“We try our best to follow traffic rules because we don't want Hong Kong people to lose face”: Assimilation from transit to motorcycles among Hong Kong students in Taiwan

Although the transport assimilation experiences of various East-to-West immigrant groups have been studied, those of international students have received little attention. This study explores the transport assimilation process of Hong Kong students in Taiwan, with a focus on their transition from a public transport-orientated society to one centred on motorcycles. Data were collected through secondary sources of news articles and online discussions to understand the context of Hong Kong students' observation of Taiwan's traffic, and then through primary-source interviews with Hong Kong students in Tainan, a typical motorcycle-dominant city in Taiwan. The analysis adopted an inductive, thematic approach guided by the acculturation framework. Results reveal disparities between the transport and traffic cultures of Hong Kong and Taiwan, leading to acculturative stress and the adoption of motorcycles as a primary mode of transport. However, motorcycle riding introduced new acculturative stress due to unwritten traffic norms and local driving behaviours. Job opportunities and long-term plans to stay in Taiwan, as well as the ease of obtaining the licence, were motivations for motorcycle use. Nevertheless, by maintaining their sociocultural competence, such as a strong traffic safety culture, those students may delay transport assimilation or cause transport dissimilation. This study contributes to understanding the mobility of international students and suggests that longitudinal studies are needed to investigate the impact of traffic safety culture on transport assimilation and the interrelationships between motorcycle use and long-term stay in a new society.