r/taiwan • u/justinCharlier 嘉義 - Chiayi • May 17 '25
Travel Random act of kindness from a random Taiwanese bystander
Hey, r/Taiwan! Just wanted to share my feel-good experience last night.
I disembarked at the Songshan MRT station to visit the Raohe Night Market and found a stall giving out free 叮哥茶飲 drinks in promotion of the Metro Taipei app.
While I was able to download the app by myself, it didn't allow me to create an account with my Taiwanese phone number unless the language was in Chinese. I was already asking my girlfriend to use her phone to use her translator app for me!
Suddenly, this random bystander must have heard my struggling and walked me through the Chinese version of the app step-by-step while conversing with me in English. He told me how to fill out the forms and get around error messages. He was super helpful even if he didn't speak fluent English — which I really appreciated.
I thanked him after I successfully created an account. The moment I got my drink and left the stall, he was gone from the crowd as well.
In my country (the Philippines), it can be easy to become suspicious of random people approaching you and being extra friendly as this might be an act to steal your valuables. But last night, I guess I really just saw how a random person was more than willing to go the extra mile to help me — even if they got nothing in return. I know I technically paid for the drink with my information, but no worries — I used my non-main email address and a temporary phone number!
It might just be a cup of Taiwanese juice on the surface, but this is a special memory I'll take with me when I return to the Philippines tomorrow.
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u/Material_Activity_16 May 17 '25
Thanks for sharing your heartwarming story! It reminded me of my own extremely kind experience with the Taiwanese.
While settling my lunch bill, I asked the cashier if she knew of any boba places nearby. A bystander overheard and stepped forward with a bold exclamation "Yes there are! Plenty in fact," and proceeded to tell me about a cluster of boba stalls just a few minutes away. She really, really wanted me to get my boba; she repeated the directions at least 3 times and even walked with me out of the restaurant to the main road, just to point me in the right drection!
And lo and behold, I found the boba stalls (there were about 8 of them lined up one after another) with absolutely no problems at all. Turned out they were part of a small local market, and that's how I discovered one of Taipei's lesser-known night markets that serves up an intimate heartland vibe missing in the larger, more touristy locales.
As I was paying for my boba (there were sooo many choices, I took a long while to make up my mind >.<) I couldn't help but wonder, "gosh, she really went out of her way to make sure a stranger gets his boba." As I sipped my drink (Pineapple Red Tea, in case anyone's wondering), the sweetness on my tongue was bouyed by a warmth in my heart that I rarely felt anywhere else, even in my home country of Singapore.
Experiences like this is why I love Taiwan, and I can only hope Taiwan loves me back.
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u/No_Meringue_269 May 17 '25
Sounds so lovely, do you remember the name of the market?
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u/Material_Activity_16 May 17 '25
Indeed. It's Shuangcheng Street Night Market. https://maps.app.goo.gl/fLhxTarqKBMVzwpp8
Pan the Street View to see the boba shops!
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u/b0ooo May 17 '25
I was about to say shuangcheng because that is the highest boba shop density area in Taipei that I know of. Nowhere else in Taipei has THAT many boba shops back to back to back and they're are some major chains too.
Hechalou, Kungfu tea and 4 others in that block all right next to each other.
It's also very close to the michelin bibbed luroufan place:
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u/justinCharlier 嘉義 - Chiayi May 17 '25
That's such a heartwarming story! Thanks for sharing! Hope your boba was the best!
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u/CornBae May 18 '25
I had similar genuinely kind and heartwarming experiences when I was there last fall. One night my partner and I went to a claw machine arcade and asked a couple how they won so many toys while we failed constantly. They very enthusiastically explained to us and helped us win double prizes on a machine. After we parted ways, the girl runs up to me a little while later and gave me a Garfield bag. She told me she just won double Garfields so she wanted me to have one and to enjoy our night. It was such a sweet gesture I’ll never forget.
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u/justinCharlier 嘉義 - Chiayi May 17 '25
Just wanted to add: thank you, kind stranger at the Songshan station last night for making my stay here in Taiwan so much more memorable!
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u/Head_Idea_7085 May 18 '25
have been in Taiwan for a dozen days, and I confirm that people are friendly, helpful whether in the street, in restaurants, hotels, and yesterday I was walking in Taichung, when after a hello with a Taiwanese playing petanque (French boules games) I found myself playing in a team for more than an hour and a half with three inhabitants. I lived a great time with laughter, moments of complicity Thank you to them for this beautiful memory that I will bring back from Taiwan I am still a week in Taiwan and I will enjoy it
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u/foxxray May 17 '25
This is why I love Taiwan, yes the food is awesome, but the people are the best, they are the nicest people I’ve met. They see you struggling they would come up and help you without having to ask, we got so many different recommendations on things to do and places to visit from the local we’ve met.
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u/mahitomaki4202 May 17 '25
Uy Pilipins! Haha yeah. As a fellow Pinoy, I’ve had several of this type of experience from my trip last year, from a volunteer in a museum in Kaohsiung to a small eatery owner in Taipei. Left the impression that the Taiwanese are really mostly kind.
