Taiwan, seen from Vietnam

Close on the map and familiar in many ways, Taiwan still surprises Vietnamese visitors. A look at the island through a Vietnamese lens: what feels like home, and what does not.

15 October 2026Đài Loan2 min read1 viewsTaiwan

An alley in Taiwan with old buildings and greenery

For Vietnamese people, Taiwan is one of the nearest places abroad: a few hours' flight from Hà Nội or Hồ Chí Minh City, in the same monsoon world, with rice, noodles and scooters on every street. It is also a place where many Vietnamese now live, work and study. That closeness makes it an easy first trip abroad, and a place that rewards a second, closer look.

What feels familiar

The rhythm of the street will feel known: scooters waiting at the lights, narrow alleys with shops on the ground floor and homes above, morning markets, small family-run eateries. The lunar calendar shapes the year in both places, with the Lunar New Year as the biggest holiday and ancestor altars in many homes. Much of the world of Taiwanese temples, from incense coils to the earth god guarding the neighbourhood, will be recognisable to anyone who grew up near a Vietnamese pagoda or communal house.

A crowded street market under colourful umbrellas

What is different

Taiwan is an island of mountains, which few Vietnamese expect. The high ranges in the centre shape where people live, and most of the population is concentrated on the western plain. Cities are orderly in ways that can surprise: queues at the MRT, rubbish trucks that announce themselves with music, quiet carriages on public transport. Written Chinese is everywhere, in traditional characters. Older Vietnamese may recognise some of them from the Hán script on temple boards at home, but most of us cannot read them.

A Vietnamese Taiwan

There is also a Vietnamese Taiwan. Vietnamese shops, phở and bánh mì can be found in many cities, often near train stations or industrial areas. Many Taiwanese families include Vietnamese mothers who came through marriage, and Vietnamese is among the new immigrant languages offered in Taiwanese schools. For a Vietnamese visitor, hearing your own language in a market is not unusual.

A cup of milk tea topped with cinnamon

A note from Tainan

Living in Tainan as a student, I find that the south feels closest to home: the heat, the long afternoons, the habit of eating out. Taiwan is not Vietnam, and it is worth arriving without assuming it will be. But for many of us it is a neighbour that is easy to grow fond of, and easy to keep coming back to.

Photos: philippsaal, faizkun, sam651030 on Pixabay, used under the Pixabay Content License. These are not my photographs.

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