Taiwan Money and Shopping: What to buy

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Popular things to buy include:

• Jade. Although it can be hard to know for sure if the item you're buying is real jade or not, some beautiful objects are sold. Most cities have a specific jade market dealing in jade and other precious stones.

• Computers. Taiwan is a center of computer design and manufacture, so some places sell original equipment manufacturers' (OEM) items at good rates. In particular Taiwanese companies produce laptop computers under license to international companies and then sell the same items under different brands locally, effectively giving the same quality for much lower prices. Desktop computers and components however tend to be the same price in Taiwan as in other areas of the world, though peripherals such as cables and adapters tend to be noticeably cheaper. If you're buying domestic it's best to go to tourist hangouts to buy your stuff as you might be saddled with Chinese documentation otherwise. Also, notebooks are typically only available with a Chinese and English keyboard.

• Lingzhi (靈芝). A type of bracket fungus that is often used as a Chinese herb. It supposedly has many health benefits with an apparent absence of side effects, earning it a high reputation in East Asian countries and making it rather expensive. Taiwanese lingzhi is particularly famous for being of the highest quality.

• Tea. Taiwan is particularly famous for its oolong tea(烏龍茶) and this is available in at many tea shops. Tea tasting in Chinese culture is akin to wine tasting in Western culture and you will find many grades of this same type of tea, with different methods of treating the tea leaves.

Note: In order to protect the environment, a government policy rules that plastic bags cannot be given freely at stores in Taiwan, but have to be bought (at a flat rate of NT$1) - bakeries being an exception as the items need to be hygienically wrapped. Re-useable canvas and nylon bags are sold at most supermarkets.