Totally Irrelevant Facts about Taiwan - I

Since Taiwan's businesses are more or less grinding to a halt for the next three days or so (for the mid-autumn festival in "ghost month") I have a little free time. So here follows the first installment of "Things you couldn't really be bothered to know about Taiwan but are being told anyway". One has to start a blog somewhere...

1. Taiwanese who have had school for a few years do not say "flied lice", although the r/l problem does crop up. Actually, it is more of a problem to teach children to say "m" instead of "n" in various words.
2. In one of my classes, a few people knew who "Yo-Yo Ma" was - he is Taiwanese, after all. No-one knew who "Eminem" was. (You are asking yourself how this came up in a room containing Thomas. The answer is that the advanced English textbook contained references to these two.)
3. Everything you normally buy is invariably within walking distance. I myself live across the street from a big "department store" containing the French Carrefour - surely the supermarket of the Olympians. It is open 24 hours and contains three levels, each the size of of Pick 'n Pay.
4. You don't need to know Mandarin Chinese to get along.
5. Tea is quite as popular as you would expect - but common South African brands are superior.
6. The bread in Taiwan appears not to be biodegradeable, is excessively sweet and is better avoided.
7. Mormonism is a serious rival to evangelical and mainstream Christian denominations.
8. English is widespread, and almost never correct. (I may post my favourite Chinglish later.)
9. The island contains at at least four languages. Official Taiwan standard Chinese is closely related but not identical to the Beijing Mandarin I was taught. "Taiwanese" is a difficult language with more tones than Mandarin. Hakka is apparently a Chinese language with fewer speakers and has a cable TV channel dedicated to it. There are also "aboriginal" languages that appear to be Malayo-Polynesian. They, too, merit a cable TV channel.
10. Pieces of paper with mystical characters on them are constantly being burnt for good luck.