Some of my friends asked me to give a talk on my Taiwan cycling adventure. Here is a copy of the PowerPoint slides for the occasion, in two parts.
Part 1 of 2 - Click Here
Part 2 of 2 - Click Here
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
20101104 Day 15 Final - Joe's Cycling around Taiwan (Fonglin 鳳林 to Kaohsiung 高雄)
Today is the last day of my journey. My destination for today's cycling is a township 55 kilometers away called Yuli (玉里). I started my cycling around Taiwan from Kaohsiung on Oct 17, going counter-clockwise. On the 5th day, I rode my bike into Yuli in a heavy downpour to seek helps with a flat tire. It was at Yuli that I decided to board a train toward Hualian, but was later forced to get off the train and aborted the journey because of Typhoon Megi. I subsequently resumed my trip from Kaohsiung on Oct 25, going clockwise. Today I will attempt to reach Yuli and thus complete a circle, a full loop of cycling around Taiwan.
The night at the hostel at Fonglin was very quiet and peaceful. I couldn’t make more recommendations for this hostel other than pointing out that the gratification of sleeping in a historic tobacco tower will be long-lasting. I’ve never expected the experience and was very thankful for the referral by the cop at Fonglin police station.
Fonglin is a small town with notable Hakka artifacts. A Hakka Museum (客家文物館) is located at this town to preserve and exhibit many of these relics. I arrived at the museum in the morning and was warmly welcomed by a volunteer docent, a retired high school principal. He walked me through two floors of exhibitions and explained the history of Hakka people in the early struggles of settling a foothold on the east coast of Taiwan. The visit to this museum made my stay in this town a very rewarding experience.
Fonglin has a population of about 14000. Over the years, this small town has produced 86 principals administering schools at various levels in Taiwan. The town is admirably referred to as a School Principals Dream Factory (校長夢工廠). An old residence of the very first of these 86 principals is now a small museum commemorating this distinction. Incidentally, the docent at the Hakka Museum and his father are both retired school principals.
A food-stand near Fonglin Farmers Cooperative (鳳林農會) sells authentic Hakka breakfast. I arrived there late and found they had sold out most of the selections. I got a sticky rice bun with vegetable fillings and a sweet bun.
The sky was filled with dark clouds this morning. The heavy overcast condition would persist for the rest of my journey today.
I continued on Highway 9 going south. In about an hour, I arrived at Guanfu Sugar Factory (光復糖廠). This factory was established in 1921 and it produces sugar using sugar canes harvested from local plantations. Its cafeteria sells ice cream and popsicles that have the aromatic taste of sugar canes. The red bean topping for the ice cream is very sweet and tasty.
Soon after the sugar factory, I ran into two college students on their fourth day of cycling around Taiwan. In order to save money and test their own agility in the face of adversity, they brought camping gears and had slept outdoor for many nights. Here is a picture of one of these two spirited and venturesome students.
In the middle of my chance encounter with these two students, the rain started to come down hard. It continued to rain until I arrived at Yuli. Along Highway 9, there are many tea fields that produce celebrated tea. I am not a tea person so I didn’t pay much attention, but I heard tea from this area is really good.
A sundial on the side of Highway 9 marks the point where Tropic of Cancer crosses the highway. Tropic of Cancer passes through Taiwan and dissects the island into two almost equal northern and southern parts. There are two markers of Tropic of Cancer on the island. This one is on the east coast. A similar one exists on the west coast also.
I arrived at Yuli train station by mid-afternoon. After 15 days of pedaling through many townships and on many highways, I have finally completed the loop of cycling around Taiwan. For this accomplishment, I strangely didn’t feel exhilarating at all when I arrived at the endpoint. Instead, I felt very relieved and just wanted to go home. I boarded a train at this station and got back to Kaohsiung by late evening.
Waiting for a train to arrive, I sat on this same bench 14 days ago. At that time my trip was only ¼ done and I was hopeful and optimistic about the journey. Little did I know that my trip would later be interrupted, and the resumption of the trip amidst the untimely seasonal wind almost killed my determination and enthusiasm.
Now after 1060 kilometers (659 miles) in distance, and 7659 meters (25128 feet) in elevation gain, I have finished what I set out to do. I am filled with gratitude for anyone who has helped me and cheered for me along the way, and for the good fortune of being able to attempt this feat at this stage of my life.