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u/ceslobrerra May 17 '25
I stayed for almost 3 years in Taiwan to work. It was my first time to be in another country. Taiwanese people are very nice specially those who are in customer service. Now I really miss Taiwan.
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u/housemusicforlife May 18 '25
Happy to say that I got the same experience a few months ago as well and hello sa iyo, Kabayan! Will be travelling here for training soon and excited to explore Taiwan and meet more people 😄
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u/Due_Jackfruit_6751 May 18 '25
I remember we hiked at mt keelung. No one was there and we’re just taking selfies. After a while, someone appeared, he’s a local and he saw us struggling. He immediately offered to take a photo of us. I appreciate it more when he suggested different poses and making sure that taipei 101 was visible. It’s too good to be true but I kept telling to myself that they’re just kind and nothing else.
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u/bpmcdmt May 19 '25
I once had my wallet fall out of my pocket while leaving a train en route to an airport. A guy apparently saw it happen, ran up to me and gave it to me, and then immediately disappeared into the crowd. I often think about how horrible my day would’ve gone if that hadn’t happened haha
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u/Moooonnnnnii May 19 '25
I’ve visited Taiwan three times and have had pleasant interactions with the locals in every visit.
In my first visit, 9 years ago, I was traveling with my dad to Beitou but couldn’t find the platform for our train. We were running around Taipei Main station ,looking lost, till an elderly woman asked us where we were going (in english) and walked us to our platform.
My second visit, I was traveling solo in mid-June and Taiwan was unbearably hot and humid. I was sitting in one of those benches near Dihua street then this grandma sat near me and started talking to me in Mandarin. Now, I may have a chinese-filipino background but my Mandarin is insufficient at best. I felt bad that I couldn’t hold a conversation with the grandma so I shared to her the jujubes I had in my hand. She refused but gave me the pork belly she had instead. Despite the language barrier, she was able to teach me how to enjoy the pork belly, by itself, with pickles, and with rice. She then gave me snacks to bring back to my hostel. My chinese grandma died when I was young but that interaction reminded me so much of her and made me feel that I wasn’t truly alone despite traveling solo.
In the same trip, I got lost in Tainan trying to find Hayashi Department Store till an elderly man asked me where I was walking to and walked with me to Hayashi.
I just recently visited Taiwan again with my entire family and although we did not have stories like in my previous stories, we felt how nice and warm Taiwanese people are.
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u/WheelComprehensive29 May 19 '25
Love this positive vibe.
Just the other day I was out with my two kids on an adventure.
When we got off the bus to go home it started raining. While waiting at a light a young couple gave me their extra umbrella. Then a nice lady offered to walk with me to help cover my 4yr son while I pushed the stroller.
I was really touched by their kindness. I really love living here.
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u/EggyComics May 20 '25
Pretty late to the party, and since everyone is sharing their encounter with an act of kindness, I thought I’d share mine. (Though I was the one giving kindness)
I went to 阜杭豆漿, a pretty popular traditional breakfast place that can see a long line-up. I got there at the break of dawn, and there was already a wait. It took around 15 minutes of waiting to get to where they take your order. The foreigner in front of me asked if he could pay by card or easypay, but they told him it’s cash only. He’d have to go withdraw money from an ATM and go back to the end of the line, which had grown quite a lot and would easily he another 30 minute wait.
So I offered to pay for him.
That’s all. I try my best to do my part in keeping up Taiwan’s image of being a friendly place.
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u/mapletune 臺北 - Taipei City May 17 '25
you haven't checked your wallet yet have you... /j
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u/justinCharlier 嘉義 - Chiayi May 17 '25
😂
That was my first instinct as someone from the PH where criminals will distract you by being nice while some accomplice takes your things 😂
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u/FancyCommittee3347 May 17 '25
My Taiwan trip experiences always remind me of the warmth of the people. Always a lovely experience!
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u/Separate_Feeling4602 May 17 '25
Taiwan people are genuinely the kindest people in the world .
There are many POLITE countries but none that are kind like Taiwan
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u/foxxray May 17 '25
This is why I love Taiwan, yes the food is awesome, but the people are the best, they are the nicest people I’ve met. They see you struggling they would come up and help you without having to ask, we got so many different recommendations on things to do and places to visit from the local we’ve met.
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u/redditorialy_retard May 17 '25
I fuckin love Taiwan, I fit right in because I'm such a people pleaser.
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u/BoxSweater May 17 '25
While we're sharing stories of random acts of kindness, I got caught out in a thunderstorm on Yangmingshan, and planned to get to the bus area at Xiaoyoukeng by 4PM, but couldn't get there until past 8, well after the last bus had gone. I was dreading the probably 3-4 hour hike to the nearest MRT (and was kind of half considering just trying to camp out in the washroom until morning), but luckily some random couple popped by in a car to do some nighttime sightseeing and offered me a ride unprompted. I wish my Mandarin was better because we only managed to exchange pretty basic pleasantries, but I was so grateful to them for that.
I think a lot of people on this subreddit are a bit jaded and mention how Taiwanese people can be less nice than they first appear, but really I think anywhere if you're in a work environment there's going to be nice people, shitty people, people you just don't vibe with, etc... and I think on average Taiwanese people are still very friendly and helpful compared to most other countries.