Taiwan etiquette: rubbish, the MRT, temples, hot springs and tipping

Carry your rubbish with you, because public bins are scarce, and don’t eat or drink on the MRT. Bathe nude in single-sex hot springs but wear a swimsuit in mixed ones. Don’t tip: hotels and restaurants usually add 10%.

Where are you?

• On the MRT: don’t eat, drink or chew gum past the gates. The fine is NT$1,500 to NT$7,500.1Mass Rapid Transit Act, art. 50 (opens in a new tab)law.moj.gov.tw
• On a crowded train or bus: leave the priority seats for people with disabilities, older people, pregnant women, children and anyone else in genuine need.2Taipei Times, July 2025 (opens in a new tab)taipeitimes.com
• Out with rubbish in your hand: keep it until you find a bin. Taipei cut its street bins from about 3,100 to 1,800 in 2015, and removed about 500 more in 2020.3Taipei Times, February 2023 (opens in a new tab)taipeitimes.com Dropping litter, cigarette butts or gum can be fined NT$1,200 to NT$100,000.4Waste Disposal Act, art. 27 and 50 (opens in a new tab)law.moj.gov.tw
• At a temple: use a side door; the central one is for the gods. More.
• At a hot spring: shower first, then bathe nude in single-sex baths, or in a swimsuit in mixed pools and river springs. More.
• Paying the bill: a 10% service charge is customary in hotels and restaurants.5Tourism Administration (opens in a new tab)eng.taiwan.net.tw Customers rarely tip on top, and some restaurants refuse tips.6Taipei Times, July 2013 (opens in a new tab)taipeitimes.com
• Staying in a flat: take your rubbish out to the truck when you hear its music. More.

If it doesn’t go to plan

• No swimsuit? Use a single-sex bath, where everyone bathes nude.
• Rather not hold incense? Put your palms together instead.7Taoyuan Tourism (opens in a new tab)travel.tycg.gov.tw
• Lost inside a big temple? Follow its map of the route round the shrines, if it has one.8Taoyuan Tourism (opens in a new tab)travel.tycg.gov.tw
• Service charge on the bill? That’s the tip. Leave nothing extra.

At a temple

From Taoyuan’s tourism office (opens in a new tab):

• Keep out of the central door. It’s for the gods and opens only for major festivals.
• Go in by the dragon door and out by the tiger door. Each has a painted or carved dragon or tiger beside it.
• Don’t eat meat once you’re through the gate.
• To pray, take one or three incense sticks and pay your respects at the Jade Emperor censer outside, then to the temple’s main god.
• Ask before you take photos inside. Some temples ban them, such as Zhai-Ming Monastery in Daxi.

At a hot spring

From the Tourism Administration’s hot spring guide (opens in a new tab), unless marked:

• Shower before you get in, and rinse again before moving to another pool.
• Single-sex baths are nude. Bring a towel, not a swimsuit.9Taipei Times, December 2013 (opens in a new tab)taipeitimes.comTaipei Times, November 2014 (opens in a new tab)taipeitimes.com
• Wear a swimsuit in river springs and mixed pools. Venues with both kinds of bath, such as Emperor Spa, ask for one only in the unisex baths.10Taiwan Hot Spring (opens in a new tab)taiwanhotspring.net
• Keep your towel out of the water. Fold it on your head if you want it.
• Don’t swim, splash or put your head under, and don’t wash your face or hair in the pool.
• Skip it if you’re drunk, hungry or just full from a big meal.

Rubbish and recycling

• Rubbish trucks play music: Für Elise or A Maiden’s Prayer. Residents carry out sorted rubbish as they arrive.11Taipei Times, July 2025 (opens in a new tab)taipeitimes.com
• Sort it first. General rubbish goes into the yellow compactor truck; food waste and recycling go into bins on a second vehicle.12Taipei Times, July 2025 (opens in a new tab)taipeitimes.com
• In Taipei, general rubbish must go in government-approved blue bags, which you buy.13Taipei Times, July 2025 (opens in a new tab)taipeitimes.com