Taiwanese years

Another thing you notice in Taiwan is that it's the wrong year. I had trouble buying meat when I first arrived because I could never find an expiration date. The numbers looked almost right, but the year was 101. This is because Taiwan started counting the years from the founding of the ROC, or 1911. So some products use this format for their expiration dates. Of course, not using Common Era dates isn't unique. Those of you who have lived in Thailand have seen the same thing (I had a Thai friend once try to slip me some expired Cashews, hoping I wouldn't figure out what the real expiration date was). I believe the same is true for Israel, Ethiopia and parts of the Middle East (and possibly Myanmar).