An interesting phenomenon of Taiwanese (and Asian) culture is the wide usage of surgical style mouth and nose masks, both fashionable (young people) and un-fashionable (old people & doctors). The reason for using them is a good one, which is that the cities in Taiwan are horribly polluted, and during rush hour the city streets smell exactly like a go-kart track. When you're riding on a scooter in the open air, it can cause lots of irritation and is just generally uncomfortable and really, really stinky. The problem is that the masks that you can buy (each one is about a dollar) aren't made of a high tech pollutant filtering fiber. They're just cotton, and thus filter only the bugs. However when you're riding on a scooter in the cold, they do a great job of warming your face. See video for visual demonstration.