I am very much indebted to my in-law's family for various logistic supports, especially my brother-in-law Oldman 老爺, who generously loaned me his bike for this trip.
The first map shows the full island of Taiwan. My bike ride for the day is from 3 o’clock position to 4 o’clock position. The second map gives a closer view of my ride.
Vertical profile of today’s ride. It has many modest climbs.
Summary of today’s ride.
Summary of the complete journey.
Note 1: Distance is measured in kilometers, elevation gain in meters, speed in kilometers per hour.
Note 2: Calories information is missing twice due to malfunctions of Garmin 500 Cycling GPS.
Statistics of the complete journey
Distance 1060.31 kilometers = 658.85 miles.
Elevation Gain 7659 meters = 25128 feet.
-Joe
The night at the hostel at Fonglin was very quiet and peaceful. I couldn’t make more recommendations for this hostel other than pointing out that the gratification of sleeping in a historic tobacco tower will be long-lasting. I’ve never expected the experience and was very thankful for the referral by the cop at Fonglin police station.
Fonglin is a small town with notable Hakka artifacts. A Hakka Museum (客家文物館) is located at this town to preserve and exhibit many of these relics. I arrived at the museum in the morning and was warmly welcomed by a volunteer docent, a retired high school principal. He walked me through two floors of exhibitions and explained the history of Hakka people in the early struggles of settling a foothold on the east coast of Taiwan. The visit to this museum made my stay in this town a very rewarding experience.
Fonglin has a population of about 14000. Over the years, this small town has produced 86 principals administering schools at various levels in Taiwan. The town is admirably referred to as a School Principals Dream Factory (校長夢工廠). An old residence of the very first of these 86 principals is now a small museum commemorating this distinction. Incidentally, the docent at the Hakka Museum and his father are both retired school principals.
A food-stand near Fonglin Farmers Cooperative (鳳林農會) sells authentic Hakka breakfast. I arrived there late and found they had sold out most of the selections. I got a sticky rice bun with vegetable fillings and a sweet bun.
The sky was filled with dark clouds this morning. The heavy overcast condition would persist for the rest of my journey today.
I continued on Highway 9 going south. In about an hour, I arrived at Guanfu Sugar Factory (光復糖廠). This factory was established in 1921 and it produces sugar using sugar canes harvested from local plantations. Its cafeteria sells ice cream and popsicles that have the aromatic taste of sugar canes. The red bean topping for the ice cream is very sweet and tasty.
Soon after the sugar factory, I ran into two college students on their fourth day of cycling around Taiwan. In order to save money and test their own agility in the face of adversity, they brought camping gears and had slept outdoor for many nights. Here is a picture of one of these two spirited and venturesome students.
In the middle of my chance encounter with these two students, the rain started to come down hard. It continued to rain until I arrived at Yuli. Along Highway 9, there are many tea fields that produce celebrated tea. I am not a tea person so I didn’t pay much attention, but I heard tea from this area is really good.
A sundial on the side of Highway 9 marks the point where Tropic of Cancer crosses the highway. Tropic of Cancer passes through Taiwan and dissects the island into two almost equal northern and southern parts. There are two markers of Tropic of Cancer on the island. This one is on the east coast. A similar one exists on the west coast also.
I arrived at Yuli train station by mid-afternoon. After 15 days of pedaling through many townships and on many highways, I have finally completed the loop of cycling around Taiwan. For this accomplishment, I strangely didn’t feel exhilarating at all when I arrived at the endpoint. Instead, I felt very relieved and just wanted to go home. I boarded a train at this station and got back to Kaohsiung by late evening.
Waiting for a train to arrive, I sat on this same bench 14 days ago. At that time my trip was only ¼ done and I was hopeful and optimistic about the journey. Little did I know that my trip would later be interrupted, and the resumption of the trip amidst the untimely seasonal wind almost killed my determination and enthusiasm.
Now after 1060 kilometers (659 miles) in distance, and 7659 meters (25128 feet) in elevation gain, I have finished what I set out to do. I am filled with gratitude for anyone who has helped me and cheered for me along the way, and for the good fortune of being able to attempt this feat at this stage of my life.
