Sunday, 1 December 2024

I usually wait a few days to write up this blog as I need to think about what we have enjoyed, what we didn’t like and whether the country met up to the expectations. Once we have stopped riding we can look back with more clarity. The last few days of riding in the rain did not help our view of the country. Which is why we can now look back and think about the whole country and not allow the last few days to cloud our view (sorry about the pun).

Taiwan has a population of 23.4 million people, in an area of approximately 36,197 square kilometres (13,976 square miles). The Province of Ontario has a population of 15,996,989. In an area of 1,076,395 square kilometres. This means Taiwan would fit into the Province of Ontario almost 30 times.  Taiwan is about half the size of Scotland that has a population of 5,490,110.

Although the population numbers are very high, I cannot say I felt overwhelmed by people. People tend to respect other people’s space. Even on the Metro in Taiwan, I didn’t feel crushed. Probably because the train runs every 5 to 10 minutes.

I had been looking forward to going to Taiwan for a number of years. I had read so much about Taiwan being amazing for cycling, the infrastructure, the people and the scenery. I can’t say I was disappointed, but I wasn’t overly impressed either.

The cycling infrastructure is amazing on the west coast. However, you HAVE to be comfortable riding in traffic and with scooters surrounding you at every intersection, traffic light and road crossing. Most traffic lights (and there are thousands of them) have a bike box. A bike box is an area in front of the cars where scooters and bicycles move to and are able to keep out of the way of cars turning. In most of Taiwan scooters and cyclists are not allowed to make a left turn at a traffic light. There is another bike box across the intersection that you move to so that you can ride straight through at the next light. For example: if as a two-wheeler you want to turn left at a traffic light; first you cycle through the intersection, then reposition yourself in the bike box and when this light turns green you can cycle straight through again. This makes things a little slower for the two-wheelers but makes it very safe as you do not have to deal with cars making left turns or coming straight through the intersection.

Most roads have a separate lane for two-wheelers, sometimes it is separated with a concrete barrier, other areas it is only a painted white line. We only saw two occasions where cars came into the two-wheeler lane. Although there are lanes for two-wheelers, there is also an extra paved shoulder that is about 1 metre wide, that we often cycled on. In Canada I would be happy with that extra paved shoulder on all roads.

On the east coast there wasn’t as many separated lanes and the traffic was very scary at times. The Districts (Counties or Provinces) are building separated cycle lanes, however because of the weather, these have been damaged by Typhoons and earthquakes. It would appear to be a constant battle against the elements on the east coast.

The main route around the Island of Taiwan is primarily Provincial Highways 1 and 3, on the west coast and Highway 9 on the east coast. We tried to avoid these highways and used google maps to take us through farm roads, rural roads and villages. Usually at the end of the day when we were coming into a City or large Town we joined Cycling Route 1 and the mayhem that is riding in city traffic.

Almost everyone owns a scooter! They may also have a car, however, they will use their scooter around Towns and Cities. We talked to our warmshowers hosts about the licenses and driving tests. They all agreed that the instruction and licensing for scooters and cars is not very good. Jean indicated that as a scooter driver, you do not have any real road experience before taking your test at a special test centre, that has the road lay-out, traffic lights and slight hills that you may encounter on the road. However, there are no real-world experiences and that is why I believe that scooter drivers think they are the only one on the road and do not need to take into consideration anyone else on the road. They are very single-minded.

Mark made us laugh by saying that anyone over 65 figured they didn’t need to follow any rules, as they had survived on this earth that long and everyone else needed to respect them. Wan Wei told us that a policeman friend of his stopped an old lady on her scooter that was riding erratically and had made an illegal U-Turn, he asked for her driver’s license. She produced her Taiwan ID card as she didn’t have a driver’s license and, in her opinion, didn’t need one.

Of course, you can always take quieter routes as we did using farm roads and small lanes. Eventually you have to come into a bigger city or large town and have to deal with the traffic. All of the rural roads were paved and well maintained. Ralf wanted to take a photograph of a pot-hole but couldn’t find one. Joyee was surprised that we commented on how well maintained the roads were, especially after the two typhoons. She said that is because it is the end of the budget year, so the roads department are spending their money. If we were there in June/July it would be a different story.

The west coast is very industrial with steel/aluminum manufacturers, factories and petro-chemical plants. There was a substantial amount of pollution in these areas. In the past the run-off from this industry went into the rivers and eventually the ocean. Taiwan implemented strict laws to stop this environmental damage and the rivers looked very clean. Taiwan has also promised that it will close all their coal-fired energy plants by 2034 and is working on transitioning to natural gas.

Taiwan is trying to clean up their act. However, there are so many single-use plastic bags I have no idea how they can eliminate them. Although the government implementation of eliminating single-use items in hotels such as shower cap, soap, razors, toothbrushes etc. has worked. Most hotels when you book indicate that they do not provide these items. However, every hotel we were in did have shampoo and body wash dispensers on the walls in the showers. When this law came into place the Taiwanese government provided grants to the hotels to install these dispensers. A small step, but one step in eliminating a lot of single-use plastics.

