Nowadays, a lot of young people choose to get married in a modern style. A modern wedding ceremony is a combination of joy and happiness with bridal veil, fireworks, groom and bride, and a number of guests.

Besides, there are many collective wedding ceremonies in Taiwan. A lot of young couples, whether from Taipei, Taichung or Tainan, choose to participate in a collective wedding ceremony where people share common wishes for a bright future.

Gift giving

Taiwan is a great gift-giving society. When you visit someones house for dinner, it is customary to bring a gift. This may be some fruit, a box of chocolates, some pastries, or a bottle of wine. One shared gift is acceptable, and maybe some small items for the kids will be enough to score some brownie points. While most small gifts can be bought in Taiwan, it may be a good idea to bring a few small gifts with you form home to give special friends you will develop. It must be noted that the Taiwanese are generally big on brand names and 'designer' items.

When you present a gift, tradition dictates that it be presented with two hands and received with two hands (the same is true for name cards and anything else exchanged at a social occasion). The host will usually not open the present in your presence unless you request them to do so. When opening the gift in the host's presence, it is important to open the package carefully to avoid ripping and crumpling the paper. The wrapping paper should be folded up and put aside, not ripped open and promptly disposed of as is usual in other cultures. For nice presents it is recommended to wrap it carefully as appearance is important. There's plenty of wrapping paper available in Taiwan. You can find some as well as gifts at Watson's stores or at a bookstore. When giving a gift, it is often customary to demean it's value by saying something like, "It's just a small gift to show my appreciation".

taboos:

1. hand towels:In the past, the family who held a funeral would give hand towels to people who paid a condolence call, intending to break off their relations with the deceased.

2. fans: Cheap and fragile, fans are used to relieve summer heat. Since it gets cooler by late autumn, there is an idiom called "Qiushan Jianqian" (literally, to put away the fan in autumn).

3. scissors: scissors are sharp and hurtful, implying to sever relations with one stroke or one cut.

4. umbrellas: In Taiwan dialect, "伞" (san, umbrella) shares the same pronunciation with "散" (san, parting).

5. mirrors: The mirror is fragile, so it is hard to join together a broken mirror. It also implies that someone is not good-looking and need to look at the mirror.

6. clock: "钟" (zhong, clock) sounds the same with "终" (zhong, end).