Once you have a lease and a phone number, a second layer of Tainan life shows up: the food waste bucket, the receipt with a lottery number on it, the parcel that won't clear customs, the night the mayor calls a typhoon day. None of it is hard, but nobody hands you a list. This is that list, built from the city's and the national government's own pages.
The traveler basics (cash, the EasyCard, SIM cards, emergency numbers) are on our practical basics page, and the garbage truck, kiosks and toilets are in everyday tips for visitors. This page starts where those stop.
Rubbish at home: three piles, four nights a week
Tainan's environmental protection bureau (臺南市政府環境保護局) sorts household waste into three kinds: rubbish, food waste and recycling. Keep three containers in the kitchen and life gets easier.
- Collection days. Rubbish is collected four days a week, not every day. Which four depends on your district and route, so look up your stop in the city's 臺南環保通 app or the bureau's collection lookup. Each route also takes recycling on two of those days.
- Food waste (廚餘). It goes in the separate bucket on the truck, not in your rubbish bag. Tainan still asks for two kinds: cooked food, meat, fish, tofu and rice in one; raw or rotten fruit and vegetables, tea leaves, coffee grounds, eggshells and small fruit pits in the other. Bones, durian and coconut shells, corn cobs, pineapple tops and garden clippings go in ordinary rubbish, because the composting plant can't handle them.
- Why food waste changed. After Taiwan's first African swine fever case in October 2025, the national government ended the feeding of household food waste to pigs from 1 January 2026. Tainan kept the separate collection. Inspectors check rubbish bags for food waste and recyclables, and fines go up to NT$6,000.
- Recycling. The city's list covers paper, cartons, cans, plastics (bags and styrofoam too), glass, clothes, small appliances, phones and chargers, light bulbs, dry and lead-acid batteries, cooking oil and even umbrella ribs and strollers.
- Furniture and other big items. Book a free large-item pickup (大型廢棄物清運) through the bureau's online service or the app. The crews take household furniture and sorted DIY repair waste, but not a contractor's tiles, concrete or old roof sheets.
- Don't leave bags out. Rubbish left at a corner off-schedule can bring a fine of NT$1,200 to NT$6,000.
When you choose a home, ask how rubbish works in the building: some have their own rubbish room, others mean meeting the truck yourself. → Old house, new condo or resale?
Bills and National Health Insurance
Most household bills can be paid at the convenience store counter. 7-Eleven lists water, electricity, gas, phone and cable bills, National Health Insurance premiums, roadside parking, traffic fines and taxes (up to NT$30,000 per tax bill) among the bills it takes. Hand over the paper bill, pay, and keep the stamped receipt.
On health insurance, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) rules for foreign residents are:
- Working here? You join from your first day of legal employment, through your employer.
- Not employed? With an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC), you join after six months living in Taiwan. One trip abroad of under 30 days is allowed, with the days away taken off the count.
- Families. Spouses and minor children of foreign professionals join from the day their ARC is issued.
- Keep your ARC current. The NHIA warns that you lose your coverage if your ARC expires, so renew it in time.
Once enrolled you get an NHI card, which you show at every clinic and hospital. The NHIA's own app, 全民健保行動快易通｜健康存摺, shows your medical records and payments and offers a virtual NHI card.
Receipts are lottery tickets
Every shop receipt here is a uniform invoice (統一發票) with an eight-digit number, and the Ministry of Finance draws winning numbers every two months. The top prize is NT$10 million, so don't throw them away unchecked.
Easier still is a carrier (載具): a personal "mobile barcode" (手機條碼) on your phone. Show it at the till and your receipts are stored in the cloud instead of printed. The ministry's app, 統一發票兌獎, checks them for you after each draw, and ARC holders can claim prizes in the app straight into a Taiwan bank or post office account.
Parcels from abroad: EZ WAY
If you shop from overseas sites, set up EZ WAY (易利委), the real-name app the Customs Administration (關務署) uses for express parcels. ARC holders have been able to register since March 2021 with an ARC number, name, phone number and date of birth. When a parcel is declared in your name and phone number, the app shows you the customs declaration and you confirm it, instead of signing paper forms for the broker.
- Register while you're in Taiwan. Since June 2025 the app blocks registration from overseas internet connections.
- Names must match. The declaration is pushed to you only when the consignee's Chinese name and phone number match your registration, so use those on your orders.
