I would like to start off with brief 4 word summaries of the roads and thoughts I had during Saturday’s journey:

• Provincial HWY 14 – Very few motorists, dreaming?
• Township Route 6 – Satisfying distraction from #14.
• County Route 136 – Everyone traveling opposite direction.
• Township Route 100 – Deceivingly flat at beginning.
• Township Route 95-1 – Following the mighty Dajia.
• Provincial HWY 21 – Not bad from Dongshih.
• County Route 133 – Charging fast through Guoxing.
• Provincial HWY 14 – Just keep on spinning.

The Ninety-Nine Peaks [九九峰] looked great in the morning.  As did most of Township Route 6:

While on Provincial HWY 14 I met a few cyclists on their way to Sun Moon Lake.  The usually busy road was almost completely deserted.  Most of the big tour buses were traveling on the newly completed Freeway 6.  The chilly weather [by Taiwanese standards] may have kept a few people inside as well.  Before long I was in Guoxing [國姓鄉] and cycling up County Route 136 towards Taiping City [太平市].

The road was steep but not too challenging coming up from the Guoxing side.  There were many cyclists and people on scooters and heavy motorcycles traveling from the opposite direction.

The road offers great views and the surface is excellent.  Once on the Taichung County side there are a few cafes and restaurants along the way.

At times Taichung City is clearly visible, but when I was there the city was covered in an pale, yellow haze.

After coming down hill the road splits and you can take Township Route 100 [山田路] towards Xinshe [新社鄉].  The road is steep and very narrow.  Most of the signs point to flower gardens and restaurants.  I asked once if I was going the right way towards Xinshe and my reply was “Keep going up!”

There was a covered place to rest made out of wood followed immediately by a  left turn towards Xinshe.  Today the sky cleared up and offered an incredible view of Taichung City and the Pacific Ocean:

Once on Township Route 95-1 which runs along the Dajia River [大甲溪], I contemplated hopping on Provincial HWY 8 on the other side of the river and relaxing in a hot spring and hotel for the night in Guguan [谷關].  Will power prevailed and I continued on towards Provincial HWY 21.

I found a restaurant/resort at the base of the climb for lunch.  I’m glad I did because there’s no where else to eat until you get over the hill.  The owner’s dog didn’t seem too interested in me until my fried noodles and vegetables came:

After digesting for a moment it was back on the road.

Provincial HWY 21 offers splendid views.  That’s the Snow Mountains in the far background [雪山] and Baimao Mountain on the right [白毛山]:

View the large.
It’s hard to race down when treated to such breathtaking views:

Entering familiar territory:

A map of the route can be found at Bikemap.net.  Stats for the day are 115km [70 miles] long and over 1,900m [6,400 feet] of climbing – a personal record.

On Saturday, I went with Da-xiang, a family friend to the hot springs of Taichung County’s Guguan [谷關].  The first part of our journey was spent on HWY 14, which will probably be much more pleasurable to cycle on once the monstrous HWY 6 is completed giving motorists a faster option to Sun Moon Lake.

I don’t know how all the strawberry fields, betelnut stands, and cafes will cope with less traffic coming through.

We continued on HWY 14 until turning off to head towards central Guoxing [國姓].

It was shortly after taking the picture below that we had entered Taichung County:

If you look very closely, about a third from the left, near the top of the mountain, you may be able see a white house:  That’s the goal, after that it’s mostly downhill until the relaxing ascent to Guguan.

Here’s a picture taken near the top, the road below is the one we traveled up.  It was starting to get hot during this unseasonably warm February.

This was the only picture I stopped to take during the journey down.  I took it because you can see Shuei Mountain[雪山] in the background.

After stopping for lunch at a restaurant that had more flies than customers [and that's not counting the two sheets of fly paper on the table behind us with no extra space for flies to stick on], we were back on the road heading towards Guguan along part of the Central Cross-Island Highway [中部橫貫公路], passing farms and great scenery along the way:

There’s a handful of suspended pedestrian bridges in the area, too.  This is part of the Tri-Mountain National Scenic Area [參山國家風景區].


