Around Taipei, Taipei 2014

Cycling Through NTU

Even though I spent my first few days in Taipei on campus at National Taiwan University, I realised I never actually fully explored the campus, what with the busyness of attending the conference, stressing over my presentation and staying indoors with the heavy rains. So after my time at the riverside, I took the bike through the campus, winding and wending my way down paths, discovering little nooks and crannies across the various schools, faculties, sports and recreation grounds. It was also fun to see how the campus is rejuvenated on the weekends by families strolling around and youths playing sports.

Cycling Through Gongguan

Most people think of Taipei as an urban jungle and so did I until I found out that Taipei has developed riverside parks, an extensive network of cycling paths and a new city bike rental service. I was intrigued with this new way to explore the city and I knew I had to squeeze it somehow into my schedule.

At first, I was unsure whether the YouBike rental service would be accessible to foreigners. The English website wasn't as comprehensive as I remembered and there were barely any information on blogs for single-use riders. My inital game plan was to rent a bike using my EasyCard but as I was struggling with the rental terminal, I realised I had to register the card first. In the end, I used my credit card and in no time I was breezing through the streets of Taipei. Finding a rental terminal was easy, in fact, it will probably be one of the first things you notice about Taipei now, all these adorable orange-yellow bikes standing in a row outside train stations. You can also search for your nearest rental station via the website, it even tells you how many bikes are supposed to be available, whether are there any parking lots or if the station is closed. It might not be the most accurate though, the first rental station I went to was supposed to have bikes available but there were none.

Anyway, the little problems aside, I had so much fun riding through the streets and sidewalks of Gongguan (my 'hood in Taipei yo!). I cycled without a map but I knew the area well enough to head in the direction of the riverside park, the area is also pretty well sign-posted and it's hard to get lost. Once I hit the park, I just followed the trail around the river together with the rest of the Sunday morning crowd. I can't believe that this expanse of greenery have been hidden behind Taipei's concrete facade all this while. I only biked a small stretch between Jingmei, Fuhe and Guting Riverside Parks but it's totally possible to bike all the way up north to Danshui or down south to Xindian. That's how well developed the riverside networks have become! I think the next time I visit Taipei again, I might earmark an entire day to just ride along the river!

Elephant Hill, Taipei 2014

In all my visits to Taipei, I have never come across any mention of Elephant Hill during my research, I am not sure why. But I am so glad that Katie recommended that I include this in my plans. Getting there is easy with the recent opening of the Elephant Hill (Xiang Shan), once you get out of the station, just follow the signs that will lead you to the start of the trail.

From research, I thought the climb would be a fairly simple 20 min walk. It turned out to be a 30 min exercise in stair-climbing! But don't worry, it really isn't difficult, you just have to keep stepping up (pant pant). I also happened to climb it in crazy humidity and was completely drenched in perspiration by the time I hit the summit. Boy, was I glad I did it though. The view of Taipei's cityscape was absolutely amazing! If only, the weather was better, I bet golden hour and the sunset would have made the view stunning. I am seriously considering doing the climb again just to get those photographs.