The Friday letter · No. 01
Balconies, alerts, and the first cool evenings
Friday, September 4, 2026 · From the Taipei desk
Good evening from Taipei. The basin is still holding the summer, but the light drops earlier on the river now. Mid-Autumn is three weeks away — the first time many of this year’s arrivals will be invited onto someone else’s balcony. This letter is for that week, and for the quieter ones around it.
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01 · culture
Mid-Autumn for people who just got here
Friday, September 25 is a holiday. The interesting part is the three weeks before it: pomelos in the supermarket, a balcony invitation, and the question of what you are supposed to bring.
Continue reading02 · living
What the typhoon alerts actually mean
A yellow, orange, or red from the Central Weather Administration is not a vibe. It is a set of decisions about work, schools, and whether you should still go to Costco.
03 · living
The Friday trash ritual
Taipei does not have a chute. It has a truck, a song, and a set of bags you can only buy at certain counters. Get this wrong once and you will not forget it.
04 · travel
A weekend on the northeast coast, without Jiufen
The old street will still be there in November. This Saturday, take the train to Ruifang and keep going until the Pacific is louder than the tour groups.
05 · business
How to read a Taiwanese payslip
Labor insurance, NHI, the pension contribution with the slightly too-long name — the deductions are less mysterious than they look in the first month.
This week in Taiwan History
September 3, 1954 — the first shells on Kinmen
Seventy-two years ago yesterday the First Taiwan Strait Crisis began. Kinmen is a county you can fly to for lunch. It was also, for an afternoon, the center of the Cold War.
Continue readingUntil Friday.
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