Joy Rides!

On the island of Taiwan there are more than 285 peaks of over 3,000 meters squeezed into an area of 36,000 square kilometers. These mountains have pushed most people to the western plains, where there is a high population density, but they have also fostered vast expanses of wilderness. Many foreigners who come to Taiwan are surprised by all this nature so close at hand, but for Taiwanese who have lived here their whole lives, the proximity to mountains isn’t seen as a big deal.

Traveling by bike to explore Taiwan engages all the five senses. (photo by Kent Chuang)

Adventure travel in Taiwan

If you want to experience Taiwan’s mountain forests, there is no better way to be at one with nature than by riding through them on a bicycle. “Riding a bicycle best engages the senses,” says Michael McCreesh, a Canadian-­born “Taiwan son-in-law” who is founder of Taiwan Outdoors, an English-language platform for adventure travel. Although not yet a year old, the platform is booming and has been used by quite a few Western travelers to live out their Taiwan dreams. Its success can be attributed in part to McCreesh’s 30 years of experience in the travel industry.

A few years ago, McCreesh and his wife returned to Taiwan to settle down so that their children could learn Chinese. As someone who loves the outdoors, he gathered detailed online information about Taiwan travel resources for his own enjoyment. These attracted other foreign lovers of the outdoors to browse his website, and many asked if he himself was organizing tours.

The lack of bilingual information about tourism resources in Taiwan as compared to major Asian tourism destinations such as Japan and Thailand poses challenges for foreigners who aren’t proficient in Chinese. McCreesh points out that adventure travel tours (those involving hiking, birdwatching, diving, cycling, and so forth) require equipment rentals or guides, and Taiwan’s small-scale suppliers and operators rarely provide English information and tend to use different social networks (such as Line instead of WhatsApp). These factors only raise the difficulty of independent travel for foreign adventure travelers.

Taiwan Outdoors is like a hub connecting to various kinds of adventure travel professionals. Working with travel professionals with foreign language skills, it also provides customized travel itineraries.

From mountain peaks to night markets

Taiwan has vast forests on a scale that even many Taiwan natives may not be fully aware of. With their ­convenient access only adding to their allure, they leave deep impressions on many foreign visitors.

Sam Cheng, founder of the Taiwan Pulse Tour Company, explains that as a lover of the outdoors, he frequently goes on cycle tours overseas. Starting out by working at a large travel agency before hanging his own shingle, he has plowed the fields of adventure travel for more than ten years. The logo of Taiwan Pulse even uses a shape suggestive of a road bike’s drop handle­bars to form the letters “TP,” clearly suggesting that its main line of business is bicycle travel.

Singing the praises of touring in Taiwan, Cheng says: “Our topography is like a squashed cake. Riding 100 kilometers, you can go from the seashore to high mountains, experiencing dramatic changes in vegetation, topography and views of mountain ridgelines. That’s not something you find in other countries.”

Echoing that sentiment, McCreesh offers the following example: Many international tourists will start in Taipei, awakening in a four- or five-star hotel before taking off on a challenging bike ride up Yangmingshan. In the evening they will stroll the Raohe Night Market or Ximending, or perhaps go to a gourmet restaurant or a bar. Otherwise they could elect to stay the night at a hot springs hotel in Jiaoxi in Yilan County and the next day ride up to Li­shan, a village in the Central Mountain Range at over 2,000 meters elevation. “There are not many places in the world where you could do this.”

Taiwanese may think: “What’s so unusual about this?” But in famous cycle touring destinations such as Italy, New Zealand, or Switzerland, if you want some classic cycling you will typically need to ride a day or two out from the cities, necessitating a trip of at least five or six days. Taiwan may not yet have made a name for itself internationally for cycle touring, but “Taiwan is definitely top level,” McCreesh assures us.

Well suited to young and old alike, the shoreline trail at Sun Moon Lake makes for an easy ride and features beautiful scenery.
(photo by Kent Chuang)

The city of Taipei is surrounded by sights that make for good one-day out-and-back destinations. The photo shows the old quarter of Shiding in New Taipei City.
(photo by Kent Chuang)

Adding value

Apart from the great access to nature and a high level of convenience, Taiwan also has quite a few unique advantages that add to its cycle touring appeal. For instance, although cycling culture may be less deeply embedded here than in some European nations, it is common to see bicycles at Taiwan’s various tourist attractions. What’s more, there is a widespread love of cycling, especially in Taipei, where there are bicycle trails along the city’s rivers, making it a much-loved destination among many foreign cycling enthusiasts.

Taiwan’s manufacturing prowess also plays a role. Cheng shares that many European and American tourists rent their bicycles through a tour operator. Taiwan Pulse mostly provides its customers with Giant and Merida bicycles that are made in Taiwan. Reliable and recognizable brands garner customers’ trust.

There are a lot of details to attend to when it comes to bicycle travel. Apart from providing tour guides, operators must provide ride leaders, support vans, meals and lodging locations. And they must also consider where the bikes can safely be parked. “The general principle is to supply clear guidelines so that travelers neither feel they are bothering others nor being inconvenienced themselves.”