The city's own channels
- 1999. Tainan City Government's 24-hour citizen hotline. Dial 1999 inside Tainan, or 06-632-6303 from elsewhere. It's the place to report things like a broken streetlight.
- Pollution and noise complaints: the environmental bureau's free line, 0800-066-666.
- LINE. The city government's official LINE account is @tncg, linked from its own website.
Typhoon days and earthquake alerts
When a typhoon is on its way, Tainan's mayor decides whether schools and offices close. Under the national rules, a full-day or morning closure is announced between 19:00 and 22:00 the evening before, or by 04:30 if the weather worsens overnight; an afternoon closure by 10:30. Every city's decision appears on the central government's work and school closures page. Private employers aren't bound by it: closure there is agreed between employer and staff under labour law. → When typhoon season runs
Your phone will also carry earthquake early warnings (地震速報) from the Central Weather Administration. They come with a forced alarm sound and go to counties where the shaking is expected to reach intensity 4 or more in a quake of magnitude 5.0 or more, or intensity 3 or more in a quake of magnitude 6.5 or more. The alert can arrive seconds before the shaking.
Dengue season
Dengue is spread by mosquitoes that breed in standing water around homes. Taiwan CDC's routine is 巡倒清刷: check around your home, especially after rain; turn over or put away containers; throw out the ones you don't need, such as bottles, cans and plant saucers; and scrub any water container you keep at least once a week to remove eggs.
This is a legal duty, not just advice. Under the Communicable Disease Control Act, owners and users of a place with mosquito breeding sources must clear them, with fines of NT$3,000 to NT$15,000. If you get a fever with headache, pain behind the eyes, or muscle and joint pain, see a doctor and mention it. Taiwan CDC's free hotline is 1922.
Temple life on your street
Your neighborhood temple runs on the lunar calendar, so its festivals move around the Western calendar from year to year. On a god's birthday or a procession (遶境) day, expect drums, firecrackers and closed lanes. Treat it as a show: step aside, watch, and check what's on in Tainan this month for the big ones. → What the processions and offerings mean
If you're still choosing a home, it's one more reason to visit a place at different times of day before you sign.
Forms, dates and addresses
- Minguo years. Official forms and bills use the Republic of China calendar, which counts from 1912: 2026 is 民國115年, so 115/11/03 means 3 November 2026.
- Address order. Chinese addresses run from big to small: city, district, road, section, lane (巷), alley (弄), number (號), floor (樓). English versions run the other way.
- Translating your address. Chunghwa Post's address translation tool gives the official English form for mail. For taxis and deliveries, keep the Chinese version on your phone. → Getting around Tainan
The water tank on the roof
Many buildings store tap water in a rooftop tank or a basement cistern before it reaches your tap. Taiwan Water (台灣自來水公司) advises cleaning them at least every six months, ideally by a qualified cleaning company. Ask your landlord or building manager when it was last done. After a water cut, don't drink the tap water straight away.
Good to know
- Rubbish: four collection days a week, two for recycling; food waste goes in the truck's bucket, sorted cooked from raw.
- Big items: free pickup, booked online or in the 臺南環保通 app.
- Health insurance: from day one if employed; otherwise after six months on an ARC.
- Receipts: keep them, or use a mobile barcode and let the app check.
- Parcels: register EZ WAY with your ARC before you order.
- Hotlines: 1999 for the city, 0800-066-666 for pollution, 1922 for disease questions.
Sources
Rubbish, recycling and large items: Tainan City Environmental Protection Bureau, four-day collection Q&A, sorting page (recycling list and food waste categories), large-item pickup and contacts. Food waste: United Daily News, 7 April 2026 and CNA via UDN, 31 December 2025. Bills: 7-Eleven. Health insurance: NHIA, foreign nationals with an ARC and ARC renewal reminder and NHIA app. Receipts: Ministry of Finance and prize claim rules. Parcels: Customs Administration and CNA, June 2025. City channels: Tainan City Government and its streetlight notice. Typhoon days: 天然災害停止上班及上課作業辦法 (articles 9, 10 and 18). Earthquake alerts: Central Weather Administration. Dengue: Taiwan CDC, 26 May 2026; Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法) articles 25 and 70. Addresses: Chunghwa Post. Water tanks: Taiwan Water. Checked November 2026.