China attacks! It's a TV show... but the fear is real for Taiwan

"Enemy missile attack! Seek shelter immediately!" The presidential alert blared on millions of mobile phones.

- Nga Pham

Then came the piercing wail of an air raid siren cutting through the sticky heat of Taipei's summer. Residents were urged to stay indoors. The whole city came to a standstill.

"Nothing to fret about," said Ah Huang, a noodle-seller in central Taipei. "Just a drill."

Every year, Taiwan enacts civil defence exercises to prepare for a war with China, and in recent months China has intensified military activities in the Taiwan Strait.