Mark (our warmshowers host) indicated that before covid most people did take use reusable shopping bags and a lot of people had reusable coffee mugs. All coffee/tea shops give a discount if you bring your own mug.

Taiwan is expanding their rail network and high-speed trains. We took the train and was impressed at the cleanliness of the train. The high-speed trains will not accept bikes unless they are in a bag. We could have folded our bikes and put them in the bags, but it was easier to roll them onto the train.

We were very impressed with the general cleanliness of the country. Of course, there were areas where garbage was dumped, but for the most part the country was very clean. Every village, town or city had workers sweeping the paths and roads. Garbage is picked up regularly by the musical garbage trucks. The musical garbage trucks are unique to Taiwan. At a certain time of day, (you are informed what time that will be), the garbage truck comes around playing music that sounds a little bit like the ice-cream vans that used to come around when we were kids. I remember rushing around shouting ice-cream, ice-cream sometimes we got one, other times no. I am not sure kids rush around shouting garbage truck. However, you must take your garbage to the truck and put it in the truck. If you are elderly or have a heavy bag, one of the two workers will help you (maybe). I cannot imagine anyone taking their garbage to the truck and putting it into the truck themselves. We asked what happens if you are working and cannot get to the garbage truck at the right time. There is usually one that comes around later in the day as well. Mark indicated that you get to meet your neighbours, when you are standing around waiting for the garbage truck. I cannot imagine anyone in Canada or the U.K. doing this. Joyee indicated that the musical garbage truck is relatively new and there was a lot of information beforehand.

This also shows that the Taiwanese people are very compliant. If the government says this is what we are doing, then the people comply.

We saw a lot of new buildings going up, especially on the west coast. I wondered if the infrastructure was keeping pace with the building. I don’t think it is. Almost every toilet we went into we could not put toilet paper in the toilet. There was always a basket by the loo, and a sign on the doors indicating not to put anything in the toilet, including toilet paper.

While we were in Taiwan we had two typhoons and a tropical storm. Most Taiwanese seemed unconcerned about the increase in typhoons, even Kong Rey which was the biggest Typhoon to hit the Island in 30 years. Of course, because we are not used to Typhoons we were concerned about Kong Rey.  We were told that because we were on the west coast at the time Kong Rey arrived, the mountains in the centre of the Island often deflect typhoons and generally the west coast is not as badly affected as the east coast. This turned out to be the case, although we had high winds, we didn’t get the deluge of rain forecasted. By the time we left Beidou there was very little evidence that a large typhoon had hit the area. Taiwan is very prepared for all their natural disasters. The day after Kong Rey hit the island crews were out clearing branches, trees and cleaning roads of any debris. The river system has huge wide floodplains and large walls protecting the villages and cities from flooding. Due to the number of earthquakes that occur in Taiwan the building code is very strict. I think after the major earthquake in 1991 that destroyed a lot of infrastructure, Taiwan made changes to their building code to prevent loss of life and destruction of buildings.

Taiwan has an aging population. The general population aged 65 years and above reached around 18.35 percent of the total population. There is also a low birth rate. However, the population of Taiwan has increased due to an influx of foreign workers. Although the birth rate is low, we were amazed at how well behaved the children were. There were no tantrums or screaming kids. At one lunch stop we watched a little girl looking at the toys. She picked one from the hook and went to her mum with the toy. Mum said no, the little girl came back to the shelf and put it back where it belonged. She then picked another toy, back to mum. Mum said no again, back to the hook and returned the toy. She tried again with sweeties. No again. Then mum took her by the hand and did not let her wander off again. There was no screaming, no tantrums, maybe next time she will get a treat.

Mark told us that part of his job as a teacher is to teach the kids how to be good citizens, how to behave in public and be kind. At three years old they were being taught how to be good citizens!!

Mark told us that the general health of the population is deteriorating, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancers and dementia are all on the increase. I am not surprised about the diabetes as the food can be very sweet. When we asked for coffee without sugar, the servers repeated it in shock. No sugar?  Also, surprisingly a lot of people smoked. However, there was no smoking in trains, restaurants or hotels. There is also an increase in the use of betel nuts. We saw the tell-tale signs of red teeth and red spit on the sidewalk, while we were in Taipei. Betel nuts are chewed, like chewing tobacco. Many people chew betel nut for the energy boost it produces. This is likely due to the nut’s natural alkaloids, which release adrenaline. It may also result in feelings of euphoria and well-being. However, it is a carcinogen and can cause cancer of the mouth and esophagus.

The health care system works on a semi-private basis, the government subsidizes the medical costs.

In conclusion, we enjoyed Taiwan, the history, the city parks and green spaces, the bike paths, the people. We didn’t enjoy the weather, it was either too hot and humid or too wet. When I had checked the best time to go, I only looked at the temperature not the rainfall or the humidity.

Note to self; check all of the above before deciding the best time to visit a country.

If you are comfortable in riding in traffic Taiwan may be the place for you. If you like riding up long hills/mountains Taiwan may be the place for you. If you like history, and old streets Taiwan may be the place for you.

If none of the above apply to you, do not go to Taiwan for cycling. Go to Taiwan and take the train, it is a great place to visit.