Stopping for a break, before the final stretch to Guguan:

After riding for about 75 km, Da-xiang and I met up with his wife, Cathy, her sister, and mother at Guguan.  They drove up there and arrived about an hour earlier than us.  After a brief rest and a couple refreshments it was time to soak in the hot springs.

We went to the Yidou Japanese-style Outdoor Hot Springs [伊豆日式露天溫泉].  The resort has seperate baths for men and women, but private baths and rooms are also available.  This was my first hot spring experience [which is outlandish considering I worked in Beitou for 2 years].   After one trip, I’m already sold on hot springs.  While relaxing in the springs I didn’t feel like I had just spent half a day on a bicycle.

Here’s a map of the route we took:

View Larger Map

Two salespeople from the company Cathy works for had to entertain a couple of their company’s customers in Taipei on Sunday. Through some unusual series of events Cathy and myself were roped into the task, too. Our free time was exchanged for free meals, various entrance tickets, and a ride home on the High Speed Rail as opposed to our usual luxurious choice: the Kuo-Kuang Bus Company [國光客運] . Our first destination was the National Palace Museum [國立故宮博物院]. Before strolling through the museum we ate lunch at the San-hsi t’ang Teahouse [三希堂], located on the fourth floor of the main exhibition hall.

The atmosphere is very relaxing while the prices and portions are what you would expect at a teahouse atop a museum. I was unimpressed with the wait staff as we had a table of three westerners and at a major tourist destination there wasn’t a single English-speaking server on staff. Even Macarroni Grill will send an English-speaking server to the table if it is one westerner in the company of several Taiwanese.

After the museum was a brief walk through its nearby Chih-shan Garden [至善園].

Everyone I was with was trying to walk through fast enough to save time to go to 101, so although the garden was very photogenic, I didn’t walk home with many shots.

Next up was a cab ride to 101, the view from the top hasn’t changed much since my previous visit, except this time with weather was lousy:

Taipei 101′s 730-ton tuned mass damper:

A huge rainbow formed over Xinyi District, I’m sure this would have looked great from the top of 101, but we were already in cabs on our way to Taipei Train Station.

The shot above was from inside the HSR while it was approaching Taichung Station. The picture was darkened a bit to not see so much dirt on the window or my faint reflection. Cathy took the picture below while we were in a cab escorting her company’s customers to their hotel.

Taiwanese and international newscasts reporting the deadly quake

At 1:47 in the early morning of September 21, 1999, Taiwan was struck by its most devastating earthquake in over a century. The massive 7.3 magnitude earthquake killed 2,415 persons, left 29 still missing, injured 11,305, completely destroyed 44,338 houses while severely damaging another 41,336, and caused NT$300 billion in property damages.

The 921 Earthquake occurred along the Chelungpu Fault [車籠埔斷層]. Taiwan’s western plains form the western edge of this fault, the western foothills mark the eastern edge of the fault. Some sections of the fault raised the land 7 meters [23 feet] as a result of the earthquake.

The 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan [921地震教育園區] is located at the site of the destroyed Guangfu Junior High School [光復國中] in Wufong Township [霧峰鄉]. The museum is an excellent visit for anyone interested in seismology or Taiwan’s history. There are plenty of interactive displays and most are in Chinese, English, and Japanese.

The Chelongpu Fault Preservation Hall contains models of tectonic plates and the earth’s internal structure. Below is a photograph from the hall showing damage from the earthquake to an area bridge:

Guangfu Junior High was selected as the site of this memorial museum because its track capture the fault movement:

Aerial photograph shortly after the earthquake

The track was elevated 2.5 meters [8.2 feet] as a result

The Earthquake Engineering Hall contains several interactive displays concerning earthquake resistance technology and public safety:

The model below shows how different vibration resistance technologies respond to earthquakes. The building with the ball hanging in it models an active mass damper, which is the system used in Taipei 101:

The preserved buildings at the museum use steal beams or acrylic walls like those pictured below to prevent further collapse:

Below are two pictures of the collapsed North Classroom Building. Had this earthquake occurred at a time when students were at school, several times more children would have perished because of the many schools that either completely or partially collapsed during the earthquake.

