Five Facts I Didn't Know about Taiwan

Image courtesy of www.mddionline.com

Despite the fact that Taiwan is only a little over 2 hours flight away from Philippines, it did not make it in the list of countries I wanted to visit because of few good reasons. One I now reside in Singapore which makes it more than 4 hours flight and second I need a visa to enter Taiwan and shell out 60sgd or 2400php for a single entry.

Not until the government of Taiwan issued a visa-free entry for Filipino tourist which started last year November, 2017 until July, 2018.  This news got Taiwan in my radar, plus Gemson(my brother) recently got his passport. So we plan, booked our flights and hotel and off we go.

Here are five facts I didn't know about Taiwan until now.

1. Wifi spot everywhere. Well almost.
You can stay connected in this country as there is free wifi in almost all the public spaces - shopping areas, hospitals and libraries. You just need to do their one-time registration through this link - Taipei Free

2. Their incumbent President Tsai Ing-Wen(May 20, 2016 - present) is the first woman elected in office and the first unmarried president of the country.
You better ain't mess with her. #girlpower 💪👊

3. This country ranked third(1.13) with the lowest fertility rate in the world based on 2017 statistics. It preceded Macau as second(0.95) and Singapore on top(0.83). The low fertility was accounted for women having better access to education and full-time jobs plus childcare is expensive.

4. Taiwan recognises lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender(LGBT) rights
On 24 May 2017, the Constitutional Court ruled that the current marriage laws are unconstitutional and that same-sex couples should have the right to marry. The court has given the Parliament a maximum of two years to amend or enact laws so that same-sex marriage is legally recognized. If the Parliament fails to do so by 24 May 2019, same-sex marriage will automatically become legal.

5. Taiwan is formerly known as Formosa, officially known as Republic of China(ROC)
When Portuguese discovered the main island in 1542 they called it Ilha Formosa, which means "beautiful island." In 1945, the Republic of China took control of the country from the Japanese. Today, majority of countries including People's Republic of China do not recognise Taiwan as independent country. But Vatican City and 21 countries in United Nations recognises Republic of China officially.