Money
Bring cash as well as a card. Hotels, chain stores and bigger restaurants take cards. The small family shops, breakfast stalls and night market stands are where you'll want to eat, and they often don't: some take only cash or local mobile payments. Every town has convenience stores, and they have ATMs.
EasyCard on trains and buses
Get an EasyCard (悠遊卡) or iPASS (一卡通) at any convenience store and top it up there too. It saves you buying a ticket for every ride. Tap in and out at the station gates on Taiwan Railway's local trains. You can tap onto the ordinary Tze-Chiang trains too, but with no seat, and past the first 50 km you pay the full Tze-Chiang fare, so from Taipei a ticket is the better deal. On most buses, tap on as you board, and again as you get off if the driver asks.
Not on the fast trains: the Puyuma, Taroko and 3000-series Tze-Chiang trains can't be boarded with an EasyCard. Ride one on a card and it counts as riding without a ticket, so you pay the fare plus a 50% surcharge. Buy a ticket for those. → Train tickets and fares
Visitor centers
The two you're most likely to walk past are at Yilan Station and the Jiaoxi bus terminal. There are more along the coast:
- Yilan Station: daily 09:00 to 18:00, at the station in Yilan City. Phone 03-931-2152. Foreign-language service, and it can help you book a hotel.
- Jiaoxi Transfer Station: daily 09:00 to 17:00, at the bus terminal where the Taipei buses stop. Phone 03-987-2998. Foreign-language service.
- Dongshan River Water Park: daily 08:00 to 17:30, closed on Lunar New Year's Eve. Phone 03-950-2097.
- Nanfang'ao, Zhuangwei and Dali (the National Scenic Area's centers on the coast): daily 09:00 to 17:00.
Stuck? The national tourist hotline, 0800-011-765, is free and answers around the clock in Mandarin, English, Japanese and Korean. The county's own tourism site is travel.yilan.gov.tw.
Rain gear
Whatever the month, pack for rain. Yilan averages about 190 rain days a year, and from October to January it rains on more days than not. Bring a compact umbrella, a light rain jacket and shoes that cope with wet paths, plus something warm for the mountains, which are much colder than the coast. If you're caught out, every convenience store sells umbrellas and ponchos. → Weather by month · A rainy day in Yilan
Typhoons and earthquakes
From July to October, check the weather before every travel day. The Central Weather Administration (cwa.gov.tw, in English) issues the typhoon sea and land warnings and the earthquake reports. A typhoon cancels buses and trains, closes mountain roads and keeps the Guishan Island boats in port. When the county declares a typhoon day, offices and schools close, and many sights do too.
Taiwan has frequent earthquakes, and most are small. If you feel a strong one:
- Drop, cover, hold on (趴下、掩護、穩住): get down, shelter under a sturdy table, hold on, and protect your head and neck.
- Don't use lifts during or after a quake.
- On a trail or mountain road, move away from cliffs and slopes, and watch for rockfall.
Taiwan's national emergency alerts (國家級警報) go to phones for strong earthquakes and other dangers. They are loud and in Chinese. If your phone goes off with one, take cover first and read it later.
Emergency numbers
- Police: 110
- Fire and ambulance: 119
- Emergency from a mobile with poor reception: 112
- Coast Guard, sea rescue: 118
One thing that catches visitors out: Taiwan switched off 3G in 2024, so a phone or SIM without 4G voice (VoLTE) can't call anyone, these numbers included. A local SIM or eSIM avoids the problem.
Tap water
Boil it first. Tap water meets Taiwan's drinking water standards, but the water company itself says to boil it before you drink it, because of rooftop tanks and old pipes.
→ Plan your trip · Getting to Yilan · The weather and when to come · Getting around
Sources: Taiwan Railway e-ticket rules; Tourism Administration, visitor center finder; Tourism Administration, useful numbers; Central Weather Administration, monthly means; Central Weather Administration, earthquake safety; Taiwan Water Corporation, FAQ. Checked November 2026.