Taiwan Huandao 2013: Taipei to Zhubei

September 8th, 2013

I moved to Taiwan in early 2013 without much of a plan or any real idea about whether I would stay. While doing research prior to departure I stumbled upon several blogs describing the huandao (環島), a road trip around the main island on bicycle or scooter often taken as a rite of passage. I was intrigued, though I had never before embarked upon a multi-day cycling trip, nor even gone for a really long ride. Though I was deeply unsure of my own capabilities I decided, as September approached, to give it a shot. I scheduled a bicycle rental from a Giant shop in Dadaocheng, put what little I owned into storage, and hit the road on the afternoon of September 8th, 2013, hoping for a reprieve from the daytime heat.

I formally began my huandao at the gateway to Liberty Square (自由廣場) in Taipei. Leaving the city in the stagnant heat of the late afternoon was largely uneventful. I was intent on making decent time to the outer suburbs and made few stops, covering a lot of ground that had become familiar to me over the preceding summer months. I angled west through Wanhua and ascended to the bridge spanning the river into Banqiao, navigating by instinct.

Looking back along the riverside park in Wanhua on the way across the bridge to Banqiao.

Midway across the bridge I stopped and looked back. Taipei had been something like home for the last four months, a place of refuge. I was already feeling a little melancholic about leaving it behind and heading into the unknown. Much was uncertain about the weeks to come; I really hadn’t planned much at all.

On the other side of the bridge I was hoping to find an exit to the riverside park but saw nothing that looked promising. I did, however, see a set of stairs leading down three flights to the surface streets below. I cut to the right and hauled my fully loaded bike down to the asphalt, fully intending to find a break in the wall somewhere nearby.

Blue steel columns looming over the riverside path deep in Banqiao.

Greater Taipei is girdled by a massive system of concrete flood walls that often double as pillars for the elevated roads that ring the city. It isn’t always obvious where to find a gate, and it proved somewhat difficult out here in Banqiao. I cycled for quite a while before finding an access point: a ramp leading over the wall to the recreational wonderland on the other side. I then exchanged scooter and automobile traffic for the usual cast of characters: old men in white undershirts riding around with radios blaring music, entire families out for a recreational spin, teams of serious bike fanatics flashing expensive gear, and the occasional pack of hipsters loping about on custom fixies.

The leisurely crowds thinned out as I headed further west. I stopped for a rest under a highway overpass. Back home we consider overpasses to be unsightly and generally avoid them but here in Taiwan they are often put to good use for sports and recreation or simply shade. While I sat on a concrete bench people played catch or practiced tennis on wide pillars. In other parts of Taipei you will find skate parks and basketball courts beneath inner city highways. Out in the country overpasses are sometimes used as roadside marketplaces. Why not? All that concrete provides shelter from the sun—and the more of it there is, the cooler it feels. It probably won’t be the last overpass I’ll be resting under before this trip is over.

The view from the spiral mound in the far west of Banqiao.

Eventually I found myself in a remote segment of the riverside on the outskirts of Banqiao. Here I noticed a spiral path winding up a small hill. I decided to take a break and climb the hill to take a few photos, one of which you can see above. Riding down the spiral was lots of fun, all turns and a rapid descent. It was a good opportunity to assess stopping distance and the quality of the brakes, important information that my muscles must learn for the journey ahead.

Afterwards I crossed out of the park and onto some kind of highway leading into Sanxia. Motorbike traffic was manageable and I did not find myself feeling hemmed in by other users of the road. Taiwanese drivers have an awful reputation among the expat community but I’m of a mind to adapt to local conditions. There is a method to the apparent madness: most people focus on whatever is in front of them and don’t bother to check if someone is coming up from behind. This works, after a fashion, as long as everyone is doing it. Knowing this, I tend to swerve out into traffic a little bit when I feel like my space is restricted. This has the effect of causing motorists behind me to either slow down or provide more room.

Zushi Temple in the heart of Sanxia. I navigated here on intuition.

After following the highway along the river into Sanxia I navigated by intuition to the old bridge that leads directly to Zushi Temple (袓師廟), originally established in 1767. The public square in front of the temple was ringed by street food vendors and full of people. Although I enjoyed the carnival atmosphere I did not linger, for the day was already coming to a close and I meant to put a lot of distance between the city and I.

Crossing into Yingge I pulled to the side of the bridge to capture the beauty of the sculpted riverbed below.

