2. Seeing is Believing: If someone says they will do something for you or you hear "may gwan she" (no problem) take it with a little salt. If you take your scooter in for repair and they can fix it with a Band Aid they will.

3. Driving- You'll soon learn traffic laws have the same meaning as "trust me" Los Angeles, nothing. Go with the flow, forget about where your from and drive like the natives. If you have a non injury accident things can usually be settled with some cash. Whether your giving or receiving is up to you. While your racing around the city keep one thing in mind, the ambulances tend to be vans with a stretcher in the back. If your seriously hurt there won't be any beautiful Paramedic to stitch you up on the way to the hospital.

4. The Streets- The major east west streets are named after Chinese numerals. Wufu is 5th Ave. 5 in Chinese is Wu, get it...They run south to north in ascending order with Chishen (7th) in about the center of the city.

5. Speaking Chinese- Let's face it, it's a long term process. Start with the basic phrases and move up from there. A few good books are "Making Out In Chinese" ISBN 4-900737-13-5. It gives you some basics but more importantly has stuff like "I've got a hangover" and other relevant things you don't normally see in translation books. Another good book is the Berlitz Chinese phrase book and dictionary. ISBN 2-8315-6265-1 a great little book that is divided up into categories. If your interested in learning the characters the best book is "Reading and Writing Chinese" ISBN 957-606-338-8. It gives you the 2000 most commonly used characters.

6. Internet- Anywhere that has computer games will have Internet access. It usually runs 20 to 30 NT per hour. "Wo yo wang loo" is "I want the Internet" in Chinese.

Last but not least, try not to rest your chopsticks standing up in your food when your not eating. You only do that when someone has died and it is the prayer offering....