Currently the world's fifth tallest building and the symbol of Taiwan, the Taipei 101 Tower is actually a building where banks and financial institutions are concentrated. It is also, however, a famous tourist spot with a shopping mall full of famous brands and restaurants. Moreover, there's an observatory to check out the wonderful night scene of Taipei if you go up to the 89th floor of Taipei 101. However, I recommend you see the night scene from on top of Xiangshan (Elephant Mountain) near the Taipei 101 rather than going up the tower itself. This is so you can check out Taipei's night scene as well as the Taipei 101 on Xiangshan. At the end of the year, there's a wonderful display of fireworks at the Taipei 101 in celebration of the New Year, where you can enjoy the fireworks and the New Year countdown with your friends and family.

 Unlike Korea, 90% of the companies in Taiwan are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The core industry in Taiwan is the IT industry in various fields such as semiconductors, design, packaging and computers, with an extremely large scale of exports. Since Taiwan has many SMEs with great technologies in addition to conglomerates like HTC, Asus, TSMC, and Hon Hai in the IT/parts sector, Taiwan has a substantial competitive edge in the global market as well.

 You probably know this already if you have some friends in Taiwan, but people here tend to eat outside rather than cooking at home. That's why the culture of dining out has developed. You can see night markets and snack carts selling food on the streets all throughout the day, from morning until late at night. Some of the popular foods these days are simple and warm Taiwanese foods (usually called "Xiaochi") enjoyed by the Taiwanese people such as fried chicken (ji pai), bubble tea (zhen zhu nai cha) and stinky tofu (chou doufu), as well as cube steak and cheese potatoes. In addition to street food, many people in Taiwan also enjoy mala hot pot, mango shaved ice, beef noodle soup, and food on a hot plate.

 According to the National Statistics in Taiwan, the number of convenience stores in Taiwan exceeds 10,000 like Japan, which is the world's biggest number per capita. In particular, you can see a convenience store every few steps in Taipei. At the 24-hour convenience stores, you can purchase anything from hot coffee to all kinds of food or even daily supplies. The convenience stores in Taiwan also have touchscreen self-machines to pay all kinds of utility bills. This shows how important convenience stores are in the daily life of people in Taiwan.

 Chinese is the language spoken in Taiwan like mainland China, but their idiomatic expressions are slightly different. You probably know that Taiwan also uses the traditional Chinese characters like the ones used in Korea. Taiwan had been a colony of Japan for 50 years, and since then it has been affected greatly by the Japanese culture. That's why people in Taiwan commonly use expressions like "Thank you" or "I'm sorry" like the Japanese people. For example, if you bump into someone in a crowded subway or you're ordering something at a restaurant, the expression that is most commonly used is "Bu hao yi si." This is like "Sille hamnida" in Korean or "Excuse me, sorry" in English. It's not used when you really did something wrong, but just when you do something that could be slightly embarrassing or rude and want to be polite.

 So far, I've introduced these five features of Taiwan. I hope this column helps you know better about Taiwan. I also hope our Amorepacific coworkers have the chance to visit Taiwan and try the local foods and enjoy the diverse and unique aspects of the Taiwanese culture. Next time I'll be back with more abundant news!