There are tricks to keeping cool in Taiwan. It's to your advantage to use every last one.
First: Bring an umbrella. Keeping the hot sun off you when you're walking around town lowers the temperature a little, so it's a good idea to bring one or buy one when you get here. There are umbrella shops everywhere. Just make sure you're paying around NT$150 and not NT$200 since that's getting a bit expensive for an umbrella. If you WANT a high-end umbrella, that's fine, just know that going above NT$200 is paying more than you have to.
Case in point. My friend got her umbrella's price knocked down to about NT$160.
Second: Showers. My boss told me many Taiwanese take two showers a day because they get so hot and sweaty from the weather. Since that day I've been taking maybe two short shower/rinses a day and a long shower in the morning. (Water is included in my rent, so why not?) There's hot water available, but to be honest I only need enough to keep the shower temperature above freezing. Cold water feels great.
Third: Go out at night. The nights are still humid and warm in summer, but they're not NEAR the wet scorchers the days are. If the streets look busy during the day, wait until the sun has gone down. People turn up EVERYWHERE, and the night markets get flooded with shoppers. A lot of places open up later in the day and close in the evening, which makes sense because the busiest times of day are when people have left work and the weather is more conducive to being out in it.
Forth: Walk slowly. It sounds like a small thing, but if you're always in a rush, you're using up more energy and generating more body heat than you need to.
Fifth: Take breaks from the heat. I don't think even the Taiwanese spend more time walking outside than they have to. Almost every store is air-conditioned, even the ones that don't have a forth wall, and if they aren't air-conditioned they usually have fans. Sometimes I'll pop into the mall and walk around once or twice just to cool off.
Sixth: Drink water. Water is your friend. It doesn't necessarily keep you cool unless you're drinking something very cold, but it's basically essential to not dying from dehydration, so I recommend it.
Seventh: To those not used to the heat, shorts are your friend. Taiwanese aren't big on showing cleavage or shoulders, so you'll often be wearing something that covers your top half, but there's nothing against showing your legs almost up to your butt, so by all means, do it. Some people wear pants and even thin long-sleeve cardigans outside. More power to them, but I'll stick with the loose top and the shorts.
That's about all I can think of. Taiwan is a warm place, but there are ways to combat it. The trick is to look at the locals, and see what they're doing. Umbrellas, for example, are also used because people are really worried about their skin here (they want to be pale) but I think it's also really helpful for staying cool. So I do it. People also dry their clothes on hangers outside, not in a dryer, which makes me worry about crunchy clothes (T_T) but it makes sense, since the weather is so warm in the summer, and electricity is better spent on air conditioning and fans.
Right now I'm off to the gym. I got a three-day trial membership the other day, and I'm excited to finally get back on the treadmill. The gym is pretty good, it has great facilities and for about NT$1200 a month on a one-year plan I would get full run of the place plus access to the classes they have, which include spinning, combat, zumba, and even dance classes. It's very all-purpose. They also have a steam room and a sauna in the locker room, which weirds me out a bit because the Taiwanese have different ideas about cleanliness than I do (such as taking off your sandals in the locker room, which I don't get because bare feet on wet surfaces is how you get warts, not keep out dirt, but whatever >_< ) but all-in-all it's very nice.
Whelp, time to stop using up my electricity on the air conditioner and hit the streets!
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