Chinese Signs in Taiwan: Characters to Recognize

A few dozen characters cover the signs a visitor or new resident meets most often in Taiwan: 出口 and 入口 for exits and entrances, 男 and 女 for toilets, 推 and 拉 for doors, 禁止 for prohibitions, and 營業中 on shop doors. This guide lists them in Traditional characters exactly as they appear, with pinyin and where you will see each one. Learn the first table and you can already navigate a station, a shop and a toilet.

Signs in Taiwan are written in characters. On transit and in tourist areas, English translations or a romanisation usually sit alongside the Chinese, but romanisation varies from sign to sign, so do not rely on it to match what you learned. Reading the characters is more dependable, and it is the skill that carries over to menus and forms.

The First Twelve

If you learn nothing else, learn these.

Sign	Pinyin	Meaning	Where you see it
出口	chū kǒu	exit	stations, shops, car parks, buildings
入口	rù kǒu	entrance	stations, car parks, buildings
男 / 女	nán / nǚ	male / female	toilet doors
廁所	cè suǒ	toilet	public buildings, markets
洗手間	xǐ shǒu jiān	restroom (literally “hand-washing room”)	restaurants, shops, malls
推	tuī	push	doors
拉	lā	pull	doors
禁止	jìn zhǐ	prohibited	many signs, followed by what is banned
營業中	yíng yè zhōng	open for business	shop doors
休息中	xiū xí zhōng	closed for a break	restaurants, small shops
電梯	diàn tī	lift / elevator	buildings
男廁 / 女廁	nán cè / nǚ cè	men’s / women’s toilet	toilet doors

Two practical notes. The 推 or 拉 sign is usually on the door itself, and the handle often tells you the same thing. And 洗手間 and 廁所 are both common. 化妝室 (huà zhuāng shì, “powder room”) is also common in malls and restaurants as a polite alternative. If you only remember 男 and 女, you can find the right door, since toilet doors also carry symbols.

Entrances, Exits and Floors

Sign	Pinyin	Meaning
出入口	chū rù kǒu	entrance/exit (combined)
緊急出口	jǐn jí chū kǒu	emergency exit
安全出口	ān quán chū kǒu	safety exit
樓梯	lóu tī	stairs
手扶梯	shǒu fú tī	escalator
一樓 / 二樓 / 地下一樓	yī lóu / èr lóu / dì xià yī lóu	1st floor / 2nd floor / basement level 1
服務台	fú wù tái	service desk

Floor numbering starts with 一樓 as the ground floor, so a shop on 二樓 is on the floor above street level. Basement levels are marked with 地下 (dì xià, “underground”), often in the form B1.

In 緊急出口, 緊急 (jǐn jí) is the word for urgent or emergency. It is worth recognising on sight.

Shop and Restaurant Signs

Sign	Pinyin	Meaning
營業中	yíng yè zhōng	open
休息中	xiū xí zhōng	on a break
公休	gōng xiū	regular closing day
暫停營業	zhàn tíng yíng yè	temporarily closed (暫 is zhàn in Taiwan; zàn is the mainland reading)
營業時間	yíng yè shí jiān	opening hours
歡迎光臨	huān yíng guāng lín	welcome (said to customers)
特價	tè jià	special price
免費	miǎn fèi	free of charge
內用 / 外帶	nèi yòng / wài dài	eat in / take away
自取	zì qǔ	self pick-up
出租 / 招租	chū zū / zhāo zū	for rent / seeking tenants

公休 is the one that catches visitors out. A small shop may mark a weekly day off as 公休 with a day written next to it, for example 週一公休 (zhōu yī gōng xiū, “closed Mondays”). Look for it on the door before you travel across town. Small shops also close for lunch or an afternoon break, which is when you will see 休息中 flipped on the door.

For restaurant menus and dish names, see ordering food in Taiwan.

MRT and Transit Signs

Sign	Pinyin	Meaning
捷運	jié yùn	MRT
月台	yuè tái	platform
往…方向	wǎng … fāng xiàng	toward …
轉乘	zhuǎn chéng	transfer
閘門	zhá mén	gate (fare gate)
博愛座	bó ài zuò	priority seat
禁止飲食	jìn zhǐ yǐn shí	no eating or drinking
售票	shòu piào	ticket sales

博愛座 is worth knowing for etiquette: the seat is reserved for people who need it, including older passengers, pregnant passengers and people with limited mobility. The no eating or drinking sign is posted on the MRT, so finish your snack before you tap in.

For 月台, the MOE dictionary form is 月臺, with 臺. In Taiwan both 台 and 臺 are in use, and you will see either on signs and in names. Recognising both is enough.

Warning and Prohibition Signs

Sign	Pinyin	Meaning
禁止進入	jìn zhǐ jìn rù	no entry
非工作人員請勿進入	fēi gōng zuò rén yuán qǐng wù jìn rù	staff only (literally “non-staff please do not enter”)
員工專用	yuán gōng zhuān yòng	staff use only
禁止吸菸	jìn zhǐ xī yān	no smoking
禁止攝影	jìn zhǐ shè yǐng	no photography
小心地滑	xiǎo xīn dì huá	caution, slippery floor
當心	dāng xīn	caution
危險	wéi xiǎn	danger
施工中	shī gōng zhōng	under construction
請勿…	qǐng wù …	please do not …

The pattern is regular. 禁止 plus a verb (進入, 吸菸, 攝影) means “forbidden to …”, 請勿 plus a verb is a polite “please do not”, and 嚴禁 (yán jìn, “strictly prohibited”) is the stronger form. Once you recognise the pattern, new combinations are easy to decode. You will also see 菸 (yān) in 禁止吸菸, and the variant 煙 (yān) is used in other words, such as 煙火 (yān huǒ, fireworks).

Road Signs

Road signs combine characters with symbols you may recognise from elsewhere.

Sign	Pinyin	Meaning
停	tíng	stop
慢行	màn xíng	slow down
單行道	dān xíng dào	one-way street
禁止停車	jìn zhǐ tíng chē	no parking
行人	xíng rén	pedestrians
停車場	tíng chē cháng	car park

Hold on to 停 and 禁止. A sign that combines 禁止 with 停車 is about parking.

A Reading Habit That Works

Signs are short, repetitive and heavily patterned, which makes them a good first reading target.

1. Learn by group. Learn the first twelve, then add one table at a time. Short, regular sessions work better than one long one.
2. Match what you see. The first time you see 出口 in a station, say it aloud. Repetition on location sticks better than a list on a page.
3. Look up what you cannot read. Take a photo and look up the characters on the dictionary search page.
4. Reuse the building blocks. 口 appears in 出口, 入口 and 路口. 中 in 營業中 and 休息中 marks “currently”. Seeing the pieces makes the next sign quicker.

A short phrase list that goes with these signs is in Mandarin phrases for travel in Taiwan.

Related Reading

• Mandarin Phrases for Travel in Taiwan: what to say at the taxi, MRT and shop counter.
• Ordering Food in Taiwan: menu conventions and dishes.
• Getting Around Taipei: fares and passes.