eaten even sashimi before, so that was an experience. I ate anything they put in front of me, some of it was even good! :P The noodles were delicious. Various dumplings tended to be yummy. Some of the other food was tasty as well. Drinks were generally tea, but there was plenty of other stuff, and a lot of japanese food and drink if you wanted it. I avoided american food, but you could get the big brands there if you wanted. Our ambassadors of good will to Taiwan are McDonalds, KFC, Circle K, 7-11, and Coke :P The localizations of chips were pretty funny (curry and green onion flavored pringles, seafood potato chips).

Animals (or, KAWAIIIIII ^_^ KEKE): Since animals are generally food to the chinese people, it's perhaps not surprising that there primary concept of an animal is Hello Kitty, Snoopy, or Pooh. These were EVERYWHERE. *everywhere* _everywhere_. I read a story about a pair of baby Koala bears showing up at one of their (few, only? :P) Zoos. Apparently the lines were absurdly long :P Small + Cute = perfect match! I also read an amusing story that may or may not be true - apparently some Taiwanese on Safari to africa were devoured while hopping out of their vehicle to take pictures WITH the local wildlife (say, some lions). They're just a live version of Pooh right?

People: Nice, generous, entreprenureal (sp!), and strongly family oriented. It was not unusual to walk into a family owned business with the grandparents sitting in the back of the room watching tv and the babies being tended while the toddlers ran around as we spoke with the proprietor. Several social concepts that are automatic there are pretty interesting - the first is that gift giving and friend/family networking are extremely strong. Quite a few of the restaurants we ate at and stores we shopped at gave us free goods or services, in repayment of favors previously given by my gf's family, or simply out of generosity. The second is a word that I don't think I can translate, but it basically is this concept of busy/noisy/fun/exciting/populated that the Taiwanese love. This contributes to the exodus from farming/empty places to the cities, to the huge gatherings at stores, the constant shopping, the loudness, the business, and several other things. It was quite regular for a vendor on the street to have a loudspeaker advertising the obvious superiority of his products.

Education: Extensive, impressive schools. Apparently their higher education isn't good, but their elementary/middle/high school equivalents are. Partly due to the ludicrous cram sessions and exams. I read at least one student suicide in the papers :P

Politics: Hilariously corrupt by western standards, but democratic, and they do get projects done (eventually). There were a couple of major infrastructure projects in the works while I were there, and several political scandals in the papers, just while I was there. Due to their political situation with the mainland, I also got to read about their diplomats regularly being rejected visas in foreign countries.

Religion: Very tolerant. No one cares much what anyone worships, and it didn't seem to play a major part in politics. The presence of large amounts of Buddhism leads to the amusing ability to get vegetarian food just about anywhere, but I suspect hardcore vegans here would be horrified by their definition of healthy vegetarian food :D (in short, my visit to a vegetarian restaurant was quite tasty, quite greasy, and not particularly healthy)

Economics: They weathered the asian banking troubles a bit better than the other countries in the area, but they are currently having some problems, and their farming decreases yearly as the children flee the farmtowns (read, smaller but equally modernized and polluted as the 'cities'), to work in the heavy industry or electronic sectors. Interesting note, I never saw any homeless people on the streets in any area we visited. The strong family ties combined with government projects limits overt homelessness. Stores are EVERYWHERE. Prices in non 'department'/western style stores were typically negotiable (that is, barter was expected). Food markets during the day and night markets selling goods and food were common. Amusingly, food/good vendors populating busy downtown shopping areas along the streets could be spotted fleeing en masse at word of the police coming to check on their (nonexistent) business certificates. Oh, and yes, piracy is alive and well. For whatever reason (possibly connected to their rampant online cheating as well), the asian areas simply don't seem to have any interest in even the concept of IP rights. China is trying hard to crack down on this (they just ruled in favor of a Lego settlement this past week or so), but it's going to take a long while for developing nations to get there. The equivalent to a Blockbuster there would be a store with a sign saying DVD/VCD. The night markets would have the latest movies conveniently available on VCD. The piracy seems to have transformed from industrial to electronic, though the industrial was still quite present (I quite liked the shirt saying "Fashion in the USA" with a picture of Betty Boop on it).

Azn Brides: Do a search for Betel Nut Girl :P Betel nuts produce a mild narcotic high, come from a tree that requires more resources to grow than an equivalent rice field, provide no equivalent value as food, and have about 10% of the population addicted to them. Half naked girls in elevated booths are EVERYWHERE, selling them to passing motorists (and protected by what looked like asian yakuza when I took pictures :P). Drugs otherwise were are not tolerated by the government, and I read at least one marijuana growing bust while I was there. Oh, amusing side note - on the way there, I transferred in Osaka, where they had a message at the airport basically saying "Dear Sir, it would not be polite of you to bring socially evil things to our country, such as drugs, guns, or pornography." The one in taiwan read as: "Trafficking in Narcotics is punishable by death in the R.O.C."

Games!: Internet cafes are EVERYWHERE. I saw large posters and billboards on the streets of Warcraft 3, and Counterstrike/Half Life. They were playing CS, War3, Diablo 2, and lots of asian online rpgs in the cafes. Oh, and yes, the cheats were installed by default of course. About 4 million of their population spends about 6 hours a day online, and I read several instances of children staying at cafes for 12 hours a day (!), and sometimes as long as a week at a time. I saw ADSL services offered, and the cafes themselves were very nicely priced (like $.50 an hour!), sold food and drinks, and had comfortable chairs. It's a pity we don't have the same here.

I picked up a Taiwanese developed pc game while I was there (there are plenty of others, and some of them have even made it stateside, though they don't make a point of advertising this much, and it'd be easy to assume they came from Japan). I also grabbed several Taiwanese gaming mags - I saw about 4, covering consoles, pcs, online games, and general gaming.

There's plenty of other little things, and I can answer any questions you've got. It was an interesting trip.