Cycling in Taipei One of my favourite activities in Taiwan is cycling. The major bike paths follow the rivers creating very scenic rides. They are also well separated from the traffic roads so no worries about cars/scooters. There are even bike-only bridges and ramps (left) so you don't have to cross traffic-heavy roads. Toronto can really take a page out of Taipei's urban planning when it comes to cycling paths
My aunt and uncle were kind enough to bring me along on their weekly rides (however, this did mean that I had to get up at 4:30AM.) It was well worth the sleep deprivation though. Watching the sun rise as we biked along the river was an amazing feeling (especially when you had the path all to yourself.)Four hours of cycling flew by (of course, I paid for it dearly the next couple of days.) Here are some pictures I took along the way.
The route passed by Dadaocheng Wharf, a really important trading post back in the days. Even now, Dihua street (walking distance from the wharf) is where one would get dry goods for Chinese New Year.I love this stone tablet map. It shows the major ports/cities along the two major rivers in Taipei, Danshui and Keelung. We were biking along Danshui and at this point had just reached about the half-way point to our final destination.
We've arrived at our destination! This was still about an hour from Danshui but they had only planned a four-hour ride that day (personally, I think my aunt and uncle took it easy on me because I know they usually ride 5-6 hours at least. Crazy!)
Because Dianshui (literally meaning "freshwater") river opens up to the sea, its wetlands are slightly salty creating a very diverse ecosystem (or so I've been told.) The statue (left) is of a mudskipper (彈塗魚), a native to the region. Is it just just me, or is it kind of cute?
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