Wayne Liu, Taiwan Tourism Bureau's Deputy Director General & Vancouver's Deputy Mayor Kerry Jang check out Taroko Gorge on the stationary bikes
Canadian Olympic cyclist Zach Bell
l-r: Ricky Poon, Silkway Travel with EVA Air's Tang Tseng & Michael Chu
Marian Lam, JBC Travel & Myrna Bubica, Mexi-Can Holidays get stamps on their 'passports'
“There isn’t a better way to travel in Taiwan than by cycling,” said Wayne Liu, Deputy Director General of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau. Taipei-based Liu was in Vancouver to officially launch the new “Cycling Taiwan” marketing campaign to the North American market.
“We want people to see the whole island slowly,” said Liu. For the past 10 years, the government has spent over USD 1 billion on building infrastructure for bikes. It helps that bicycles can be brought onto public transit – trains, buses, etc. “You can also inflate your tires at selected police stations and even have a shower there too,” Liu added.
It takes about 8 days to cycle round the island and bike rentals are easily available. There are about 8,000 km. of bike paths/lanes around Taiwan offering a variety of routes to suit different abilities. These range from the gentle ride along the Sun Moon Lake to the most challenging one that stretches from Chi Sing Ponds to Wu Ling, a route that reaches up to 3,275 m. in elevation.
Canadian Olympic cyclist Zach Bell talked about his 1st hand experience on 2 wheels in Taiwan. Last year, he won Stage 4 of the Tour de Taiwan. “I was pleasantly surprised by the different topography changes there. I had to concentrate hard to not get distracted by the scenery. One stage ended at a hot springs area and in another, someone showed me where to get good noodles,” he said.
As part of the “Cycling Taiwan” launch, for the entire day, the public was encouraged to ride stationary bikes placed around Robson Square. While cycling, they could view video footage of the top 5 cycling routes – Taroko Gorge, Qingshui Cliff, Tamsui Riverside Path Sun Moon Lake and Road 102 which stretches from Keelung and 40 km. east to Fulong. Special guests included Burnaby’s Deputy Mayor Anne Kang, a transplanted Taiwanese and Kerry Jang, Deputy Mayor of Vancouver who sang the praises of biking around Taiwan having done that recently with his wife. “The Taiwanese know how to do bike lanes. There are lots of things to do en route, stop at a tea house, see the sights, etc,” he said. Apparently, CNN Travel has rated Taiwan as one of the best cycling destinations in the world.
Later in the day, the Taiwanese delegation held a trade show for over 150 travel agents at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia followed by dinner. Last year, Taiwan received 8 million visitors, 60,000 were from Canada. The forecast for 2014 is 9 million.
