Our practical basics cover the big things: cash, the EasyCard, SIM cards, plugs and emergency numbers. This page is the next layer down, the small daily habits that take a few days to work out on your own. The short version first.
- The convenience store is a service counter. Its kiosk prints, sells tickets and books taxis, and the counter takes payment for high speed rail tickets.
- For cash, use an ATM on the official list. Taiwan's central bank lists 1,715 ATMs in Tainan that take cards issued abroad, many of them inside 7-Eleven and FamilyMart.
- Rubbish goes on a truck, not in a street bin. Carry a small bag and take your rubbish back to your hotel.
- Respect the heat. From May to October, plan your walking for the morning and evening.
- Watch for scooters on the road and in the shaded walkways in front of shops.
The convenience store as a service counter
You will use 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life and OK Mart for water, snacks and EasyCard top-ups. They do far more than that. The touchscreen kiosk by the door (ibon in 7-Eleven, FamiPort in FamilyMart) is a print shop and ticket office in one.
- English on screen. ibon has English and Japanese options.
- Printing and scanning. ibon prints from a storage device you plug in or a file you upload, and scans documents. Handy for a boarding pass or a booking confirmation.
- Tickets. ibon has a ticket center for events, and both kiosks print slips that you take to the counter to pay.
- Taxis and parcels. ibon can call a taxi and send parcels, including by international express.
- High speed rail tickets. If you book online, you can pay for and collect your ticket at the counter of 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life or OK Mart. The store adds NT$10 per ticket, you need your booking number and passport number, and the payment slip expires 10 minutes after it prints, so take it straight to the counter. → Taipei to Tainan
Hot food. The counter is also a cheap snack bar: tea eggs, steamed buns, oden, rice balls and microwave meals the staff will heat for you. It is no substitute for Tainan's food, but it is open all night. → Food guide
ATMs that take foreign cards
Not every ATM in Taiwan takes a card from abroad. The central bank publishes the official list of ATMs for international card withdrawals, and in late October 2026 it held 1,715 machines in Tainan. The name you will see on the screen is the bank that runs the machine:
| Where | Bank running listed ATMs |
|---|---|
| 7-Eleven | CTBC Bank (中國信託), which lists international card withdrawals among its 7-Eleven ATM services |
| FamilyMart | Taishin Bank (台新), Cathay United Bank (國泰世華) or E.SUN Bank (玉山) |
| Hi-Life | Cathay United Bank (國泰世華) |
| Post offices | Chunghwa Post (中華郵政) |
A few handy spots on the list: the Tainan high speed rail station, Hayashi Department Store and the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department stores. Fees for foreign cards depend on your own bank as well as the ATM, so check before you travel. → Cash, cards and exchanging money
Paying: cards, the EasyCard and cash
The rule from our basics page holds: cards at hotels, department stores and bigger shops, cash at stalls, breakfast counters and the old food shops. Two things make the middle ground easier.
- Your EasyCard is also a wallet. Beyond buses and YouBike, it pays at convenience stores, supermarkets, food and drink outlets and other shops that show the EasyCard logo.
- Keep small notes. NT$100 notes and coins are what stalls want. Break a NT$1,000 note at a convenience store, not at a stall with a queue behind you.
Rubbish and the garbage trucks
Plan on carrying your rubbish back to your hotel: a small bag in your day pack makes this painless. Household rubbish in Tainan doesn't wait in bins on the street. Garbage trucks stop at set collection points at set times, and residents bring their bags out when the truck arrives. Like garbage trucks across Taiwan, they play classical music so people know they are coming.
Staying in an apartment rental? Ask your host how rubbish works in the building. If you have to meet the truck yourself, the city's environmental protection bureau publishes an app, 臺南環保通, that shows collection schedules for each stop and where the trucks are right now. Recycling has its own system, so ask your host about that too. Moving here for longer? → Rubbish, food waste and recycling for residents
Toilets
- Where to find one. Train stations, museums, department stores and big parks have restrooms. Some convenience stores have one for customers; ask the staff.
- Toilet paper goes in the toilet. Since June 2017, public toilets across Taiwan have followed the national environment agency's policy of flushing used toilet paper. If a sign asks you not to flush, follow the sign.
- Pocket tissues go in the bin. They don't break up in water. Carry a packet anyway, for the restroom that has run out.
The heat, and staying cool
Tainan is hot for much of the year. Taiwan's weather agency figures put average highs at 31 to 33°C (87 to 91°F) from May to October, with 24 to 29 days over 30°C in each of those months, and humidity stays around 74 to 78% all year. → Tainan's weather month by month
- Walk early and late. Do the old town on foot in the morning and after about 16:00, and spend the middle of the day indoors: a museum, Hayashi Department Store or a café. → indoor ideas for a rainy day
- Use the Cool Map. Taiwan's Ministry of Environment runs the Cool Map (抗高溫涼適地圖), and Tainan was in its first phase. It shows shaded outdoor spots and cool indoor places within 500 meters of you, with icons for air conditioning, seats, water dispensers and restrooms. Public places such as the Anping Tree House, the Tainan Art Museum and the new main city library were among the first Tainan spots, and FamilyMart has signed up more than 3,100 stores across Taiwan as places to rest and cool down.
- Drink before you're thirsty. Carry water, wear a hat, and use the shade of the arcades.
Scooters, arcades and walking
Many old streets have no proper pavement. Instead, the ground floor of each building is set back to make a covered walkway, the arcade (騎樓). It is shady and pleasant, but it is also where scooters park. Since 1 January 2025, Tainan has allowed scooters to park in arcades as long as a walkway at least 1.5 meters wide is left clear, and riders are meant to push their scooters there, not ride them.
- Expect to weave. Arcade floors change height from one building to the next, and parked scooters narrow the way. Watch your step, especially with a stroller or a suitcase.
- Look both ways twice when you step into the road, even on a green light, and listen for scooters coming out of lanes.
- Walking with kids? → Tainan with kids
Laundry
Self-service laundromats (自助洗衣) with coin-operated washers and dryers are part of everyday life in Taiwan. In Tainan's heat you will wash more than you planned, so ask at your hotel desk whether it has guest machines or a laundry service before you go looking, and bring a bag for carrying clothes there and back.
Temples
You will walk past temples on almost every street, and you're welcome to go in. A few small courtesies go a long way: dress modestly, step over the raised thresholds rather than on them, speak softly, and never walk between someone praying and the altar. → Temple culture and etiquette
Sources
Kiosk services: ibon (7-Eleven). High speed rail tickets at convenience stores: Taiwan High Speed Rail. ATMs for international cards: Central Bank list via the government open data platform (updated 28 October 2026); 7-Eleven ATM services: 7-Eleven. EasyCard: scope of use. The garbage truck app: 臺南環保通 (Tainan City Government) and Taiwan News; the truck music: TaiwanPlus. Toilet paper policy: PTS News and Focus Taiwan. Cool Map: Reccessary, 1 August 2025; FamilyMart: United Daily News, 11 June 2026. Weather: Central Weather Administration figures on our best time to visit page. Scooters in arcades: PTS / PNN, 19 December 2024. Checked October 2026.