The museum also contains information on reconstruction efforts and revival of local communities. There is also a room which simulates the intensity of the 921 Earthquake.

Prior to last weekend, I think I was the only Taiwan blogger not to have ridden the Taiwan High Speed Rail [台灣高速鐵路]. The ride from Taipei to Taichung was about an hour with three stops along the way. The ride was incredibly smooth and beats taking the bus hands down. If I had a better paying job I would take it every time.

Welcome to the Economy Class. Here, a couple looks for their seats:

The best information is at the bottom: asking riders to turn their cellphones to vibrate and to speak in a soft voice… now if only subways, buses, and restaurants had the same warning the world would be much more pleasant place.

I only took one decent picture of the train as I was rushing to meet people who I thought were waiting for me… had I known they were all waiting in line at Starbucks I could have taken a few more shots.

I took a panorama of Taichung Station. It looks more like a domed sports stadium than a train station with all the curving from the auto-stitch software:

View the large

The Basianshan Recreation Area [八仙山國家森林遊樂區] is located in Heping Township, Taichung County. I was introduced to the area through Dongshih Forest District Office’s “Touch Nature” Basianshan Nature Experience.

The tour aims to introduce ESL teachers to the facilities and resources of the Basianshan National Forest Recreation Area. The other ESL teachers on the tour I attended were three South Africans who had just arrived in Taiwan three months ago and were working in nearby Fongyuan City [豐原市].

The powerful hallucinogen/poison Angel’s Trumpet (Datura) in the park’s botanical garden:

Spider Lilies (the flower, not the movie):

Our guided tour was along the park’s Evergreen Walking Trail. This is the park’s shortest path at 1050 meters long. The park’s Walking Trail is a 3320 meter journey, while their Challenge Walking Trail is a 6300 meter trek. Hopefully I will be able to make time to hike their longest trail in the future.

Bajing Monument [八景紀念碑], commemorating the area as one of Taiwan’s eight most beautiful places:

It doesn’t take long to figure out why:

The park’s bamboo forest:

When we got to the bamboo forest, the other foreigners and I paused for a moment to take in the beauty of the area, which I was far from able to capture with my camera.

This building is the park’s Ecological Center. Its interior hosts a collection of butterflies found in Taiwan.

The Forestry Bureau has several birdhouses in the area to study the life cycles of different birds. Our tour guide gave us a very handy pocket guide to aid in bird identification on future Taiwan travels.

What’s that next to our new friend?

The Basianshan National Forest is a great outing given the park’s different hiking options and the beauty of the area.

Obligatory portraits for everyone back home:

On Sunday, we took our second trip out to Taichung County for biking: our first trip was to the Dong Fong Bicycle Green Way, this trip was spent at the Tan Ya Shen Bike Path [潭雅神鐵馬道 (website)].

Despite the beautiful weather, the path was almost deserted.

Everyone pose together!

An abandoned train station:

A couple photos while biking:

Three things I didn’t expect to see on the path:
1) An F-5E Tiger II:

2) Ostriches (the only photo that came out decent shows one of the two that shared a small enclosure)!

3) A trio of M48A3 Tanks!

A couple local children climbed one of the tanks to set off a small firecracker from the top.

On the way back I bought roses from a woman selling some along the path, I gave one to everyone… see, I can be nice sometimes.

All the girls went home with a rose, I went home with a bad sunburn.

[Taiwan] [Taichung] [Biking]

We biked the path and took a handful of photos along the way, I hope you enjoy:

A map of our path

Cathy at the Shihgang Dam

Why can’t people pose properly when I meet them for the first time?

Delicious

The two pictures above show damage from the 921 Earthquake

The bike path passes through the old Tungshih Branch of the Taiwan South-North Railway. The route was turned into a bicycle lane in 1991.

Taking part in auditions for the next Airwaves commercial shoot.

Camouflaging with the train.

Taking a break for some icy treats on a cool day.

Notice anything missing from this bridge? A flood took out the middle portion of this bridge. This marks the end of the bike path.

After biking, we went to Taichung City for lunch at Taiwan Storyland:

[Taiwan] [Taichung] [Cycling]