I am very much indebted to my in-law's family for various logistic supports, especially my brother-in-law Oldman 老爺, who generously loaned me his bike for this trip.
The first map shows the full island of Taiwan. My bike ride for the day is from 3 o’clock position to 4 o’clock position. The second map gives a closer view of my ride.
Vertical profile of today’s ride. It has many modest climbs.
Summary of today’s ride.
Summary of the complete journey.
Note 1: Distance is measured in kilometers, elevation gain in meters, speed in kilometers per hour.
Note 2: Calories information is missing twice due to malfunctions of Garmin 500 Cycling GPS.
Statistics of the complete journey
Distance 1060.31 kilometers = 658.85 miles.
Elevation Gain 7659 meters = 25128 feet.
-Joe
Thursday, February 10, 2011
20101103 Day 14 - Joe's Cycling around Taiwan (Jiaoxi 礁溪 to Fonglin 鳳林)
The rain started last night and continued this morning. This area was hard hit by Typhoon Megi just two weeks ago and the ground was already very saturated before this rain. I didn’t get a good feeling for today’s bicycle ride and was worried if I would be trapped by any flood in this town for days.
Suhua Highway (蘇花公路) has been shut down due to a rockslide caused by Typhoon Megi. My original plan was to bike to Yilan (宜蘭), board a train, and skip the Suhua Highway. But with the heavy rain this morning, I decided to take the train immediately at Jiaoxi (礁溪), instead of going to Yilan. After a simple breakfast at a food stand near the hotel, I headed to Jiaoxi train station.
I didn’t take a picture of the hotel because it had been raining nonstop since I got here last night. Here is a picture of the hotel from Google Maps. The hotel is on the right.
The hot spring spa at the hotel was drained for cleaning in the morning when I took this picture. It looked much nicer when filled with water and the spa jets were turned on last night.
It was a short ride in a heavy downpour from the hotel to Jiaoxi train station. For unknown reasons, bicycles were not allowed to get on board the train at this station. The next station that would take bicycles is Yilan station, which is 10 kilometers away.
While waiting for the rain to subside a bit at Jiaoxi station, I got to talk to three German mountain climbers. They have been on a mountain climbing journey through various peaks in Asia for several days. They just finished three days of mountain climbing in Taiwan. One of them looked to be much older than me so I was really impressed.
The rain was very heavy when I biked to the Yilan train station. Along the way, torn roofs and debris from flood water were visible. Riding in the rain through areas that still showed damages from the last typhoon got me concerned about my trip for today. Will I be able to make it to Yilan in this rain? Is the train service still operational? Will I be able to catch my flight back to LA if I get trapped in this area?
In constant worrying and pedaling for an hour I arrived at Yilan station. During this short ride, the rain and wind were so strong that my Garmin 500 Cycling GPS finally failed its water-proofing function and stopped working. Because of the rain, I didn't take any pictures of the Yilan train station. The picture here is from Google Maps so the ground looks dry.
It turned out that some trains leaving Yilan station allow a cyclist to bring the bicycle onto the train car directly. I was lucky that I only needed to wait for 20 minutes for such a train. My destination for this train ride was Hualian (花蓮), a major city 98.2 kilometers (61 miles) away. The fare for me was NTD $145 (USD $4.84), for the bicycle it was half price at NTD $73 (USD $2.44).
Yilan train station is not bicycle-friendly, nor handicap friendly. In order to get to a platform to board the train, passengers need to go through an underground passageway, which is accessible through a long flight of stairs. There is no elevator, nor escalator. Every cyclist needs to carry the bike down and up the stairs, as I was told by the station staff. My bike is made of an aluminum body and is usually not a big problem to carry it. But with fully loaded pannier bags, the bike gets very heavy. I had to take several breaks before I reached the right platform. The train car was clean and empty.
The train runs parallel to the Pacific Coast and goes through many tunnels. The coastline is visible from the train most of the time. The view out of the train window would have been striking if not for the continuous rainfall.
The tunnel visible on the right of this picture leads to the precarious and stunning scenery of Qingshui Cliffs (清水斷崖), which has been closed to traffic for 2 weeks due to a rockslide. As reported in the local news media, falling rocks from that rockslide landed on a bus and pushed it down a plunging cliff with 26 passengers on board. No human body has been recovered and all passengers were presumed to have perished.
