Originally Posted by
BigE
Is it really true that in the U.S. you have to go through customs, even if you are just connecting to another country (say, Canada?). I've never been to another country that required passage through customs. TPE is not like that, as you might expect.
I didn't know about the free tour of Taipei. But I do know that it is a long trip to the city (45-60 minutes?) and there is no rail system (just bus and taxi).
The USA is more of an O/D (origination and destination) country rather than a transit country, which may explain its regulations for having to go through immigration and customs no matter what (and this was the case pre-9-11).
Another country that requires international/international connecting passengers to go through customs/immigration is China, though I don't know if they've changed the regs since.