Cycle tour operators may provide support vans, which carry cyclists’ luggage and supply them with water and simple meals.

A foreign cyclist shares a joyful hug with an indigenous person that her group happened to meet during a round-the-island tour.

Different spokes for different folks

Cheng has observed that his customers from nearby Asia‡Pacific nations such as Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia tend to have somewhat different travel habits and preferences than those who come from further afield, such as Europe and America.

Europeans and Americans, traveling thousands of miles for a journey in Asia, typically spend a minimum of ten days on the island. Most of them have planned an itinerary through several nations, often including Japan or Thailand. That makes lugging around a bicycle inconvenient, so they typically rent one from a bike tour operator. Travelers from Asian nations, on other hand, may bring their own bikes.

Furthermore, since most Europeans and Americans are accustomed to living at cooler latitudes, adventure travelers from the West usually avoid Taiwan’s blazing summers, with October through April being their peak travel season here. Adventure travelers from Asian nations are more flexible in that respect.

Asian travelers also typically put more emphasis on having a “gourmand experience,” with night markets being a big draw for the Japanese in particular. Westerners, on the other hand, tend to show more interest in historic sites, enjoying visits to temples and to the Dadaocheng historic district in Taipei. Experiencing the culture of indigenous peoples also appeals to them. Planning customized tours with unexpected points of interest for travelers will bring them more joy.

Sam Cheng, a senior ride leader, describes the day’s route to his customers before the ride begins.

With its magnificent cliffs and gorgeous scenery, Taroko Gorge is a spot that foreign visitors all agree is one of Taiwan’s top attractions.

A rider climbs the route of the KOM Challenge toward its highest point at Wuling Pass on Mt. Hehuan.

Touring mountains and shore

In Taiwan, which is neither truly large nor truly small, how does one go about arranging a cycling tour?

The path of the Taiwan KOM Challenge is the island’s most internationally famous cycling route. Although it is only 105 kilometers long, it rises from sea level on the East Coast to Wuling Pass on Mt. Hehuan at 3,275 meters. Along the way it passes such notable sights as Taroko Gorge, the Bilu giant tree and Dayu­ling Pass. Highly challenging, with dramatic changes in scenery, it has been described by the French magazine Le Cycle as simultaneously one of the world’s “ten most difficult” and “50 most beautiful” cycling routes.

“Any traveler who is a cycling enthusiast has heard of KOM,” says Cheng. Several of Taiwan Pulse’s itineraries are based on this route. For example, one can ride the KOM route in two days with an overnight stay in Tian­xiang, followed by a day at Sun Moon Lake, where the family-friendly lakeside bike path provides guests with the perfect opportunity to relax and unwind. Finally, they can travel to Taichung or directly return to Taipei. In the evening, a visit to a bustling night market in one of these cities rounds out a truly fulfilling and memorable trip.

For European and American tourists with ten or more days available, Cheng recommends a round-the-island tour. That starts with a “warmup” along Taipei’s riverside bike paths, with a potential side trip to the old streets of Daodacheng. Next is a ride to the Northeast Coast or the inland attractions around Ruifang (including the old mining town of Jiufen). Next, they head from Yilan to Wuling and stay at either the Wuling National Hostel or the Hoya Resort Hotel. After that they go to Taroko Gorge via the Wuling Pass or Dayuling. Finally, they enjoy the seascapes along Pingtung County Route 199. In that manner, they cover the mountains and the sea, taking in much of Taiwan’s most iconic scenery.

Visitors to Pingxi write their wishes on a sky lantern before it is launched.

The old towns, train stations, temples, and indigenous villages along the route of a cycle tour add much interest to the trip.

“Scripting” a great Taiwan trip

Cheng likes to use the term “scriptwriting” to describe how he plans these bike tours. He is like a playwright imagining how to stage for travelers a once-in-a-lifetime journey in Taiwan.

Apart from providing services to international tourists, over the past two years Taiwan Pulse has also worked with the Taipei International Cycle Show to invite foreign buyers attending the show to take day-and-a-half cycling tours that allow them to experience Taiwan’s cycling culture first hand. One of the itineraries starts from the Nangang International Exhibition Center, heads to the Nangang Tea Mountain area and moves on to Pingxi, which is famous for its sky lanterns and also offers a glimpse at the area’s mining heritage, before ending at Cape Santiago, Taiwan’s easternmost point.

A second option follows Taipei’s riverside cycling paths with stops at the Guanshan circular cycling race track, the pump track at Rainbow Riverside Park, and singletrack mountain biking trails in Beitou. This immersion in Taiwan’s cycling culture is sure to resonate with these bike industry professionals.

A long-time foreign resident of Taiwan once observed that Taiwan’s charms are not encountered in a full-frontal rush. Rather, its beauty requires that one take the initiative to explore and to savor. Although the island may possess few world-famous scenic spots, its mountains and shores are within easy reach of its cities. So long as one is willing to hop on a bike and hit the road, its enchantments will call! 

Riding on the Northeast Coast. Being able to visit both cities and countryside during the same day is one of the chief advantages of cycle touring in Taiwan.