Suhua Highway has many lengthy and narrow tunnels, inside which there is barely any clearance for bicycles. This bridge, Taroko Bridge, leads to the first of these tunnels. When I was planning this trip I had thought about riding through these tunnels but was talked out of it by almost anyone I encountered. Maybe everyone thought I was too old for these tunnels, and in retirement, I've learned to grudgingly resign to the fact.
The train station for Taroko National Park (太魯閣國家公園). A full-day visit to this renowned and awe-inspiring scenery site was in my original plan and I was looking forward to the visit, but Typhoon Megi had unexpectedly interrupted my itinerary and I had to forgo the visit.
The rain seemed to have stopped after Taroko. The scenery on one side of the train changed from the coastline to a flat plain with lush green. On the other side of the train, cloud-topping Central Cordillera (中央山脈) looked imposing.
I arrived at the Hualian train station at noon. It was a deja vu experience for me. I had been at this train station 15 days prior, and at that time had to abandon my trip and took the train back to Kaohsiung because of Typhoon Megi. This second time around I was very determined to finish the trip and complete the loop of cycling around Taiwan.
For lunch, I stopped to ask a local and he recommended this place, Zou’s Steamed Dumplings (周家蒸餃). Steamed buns and dumplings were all very tasty.
Tsu Chi Campus (慈濟園區). It consists of a hospital, a Buddhist university, and a magnificent Still Thoughts Hall (靜思堂). Tsu Chi Foundation, a humanitarian organization founded in Taiwan by a Buddhist nun, has an outreach office near my house in San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. Among many community service activities, its volunteers organize weekly visits to nursing homes in the Valley. Both my kids used to take part in these visits and played the piano at various convalescent homes.
Leaving Hualian, I took Highway 9 (台九), the mountain route, going south. I would stay on this highway for the next two days to finish my journey.
The Hualian local, whom I'd stopped to ask for the lunch recommendation, suggested that I visited Qingsiou Temple (慶修院), a restored Japanese Buddhist temple. It was built in 1917 for Japanese farmers during the Japan Occupation period. It is located in Jian (吉安), a rich farming township.
A well-constructed building houses the Farmers Cooperative of Jian, a testimony of the wealth of local farming enterprises.
The signage of East Rift Valley National Scenic Area (花東縱谷國家風景區). The scenery along Highway 9 in this area is mostly of pristine farmland, flanked on two sides by Coastal Mountain Range (海岸山脈) and Central Cordillera.
Taiwan's east coast was not very developed until 1911 when Japan started to move many of its immigrants into this area. Japanese systematically set up farming and tobacco zones for its own poor farmers imported from Kyushu (九州) of Japan. A township, Fongtien (豐田), still maintains this legacy with its well-drawn street layout and some old tobacco towers (菸樓).
Here is an old picture of the Japanese Immigrants Assistance Office, dated 1911.
The old Fongtien police station from the Japan Occupation era is now the town’s cultural center.
Old houses in Fongtien from the bygone era.
My destination for today is a township called Fonglin (鳳林), a small town with a sizable concentration of Hakka people (客家). My ancestry is of Hakka origin but I've shamefully failed to learn the language. Both my parents spoke Hakka often and I grew up with many Hakka relatives around. For this trip, I have wanted to stay at least one night in the town of Hakka people so I could live the Hakka experience.
The cop on duty at Fonglin police station gave me the direction to an excellent hostel called Fang-Chao-Gu-Su (芳草古樹).
The hostel sits on a large parcel of land. It has a restaurant in the front. Bedrooms are housed in converted tobacco towers at the rear of a park-like yard. On one side of the yard is a campground. Here is the passage to the back of the hostel.
I stayed in this tobacco tower by myself. The room was very spacious and clean. The hugely discounted fee for the night was only NTD $800 (USD $26.67), excluding meals.
Dinner of Hakka dishes at the hostel's own restaurant.
The first map shows the upper portion of the island of Taiwan. My bike ride for the day is in red highlights; while the train ride is in blue highlight. The second map gives a closer view of the bike ride from Jiaoxi to Yilan. The third map shows the bike ride from Hualian to Fonglin.
The first vertical profile shows the ride from Jiaoxi to Yilan, which is mostly flat. The second vertical profile shows the ride from Hualian to Fonglin, which consists of modest hills.
