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Taiwan is a large island south of Japan and east of the Chinese mainland. When the communists took over in China in 1949, ousted leader Chiang Kai Shek retreated to Taiwan with his government, defiantly retaining the name ‘Republic of China’ (ROC). It should not be confused with The People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland.! A modern rail system links most large towns and cities in Taiwan, and a new high-speed (300km/h) railway opened in January 2007 between the two biggest cities, Taipei and Kaohsiung. Taipei – Kaohsiung (by 300 km/h high-speed trains)… A brand-new high speed (300 km/h) train service using Japanese bullet train technology started running in January 2007 between Taipei and Kaohsiung. It is run by the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation, www.thsrc.com.tw (English button top right). ***** The 300km/h trains link Taipei and Kaohsiung every half hour throughout the day, or at times more frequently; ***** journey time is 1 hour 40 minutes on the faster trains, 1 hour 55 minutes on the slower services; ***** The fare is 1490 Taiwan dollars (£25 or ) in economy class, 2440 Taiwan dollars (£40 or ) in business class. ***** The station in Kaohsiung is actually at Zuoying in the north of the city. You can take a frequent local train service from New Zuoying station (in the same building as the Zuoying high speed station) to Kaohsiung main station in the city centre, journey time 10 minutes. You can buy tickets for this local train from the ticket …
