molested_cow , zachz123, thanks for the tips/info.
Due to the fact that i happen to have some good taiwanese friends (who have given me a good overview of what is happening there) and having visited the island 3 times i totaly agree with some parts of what you mentioned.
Definitely by going there i do not plan to setle as a designer inside a bigger or smaller company. I just really want to know as much as i can on how things are prototyped/manufactured by having first-hand experience and being on-site. Therefore, i might tend to agree that by working for a smaller company i may have this flexibility to find myself to different environments. The good thing is that some people i know are very close to industrial plants there, so i would like also to give it a try and establish collaboration with these companies. However, i do not think that freelancing (at least in the beginning is a good idea). Language though is a big barrier and i really should invest time and money in learning Chinese.
As for the mentality, i am coming from a European country where our culture also supports a highly hierarchical system. In general i really find that my attitude/mindset is closer to the one of Taiwanese compared to the one of other European countries. However as you mention, living and working there is a whole different thing so time will tell.
greetz