Taike

Taike is a Taiwanese slang term used to describe people who identify with Taiwan’s local culture, particularly those who embrace Hokkien-speaking, working-class, or rural roots. The term is written with the characters for Taiwan (台) and guest/person (客) and is used both self-referentially and by others. It has appeared in Taiwan’s popular culture and youth vernacular since the late 20th century and is often associated with street-level humor, dialect-rich media, and a celebration of everyday life in Taiwan.

Culturally, Taike denotes a set of practices, aesthetics, and attitudes that emphasize Taiwan’s native language, cuisine, fashion, and local customs over external trends or Mandarin-centred norms. In music and film, Taike elements can be heard in works that foreground dialect lyrics, humor, and landscapes or experiences tied to ordinary Taiwanese communities.

The term carries a range of connotations. It can be used pejoratively to stereotype respondents as unsophisticated or provincial, but many people reclaim Taike as a positive marker of local pride and identity. Its use intersects with broader discussions of Taiwan’s language politics, regional identity, and the tension between local culture and national or global influences. Variants and related terms across generations reflect evolving attitudes toward what it means to be Taiwanese.

See also: Taiwanese identity, Hokkien language, Taiwanese popular culture, localism.