Kaohsiung is an easy city to visit, but a few everyday things catch people out: the convenience store that prints your train tickets, the receipt that might win you money, the truck that plays music for the rubbish, and the alerts for heat, dirty air and typhoons that come with a southern port city. Here's what they mean for you. For visas, money, SIM cards and emergency numbers, start with the basics.
The convenience store does more than snacks
7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life and OK Mart are on almost every corner, and most stay open around the clock. Each has a self-service kiosk, ibon at 7-Eleven and FamiPort at FamilyMart. The kiosk prints a slip, and you pay for it at the counter. Its screens are mostly in Chinese, so have your booking ready on your phone to show the staff.
| What you need | How it works |
|---|---|
| High Speed Rail tickets | All four chains sell and print THSR tickets, including ones booked online. Pay in cash at the counter within 10 minutes of printing the slip; the fee is NT$10 a ticket. |
| Taiwan Railway tickets | Collect tickets booked online at the same four chains, again paying within 10 minutes (NT$8 a ticket at 7-Eleven). Changes are made at a station, not the store. |
| Concert tickets | Many ticket sites let you collect at ibon or FamiPort, for a small fee that varies by event. → What's on |
| Printing | Upload a file to ibon or FamiPort cloud printing, get a code, and print it at the store. |
| A transit card | Buy an iPASS for NT$100 and top it up at the counter. |
| Old batteries | Chain convenience stores, drugstores and supermarkets take used batteries for recycling. |
Paying, receipts and bags
iPASS (一卡通) is Kaohsiung's own card. It started in 2008 with the MRT Red Line, the city government and the metro company are among its owners, and its head office is in Qianzhen. It pays for the MRT, the light rail and the Cijin ferry, and for small things at every 7-Eleven and FamilyMart. Taipei's EasyCard works here too. Night market stalls and breakfast shops still want cash. → Getting around
Every receipt is a lottery ticket. Taiwan's uniform invoice (統一發票) carries a number, and the Ministry of Finance draws winners on the 25th of every odd month, for the two months before. The top prize is NT$10 million. Visitors can claim: use your passport, from the 6th of the following month, for three months. Prizes of NT$10,000 and up have 20% tax taken off. If the cashier asks about a carrier (載具), that's the phone barcode residents use to store receipts; a paper receipt is fine.
Bring a bag. Convenience stores, supermarkets, department stores, fast food chains, pharmacies, drinks shops, bakeries and bookshops may not give out free plastic shopping bags. You'll be offered one for a small charge.
Rubbish and the music truck
Kaohsiung runs on a rule called "rubbish never touches the ground" (垃圾不落地). There are no kerbside bins: residents carry their bags out when the city's truck comes down the street playing music, and hand them over. Recycling goes to a second truck, and food waste into a separate bin, drained, with raw scraps and cooked leftovers kept apart. Household rubbish needs no special bags; the fee is part of the water bill.
- No collection on Wednesdays and Sundays, anywhere in the city. Holiday changes, such as Lunar New Year, are announced by the city's Environmental Protection Bureau.
- Finding the truck: the bureau's lookup site (kepbgps.kcg.gov.tw) and its app, 高雄市清潔資訊即時查詢, list collection points and times by district.
- As a visitor: keep your rubbish in your bag until you're back at your hotel, and sort it there the way the room asks.
Heat, sun and water
Kaohsiung is hot from May to October. The Central Weather Administration issues high temperature information in three colours:
| Level | When | Advice |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | 36°C or more | Cut back on outdoor activity and exercise, drink plenty of water |
| Orange | 36°C or more for three days, or 38°C or more | Avoid outdoor activity you don't need |
| Red | 38°C or more for three days | Avoid outdoor activity, cool down indoors |
The Ministry of Environment's Cool Map (taiwancoolmap.moenv.gov.tw) shows more than 10,000 places across Taiwan to cool off, from shaded spots outdoors to libraries, district offices and convenience stores, with icons for air conditioning, seats, drinking water and toilets.
