Content:

Maps (Taipei city, the university...)
Visa (Do you need it or how to get it...)
Transportation from the airport, to the department or guest house
Getting around in Taipei (taxi, telephone, restaurant, church, weather, exchange rates, tourism...)

Maps:

Taipei City Map
NTU Campus Map
Location of the New Physics Building

Visa:

Visa exampt entry
Visa information
Consulates in foreign countries

Transportation from the airport, to the department or guest house:

How to get to Taipei from the airport:
Click here for ground transportation information provided by the airport.
(1) Taxi/Car Rental:
Taxi:
Taxi stop is located outside the arrival lobby. Charge by meter plus 50%.
The total charge for getting to NTU should be about NTD 1100~1300. (No need to tip but extra charges apply if you need to use the trunk for luggages.)
Car Rental:
After passing the custom and entering the lobby of the airport, follow the sign to the counter for car rentals. Ask for a taxi to Taipei and pay about NTD 1300. A taxi driver will come to get you to any place in Taipei (including NTU). (No need to tip.)
(2) Bus:
After passing the custom and entering the lobby of the airport. Follow the sign to your left to the counters for buses to Taipei. (There are about two or three counters for different bus companies.) Pay about NTD 110~120 at one of the counters for a ticket which you will have to present to the bus driver both when you board and get off the bus. Ask where the bus stop is. The bus stop should be just outside one of the gates nearby, within 10 meters from the counter. The bus departs every 10-20 mins. The bus will run on a freeway for about 40 mins and get to the city, if there is no traffic jam on freeway. Get off at the 3rd or 4th stop if you want to get to NTU. Take a taxi to NTU or other places. The taxi fare is about NTD 200 to NTU.

How to get to the physics department:
Show the map Location of the New Physics Building to the taxi driver, or the following sentence in Chinese.

The New Physics Building (aka "Condensed Matter Sciences Center and Physics Department") has 14 floors. It is so far the tallest building on campus. It was built in 2000 and is the home of the Physics Department (1F~8F), the Center for Condensed Matter Sciences (9F~13F), National Center for Theoretical Science (NCTS/TPE) (13F) and the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics of Academia Sinica (7F~8F). You can get a good view of Taipei city at the balcony of the 13th floor.

How to get to Howard International House:
This hotel is a part of the new conference center for government workers, which is very close to the new physics building.
Address:
No.30, Sec.3, Hsin-Sheng S. Rd., Taipei 106, Taiwan
Telephone: (02) 8369-1155.
The following is the hotel address in Chinese:

The charge is about NTD 1700 per night for a single room.
The map and the guide for public transportation refer to the following webpage:
Howard International House

How to get to the Leader Hotel:
This is a good hotel on campus, very close to the Gong-Guan area but farther (10 min. walk) away from the physics department.
Address:
No.83, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd.
TEL：00-886-2-8369-2858
FAX：00-886-2-8369-2859
Leader Hotel's webpage

How to get to the University guest house (Luming guest house):
Address:
No. 64, Lane 144, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd.,Taipei, Taiwan 106
Tel: 886-2-364-4803; 886-2-364-4804; 886-2-2363-2131#3724
Print out the map NTU map in case the taxi driver needs it.
The name and address of the NTU guest house in Chinese is

Print this page out and show the address to the driver.
The charge of guest house is about NTD 1000 per night for a single/double room.
It is cheaper but very basic compared with the hotels listed above.
The map:
Luming guest house

Getting around in Taipei:

Print out this form Names of places of interest in Chinese and English.
to ask for directions or to give orders to taxi drivers.

Taxi fares:
For trips within the big Taipei area (including Taipei city and other counties nearby), a taxi always charges by meter. You may have to pay a bit more (NTD 30~50) for taking taxi at a taxi stop or for using the trunk to store your luggage.

Telephones:
Dial (02) followed by the 8 digit number for Taipei if you call from the CKS airport or anywhere outside the city. There are 3 kinds of public phones, in addition to the kind that takes credit cards. They take coins, (old type) phone cards, and (so-called) IC cards, respectively. So you may not want to buy a phone card until you know what kind of telephone can be found at your convenience. Dial 0 first when using the phone in your office.

Electricity:
Same as the US (110Volts, 60Hz). Sockets are also the same.

Tourism:
Sightseeing information (Recommended sightseeing)

You can find more details about sightseeing in the following webpage: 
Taipei Travel Net
Taipei Entertainment Net

Restaurants:

See map for nearby restaurants.

All the Chinese characters you need to know to order in a Chinese restaurant:

Simply look for combinations of these characters and you can make a good guess about many items on the menu. If you don't want to take the risk, many coffee shops offer set meals and have picture menus.

There are all sorts of restaurants around campus. There are a few cafeteria on campus for students at very low prices.

Very close to the campus, on the other side of the Roosevelt Road, the Gong(1)-Guan(3)  area is full of small restaurants and shops. There are also a lot of food stands at night. It is a night market. There is an MRT station there.

On the other side of Hsin(1)-Sheng(1) S. Rd. across from the campus, scattered in the small streets and alleys are many nice restaurants, coffee shops and pubs.

On Hsin(1)-Sheng(1) S. Rd, going north from the campus, you will see a restaurant called  (Wistaria House) on your left, not far from the Howard international house. It is a historical heritage as well as a tea house. You can sit there for a cup or a pot of tea. They also serve nice healthy meals.

A famous restaurants for dumplings, which was ranked among the top 10 best restaurants in the world by New York Times, is Ding(3)-Tai(4)-Fung(1). It is located on Hsin(4)-Yi(4) Rd. , close to its intersection with Yong(3)-Kang(1) St.. Tel: 2321-8927, 2321-8928. Making reservation can save you a lot of time waiting outside.

Yong(3)-Kang(1) St. and the surrounding area is full of restaurants and small shops. It is a very interesting place to walk around. To get there from NTU, walk along Hsing(1)-Sheng(1) S. Rd to the north (opposite to the direction to Roosevelt Rd.). You will see a big part on your right (Da(4)-An(1) Forest Park). Turn left on Jin(1)-Hua(2) street and then right to Yong(3)-Kang(1) street and you are there. See the map Taipei City Map (2).

The NTNU (Shi(1)-Da(4)) Night market is the one closest to Howard international house. On the map Taipei City Map (2), it is somewhere between Howard and ShiDa Rd. (Closer to ShiDa Rd.)

Churches:

Catholic church:
Church in the Tien Education Center: 
Mass: Sun. 11am (in English)

Grace Baptist Church:
Bilingual worship: Sun. 4pm

Taipei Truth Lutheran Church

Exchange rates:
Foreign currency exchange rates

Local Weather:
Weather forecast for Taipei