[maoeurk]

In Taipei, and Taiwanese cities as far as I've seen, it's the same! The main benefit is just how convenient they are. For example there's a place in Taipei where you can walk to 72 different 7-11s with a 10 minute walk [1] -- and that's just the 7-11 there's tons of FamilyMarts and some smaller stores too.

My personal favorite food to get there is the chicken breast and protein drink with 45g or so of protein for about $3.50 USD, great on the way home from the gym.

The biggest and strangest difference I've noticed about the difference between Taiwanese and Japanese konbini are that you can't buy vegetarian or vegan onigiri in Taiwan despite there being a ton of vegetarian and vegan people here. My favorite flavors, which are vegan, are only sold in Japan.

Also to give more context for the function of konbini in Taiwan (and probably Japan), they're for a lot more than just food: I pay my bills there at the counter, occasionally pick up packages (they act like PO boxes), and print out documents there when I need a printer. So really it's a multi-function store that's open 24/7 with pretty decent food and is on every street.

[1]: https://international.thenewslens.com/article/68424