The first summary of the ride shows a distance of 9.11 kilometers between Jiaoxi and Yilan. The second summary shows a distance of 40.38 kilometers between Hualian and Fonglin. The total distance for today’s cycling is 49.5 kilometers (30.8 miles). The train ride for today is 98.2 kilometers (61 miles). The total distance traveled for today is 147.7 kilometers (91.8 miles).
-Joe
Next: 20101104 Day 15 Final - Joe's Cycling around Taiwan (Fonglin 鳳林 to Kaohsiung 高雄)
Suhua Highway (蘇花公路) has been shut down due to a rockslide caused by Typhoon Megi. My original plan was to bike to Yilan (宜蘭), board a train, and skip the Suhua Highway. But with the heavy rain this morning, I decided to take the train immediately at Jiaoxi (礁溪), instead of going to Yilan. After a simple breakfast at a food stand near the hotel, I headed to Jiaoxi train station.
I didn’t take a picture of the hotel because it had been raining nonstop since I got here last night. Here is a picture of the hotel from Google Maps. The hotel is on the right.
The hot spring spa at the hotel was drained for cleaning in the morning when I took this picture. It looked much nicer when filled with water and the spa jets were turned on last night.
It was a short ride in a heavy downpour from the hotel to Jiaoxi train station. For unknown reasons, bicycles were not allowed to get on board the train at this station. The next station that would take bicycles is Yilan station, which is 10 kilometers away.
While waiting for the rain to subside a bit at Jiaoxi station, I got to talk to three German mountain climbers. They have been on a mountain climbing journey through various peaks in Asia for several days. They just finished three days of mountain climbing in Taiwan. One of them looked to be much older than me so I was really impressed.
The rain was very heavy when I biked to the Yilan train station. Along the way, torn roofs and debris from flood water were visible. Riding in the rain through areas that still showed damages from the last typhoon got me concerned about my trip for today. Will I be able to make it to Yilan in this rain? Is the train service still operational? Will I be able to catch my flight back to LA if I get trapped in this area?
In constant worrying and pedaling for an hour I arrived at Yilan station. During this short ride, the rain and wind were so strong that my Garmin 500 Cycling GPS finally failed its water-proofing function and stopped working. Because of the rain, I didn't take any pictures of the Yilan train station. The picture here is from Google Maps so the ground looks dry.
It turned out that some trains leaving Yilan station allow a cyclist to bring the bicycle onto the train car directly. I was lucky that I only needed to wait for 20 minutes for such a train. My destination for this train ride was Hualian (花蓮), a major city 98.2 kilometers (61 miles) away. The fare for me was NTD $145 (USD $4.84), for the bicycle it was half price at NTD $73 (USD $2.44).
Yilan train station is not bicycle-friendly, nor handicap friendly. In order to get to a platform to board the train, passengers need to go through an underground passageway, which is accessible through a long flight of stairs. There is no elevator, nor escalator. Every cyclist needs to carry the bike down and up the stairs, as I was told by the station staff. My bike is made of an aluminum body and is usually not a big problem to carry it. But with fully loaded pannier bags, the bike gets very heavy. I had to take several breaks before I reached the right platform. The train car was clean and empty.
The train runs parallel to the Pacific Coast and goes through many tunnels. The coastline is visible from the train most of the time. The view out of the train window would have been striking if not for the continuous rainfall.
The tunnel visible on the right of this picture leads to the precarious and stunning scenery of Qingshui Cliffs (清水斷崖), which has been closed to traffic for 2 weeks due to a rockslide. As reported in the local news media, falling rocks from that rockslide landed on a bus and pushed it down a plunging cliff with 26 passengers on board. No human body has been recovered and all passengers were presumed to have perished.
Suhua Highway has many lengthy and narrow tunnels, inside which there is barely any clearance for bicycles. This bridge, Taroko Bridge, leads to the first of these tunnels. When I was planning this trip I had thought about riding through these tunnels but was talked out of it by almost anyone I encountered. Maybe everyone thought I was too old for these tunnels, and in retirement, I've learned to grudgingly resign to the fact.
The train station for Taroko National Park (太魯閣國家公園). A full-day visit to this renowned and awe-inspiring scenery site was in my original plan and I was looking forward to the visit, but Typhoon Megi had unexpectedly interrupted my itinerary and I had to forgo the visit.
