People in Taiwan speak Mandarin Chinese (中文 zhōngwén). Mandarin became the main language of Taiwan after World War II. Another common language is Taiwanese Hokkien (台語 táiyǔ), which came from early settlers in Southern China. Hakka (客家話 kèjiāhuà) is another language some families speak, and there are several Indigenous languages that have been spoken here for thousands of years! Taiwanese Hokkien and Hakka are used by many older people. English is taught in schools, so if you visit Taiwan, you might hear a mix of Mandarin, English, and Indigenous languages.
The money used in Taiwan is called the New Taiwan dollar (NTD), or 新台幣 (xīn tái bì) in Chinese. The symbol that you will see is NT$. This has been the country’s official currency since 1949. Today, you’ll see coins (1, 5, 10, and 50 NTD) and colorful paper bills (100, 500, and 1,000 NTD).
A bottle of water usually costs around 25-50 NTD (0.80-1.60 USD).