I crossed the river into Yingge, a town known for its ceramics, and quickly made my way up a set of switchbacks to Bade Road. For a while I paralleled some train tracks but soon cut across and pushed myself to climb into the hills leading out of New Taipei.

A guard dog lunged from beneath a garage door as I rode by.

After a tiring ascent I crossed into Taoyuan with the sun low on the horizon. Taoyuan is reputedly an industrial wasteland but I didn’t see much of that on the high country roads at sunset. I passed by warehouses and corporate estates but my surroundings were increasingly obscured by the gathering dusk.

Sunset over the train tracks along Bade Road in Taoyuan County.

The needle-thin sliver of a crescent moon rose over the horizon as I crossed through Taoyuan County. I will watch the moon in the nights to come. When it is full it, nearly two weeks hence, it will be time for the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節), a public holiday here in Taiwan. I wonder where I will be and what I will be doing? Time will tell.

One of many gas stations along the highways of Taoyuan. I’ll have no need for such an establishment except for occasional bathroom breaks.

On the approach to Daxi I notice a particularly striking betel nut booth. Betel nut is a psychoactive drug regularly consumed by working class men all over south and southeast Asia. In Taiwan betel nut is usually sold from roadside booths illuminated by garish neon lights and flashing LED displays. Inside these booths one will sometimes see a betel nut beauty (檳榔西施): an attractive young woman in heavy make-up and skimpy clothing. This is not always the case, however—oftentimes the women will be older or more conservatively dressed than the stereotype. At any rate, these booths are extremely common—I already passed by dozens of them and will see hundreds more before long.

An eye-catching betel nut stand outside of Daxi.

After Daxi I hit a long stretch of open road on the way to Longtan. I expected little from Longtan—it didn’t look like much on the map—but it turned out to be quite a decent-sized city with a lot going on. While cruising down the main road I heard a loud bang, like a gunshot, and nearly fell off my bicycle. Taking stock of the situation I turned down a side street to investigate and witnessed some kind of street party in action. Loud electronic music was blasting out from a cheap stereo and people were setting off firecrackers. Some deity’s birthday perhaps?

Back on the main road I cut through the rest of Longtan, angled north, and began the hardest climb of the day into the hills above town. My energy level was low and I was feeling very depleted. Sweating profusely in the darkness, I stopped several times to catch my breath and have a drink. Apart from being the steepest grade it was also the most dangerous stretch of road that day. Motorists weren’t giving me very much space on some of the tight turns leading up the hill. Still, there were no close calls.

I took a wrong turn down a country road and chanced upon this monolithic industrial plant.

Most of the rest of my ride was a white-knuckle descent down the long country road leading to Xinpu in Hsinchu. The road emptied out and I passed few motorists. There were no settlements along the way, only rice paddies along the riverside, faintly illuminated by the crescent moon and occasional streetlights. Eventually the USB-charged light on the front of my bicycle ran out of power and I slid down the gravity well in near-total darkness, gripping my brakes the whole way. It was like flying through space.

A white-knuckle descent in near darkness.

Dropping into Zhubei was a real shock after coming out of the hills. Bright lights, big city! While stopped at an intersection leading into town I saw a betel nut girl walk over to a truck to make a delivery wearing next to nothing. Carrying on, I made my way to a friend’s place, showered, and enjoyed a huge dinner and good conversation at Merry, a Western style restaurant. It was delicious and filling and exactly what I needed after the long ride.

Afterwards I expected to collapse into bed and sleep almost instantaneously but my mind would not rest. I stayed up late and post-processed photographs to tire myself out. Eventually I got the sleep I needed—but I was surprised. I expected all that work to finally cure my insomnia. No such luck, not on the first night anyhow. Perhaps I will have better luck after tomorrow’s ride.

Map

Themes

Bicycle Touring in Taiwan (台灣自行車旅遊)

Regions

Taipei (台北)
New Taipei (新北)
Taoyuan (桃園)
Hsinchu (新竹)

Series: Taiwan Huandao 2013

An incomplete series of posts about my first bicycle tour around Taiwan in September and October 2013. The complete trip around the main island is known in Chinese as huándǎo (環島), literally “around the island”, and is typically conducted as a rite of passage for young people in Taiwan. It took me a full lunar month to complete, but I was not in any particular rush, and it can be done in under a week if you’re in a hurry.

Note: this series is far from complete and the quality of each entry varies as it was originally drafted in 2014. Since 2024 I have been revising each entry with and redoing all the photos.