The rain seemed to have stopped after Taroko. The scenery on one side of the train changed from the coastline to a flat plain with lush green. On the other side of the train, cloud-topping Central Cordillera (中央山脈) looked imposing.
I arrived at the Hualian train station at noon. It was a deja vu experience for me. I had been at this train station 15 days prior, and at that time had to abandon my trip and took the train back to Kaohsiung because of Typhoon Megi. This second time around I was very determined to finish the trip and complete the loop of cycling around Taiwan.
For lunch, I stopped to ask a local and he recommended this place, Zou’s Steamed Dumplings (周家蒸餃). Steamed buns and dumplings were all very tasty.
Tsu Chi Campus (慈濟園區). It consists of a hospital, a Buddhist university, and a magnificent Still Thoughts Hall (靜思堂). Tsu Chi Foundation, a humanitarian organization founded in Taiwan by a Buddhist nun, has an outreach office near my house in San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. Among many community service activities, its volunteers organize weekly visits to nursing homes in the Valley. Both my kids used to take part in these visits and played the piano at various convalescent homes.
Leaving Hualian, I took Highway 9 (台九), the mountain route, going south. I would stay on this highway for the next two days to finish my journey.
The Hualian local, whom I'd stopped to ask for the lunch recommendation, suggested that I visited Qingsiou Temple (慶修院), a restored Japanese Buddhist temple. It was built in 1917 for Japanese farmers during the Japan Occupation period. It is located in Jian (吉安), a rich farming township.
A well-constructed building houses the Farmers Cooperative of Jian, a testimony of the wealth of local farming enterprises.
The signage of East Rift Valley National Scenic Area (花東縱谷國家風景區). The scenery along Highway 9 in this area is mostly of pristine farmland, flanked on two sides by Coastal Mountain Range (海岸山脈) and Central Cordillera.
Taiwan's east coast was not very developed until 1911 when Japan started to move many of its immigrants into this area. Japanese systematically set up farming and tobacco zones for its own poor farmers imported from Kyushu (九州) of Japan. A township, Fongtien (豐田), still maintains this legacy with its well-drawn street layout and some old tobacco towers (菸樓).
Here is an old picture of the Japanese Immigrants Assistance Office, dated 1911.
The old Fongtien police station from the Japan Occupation era is now the town’s cultural center.
Old houses in Fongtien from the bygone era.
My destination for today is a township called Fonglin (鳳林), a small town with a sizable concentration of Hakka people (客家). My ancestry is of Hakka origin but I've shamefully failed to learn the language. Both my parents spoke Hakka often and I grew up with many Hakka relatives around. For this trip, I have wanted to stay at least one night in the town of Hakka people so I could live the Hakka experience.
The cop on duty at Fonglin police station gave me the direction to an excellent hostel called Fang-Chao-Gu-Su (芳草古樹).
The hostel sits on a large parcel of land. It has a restaurant in the front. Bedrooms are housed in converted tobacco towers at the rear of a park-like yard. On one side of the yard is a campground. Here is the passage to the back of the hostel.
I stayed in this tobacco tower by myself. The room was very spacious and clean. The hugely discounted fee for the night was only NTD $800 (USD $26.67), excluding meals.
Dinner of Hakka dishes at the hostel's own restaurant.
The first map shows the upper portion of the island of Taiwan. My bike ride for the day is in red highlights; while the train ride is in blue highlight. The second map gives a closer view of the bike ride from Jiaoxi to Yilan. The third map shows the bike ride from Hualian to Fonglin.
The first vertical profile shows the ride from Jiaoxi to Yilan, which is mostly flat. The second vertical profile shows the ride from Hualian to Fonglin, which consists of modest hills.
The first summary of the ride shows a distance of 9.11 kilometers between Jiaoxi and Yilan. The second summary shows a distance of 40.38 kilometers between Hualian and Fonglin. The total distance for today’s cycling is 49.5 kilometers (30.8 miles). The train ride for today is 98.2 kilometers (61 miles). The total distance traveled for today is 147.7 kilometers (91.8 miles).
-Joe
Next: 20101104 Day 15 Final - Joe's Cycling around Taiwan (Fonglin 鳳林 to Kaohsiung 高雄)
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