Kilograms to Taiwanese catty (台斤)

The formula

台斤 = kilograms ÷ 0.6 = kilograms × 1.6666…

One 台斤 is exactly 600 g, so a kilogram is exactly five thirds of a catty. The decimal does not terminate; the fraction does.

To go the other way, multiply by 0.6. See 台斤 to kg.

Quick reference

The tidy rows are the ones where the kilograms are a multiple of 0.6: 3 kg is exactly 5 台斤, and 1.2 kg is exactly 2.

Which 斤 is meant

If a source does not say, the answer depends on where it was written:

The mainland unit is the one designed for this conversion — 1 kg is exactly 2 市斤, which is why it was rounded to 500 g in 1959. Taiwan kept the older 600 g figure, so the arithmetic is less convenient and the unit is older.

Comparing a market price with a supermarket one

This is the everyday use. Wet markets price per 台斤; supermarkets price per kilogram, and the two are not comparable until one is converted:

A price per catty looks about 40% cheaper than the same price per kilogram, purely because the unit is smaller. NT$100 per 台斤 and NT$167 per kg are the same deal.

Note the direction: a weight in kg becomes a larger number of 台斤, while a price per 台斤 becomes a larger number per kg. Rates invert.

Body weight

Body weight in Taiwan is quoted in kilograms, never in catties — the catty belongs to food and produce. But the conversion turns up in older medical and agricultural records:

60 kg being exactly 100 台斤 is the easiest anchor in the whole conversion.

Estimating in your head

Add two thirds. 3 kg plus 2 is 5 台斤 — exact. For anything else, kg × 5 ÷ 3 gets there without a calculator.