Tap water: boil it. Taiwan Water says its water meets drinking standards, but building tanks and household pipes can spoil it, so it asks people to boil it first. The white residue in the kettle is calcium and magnesium, and harmless.
Typhoon days
Typhoons hit Taiwan three or four times in an average year, most often in August, then July and September. When one is coming, the mayor decides whether Kaohsiung stops work and school. A full day off is announced between 19:00 and 22:00 the evening before (or by 04:30 if decided overnight), and the national list at dgpa.gov.tw shows every city's decision. Sometimes only the mountain districts close.
What a typhoon day looks like: when Typhoon Krathon came ashore in October 2024, the MRT ran a train every 20 minutes, while the light rail, the Cijin ferry, city buses and YouBike stopped. On a typhoon day in November 2025, the MRT ran every 15 minutes and the light rail every 20. Taxis add NT$50 to the fare on a declared typhoon day. Keep the day for indoor sights: here's a rainy day plan.
Air quality in winter
The dry season has a catch. From October to March, Kaohsiung's air is often at its worst: in winter the air near the ground mixes less, and with the northeast monsoon blocked by the Central Mountain Range, pollution lingers over Kaohsiung and Pingtung. Check the Air Quality Index on the Ministry of Environment's site (airtw.moenv.gov.tw) or its app, 環境即時通:
| AQI | Level |
|---|---|
| 0 to 50 | Good (green) |
| 51 to 100 | Moderate (yellow) |
| 101 to 150 | Unhealthy for sensitive groups (orange) |
| 151 to 200 | Unhealthy (red) |
| 201 to 300 | Very unhealthy (purple) |
| 301 to 500 | Hazardous (maroon) |
On an orange or red day, swap the harbor walk for a museum.
Earthquake alarms
Taiwan's phones get earthquake early warnings by cell broadcast, a loud alarm with a message marked 國家級警報 (national alert), sent when a strong quake is expected where you are. It can come a few seconds before the shaking, or more. The Central Weather Administration's advice: drop, cover and hold on, keep away from windows, and don't run outside or take the lift. Outdoors, stand in the open or under a shop arcade, away from signs. On the coast, at Cijin or the harbor, move away from the water.
On foot
Walk as if no one has seen you, especially at crossings, where turning scooters and cars often cut across even when your light is green. The law now backs pedestrians: since 30 June 2023, drivers who fail to stop for someone crossing can be fined up to NT$6,000, with a gap of about three metres as the test. But Kaohsiung still had 307 road deaths in 2025, the most of any city or county in Taiwan, 38 of them pedestrians. → Taxis and scooters
On the MRT and light rail, no eating or drinking, plain water included: past the MRT gates and inside the trams, with fines of NT$1,500 to NT$7,500.
Temples, firecrackers and Ghost Month
Temple processions set off firecrackers in the street, and religious festivals need no permit for them. The city does draw a line at night: no firecrackers that bang or whistle from 22:00 to 08:00. Ghost Month, the seventh lunar month, runs from 2 to 31 August in 2027, with the Zhongyuan festival on 16 August. → Festivals, month by month
Staying longer, or moving to Taiwan for work? Inside Hsinchu covers the settling-in side, from paying bills to deliveries and phone plans, in its guide to everyday life in Taiwan.
→ The basics · Best time to visit · Plan your trip
Sources: convenience store tickets: Taiwan High Speed Rail, Taiwan Railway, ibon tickets, ibon printing and FamiPort printing; iPASS: iPASS and KRTC; receipt lottery: Ministry of Finance; plastic bags: Ministry of Environment; rubbish: Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau, its rubbish rules, food waste rules and apps; batteries: Ministry of Environment; heat: Central Weather Administration and the Cool Map; tap water: Taiwan Water; typhoons: Central Weather Administration, closure rules, DGPA, CNA and Liberty Times; air quality: Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau and the Ministry of Environment; earthquakes: alerts and safety advice from the Central Weather Administration; pedestrians: Ministry of Transportation and UDN; MRT eating rules: KRTC; firecrackers: Kaohsiung Fire Bureau; Ghost Month dates: Hong Kong Observatory. Checked November 2026.