{"id":4382,"date":"2010-11-09T14:56:07","date_gmt":"2010-11-09T18:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/?p=4382"},"modified":"2010-11-09T15:14:31","modified_gmt":"2010-11-09T19:14:31","slug":"taiwan-cycling-festival-kickoff-in-taitung","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2010\/11\/09\/taiwan-cycling-festival-kickoff-in-taitung\/","title":{"rendered":"Taiwan Cycling Festival: Kickoff in Taitung"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Having managed our way from Taipei to Taitung, finishing the day in Chihpen&#8217;s hot springs, we&#8217;re ready for the opening event &#8211; the kickoff to the 2010 Taiwan Cycling Festival. \u00c2\u00a0We started off with an energetic <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Taiwanese_aborigines\">aboriginal Taiwanese<\/a> drumline:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"image\" title=\"2010 Taiwan Cycling Festival Opening Ceremony\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1401\/5146616836_c4d9639c20_z.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"405\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Opening Ceremony Marking Ongoing Efforts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The 2010 Taiwan Cycling Festival is is what we&#8217;ve come for, and the opening ceremony marks the culmination of years of efforts in support of cycling by many. \u00c2\u00a0 As I&#8217;ve learned in my own cycling advocacy efforts, nothing happens without the long-term cooperation and dedication of <em>many<\/em> people, so crediting some individuals with the success of a project almost always excludes others. \u00c2\u00a0However, there are those who play key roles, and here we have those\u00c2\u00a0responsible, in large part, for making Taiwan a more cyclist-friendly destination (L-R): Director General of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau- Janice Lai (\u00e8\u00b3\u00b4\u00e7\u2018\u0178\u00e7\u008f\u008d), Giant Bicycles founder &amp; cycling advocate &#8211; King Liu (\u00e5\u0160\u2030\u00e9\u2021\u2018\u00e6\u00a8\u2122), Magistrate of Taitung &#8211; Justin Huang\u00c2\u00a0(\u00e9\u00bb\u0192\u00e5\u0081\u00a5\u00e5\u00ba\u00ad), and Minister of Transportation and Communications &#8211; Dr. Chi-kuo Mao (\u00e6\u00af\u203a\u00e6\u00b2\u00bb\u00e5\u0153\u2039):<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"image\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4026\/5158600184_b64fdfb263_z.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"342\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dedicated to Cycling<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The hope of the organizers of the Taiwan Cycling Festival is that many of us will discover what they already know: \u00c2\u00a0Taiwan &#8211; and especially eastern Taiwan &#8211; is an incredible place for cycling. \u00c2\u00a0Not only does it offer many natural attractions, such as the Taroko Gorge and spectacular coastal routes, there are also many\u00c2\u00a0significant infrastructure features aimed specifically at attracting cyclists. \u00c2\u00a0While Taiwan has a history of developing and improving facilities for recreational cyclists &#8211; \u00c2\u00a0scenic bike paths, for example &#8211; the past two years have seen a substantial uptick in these efforts. While many cycling promotion efforts amount to little more than marketing campaigns, Taiwan has committed substantial resources to actual road and facility improvements. \u00c2\u00a0Among other things, Taiwan&#8217;s Ministry of Transportation and Communications, in partnership with the regional governments of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.taitung.gov.tw\/en\/index.aspx\">Taitung<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/tour-hualien.hl.gov.tw\/en\/index.jsp\">Hualien<\/a>, have:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>widened and improved the shoulders of many roads, including the primary north-south routes along the coast, Highways 9 and 11.<\/li>\n<li>initiated a retrofitting of railcars to provide roll-on\/off transportation for cyclists&#8217; bikes<\/li>\n<li>provided cycling service stations during peak cycling activity periods (like the Taiwan Cycling Festival)<\/li>\n<li>creation of a central information hub at <a href=\"http:\/\/motcbike.iot.gov.tw\/\">http:\/\/motcbike.iot.gov.tw\/<\/a> (to be available in English next year, I understand)<\/li>\n<li>instructed local government offices (including police stations) to provide direct support to cyclists on an ongoing basis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Details for many of these efforts can be found on in <a href=\"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2010\/11\/09\/taiwan-cycling-festival-cycling-infrastructure-improvements-in-taitung-and-hualien\/\">this companion post<\/a>. \u00c2\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"imagefloatright\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4025\/5161461457_75acdec6da_m.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"160\" \/>These are just some of the projects being funded by a four year commitment of approximately US$25 million from the federal government. \u00c2\u00a0Why? As Dr. Mao explained during the kickoff,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It is hard to develop other heavy industries in eastern Taiwan due to the small population. \u00c2\u00a0However, this area has rich tourism resources. \u00c2\u00a0Thus, we have selected eastern Taiwan as an ideal area to develop cycling tourism. \u00c2\u00a0We will develop cycling tourism under the principles of promoting eco-friendly tourism and fostering sustainable development.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Cycling tourism, long established but often seen as a niche market, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/david-kroodsma\/the-future-of-travel-bicy_b_779117.html\">is booming<\/a> and Taiwan is positioning itself to take advantage of that growth. \u00c2\u00a0 This positioning isn&#8217;t just a new plan that will be discarded when the next Bright Idea comes along, but another step forward in development efforts that can be traced back to the early 00s, when the government <a href=\"http:\/\/admin.taiwan.net.tw\/auser\/B\/Annual_2002\/english\/e_chap0_0.htm\">redoubled its efforts<\/a> to improve its tourism and cycling attractions. \u00c2\u00a0 The promise of economic development via cycling tourism, along with the aggressive advocacy efforts of the Giant-supported\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cycling-lifestyle.org.tw\/\">Cycling Life-Style Foundation<\/a>,\u00c2\u00a0gives me confidence that the government&#8217;s commitment to these efforts is real.<\/p>\n<p><strong>But Will They Come?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The obvious question, then, is whether these new efforts will be successful in bringing in overseas tourists. \u00c2\u00a0Taiwan is certainly dedicated to spreading the word. \u00c2\u00a0The kickoff in Taitung was the beginning of a week of events &#8211; including the Taitung International Triathlon, the &#8220;Challenging Yourself&#8221; organized ride, and the Taiwan Cup &#8211; expected to bring in 30,000 visitors to eastern Taiwan and US $4.3 million in tourism spending.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"image\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1063\/5162065184_cf91887835.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"297\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Since 2009, the area has been host to a large number of sponsored cycling festivals and multi-day organized rides &#8211; I suspect, however, that overseas tourists were a rather small percentage of the cyclists that participated in these events. \u00c2\u00a0Why? \u00c2\u00a0Well, if you&#8217;re in the US or Europe, you likely already know the answer.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"imagefloatleft\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1163\/5147978459_79b45e30f0.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"229\" \/><strong>Made in Taiwan<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When you hear Taiwan, it likely brings to mind factories, high tech equipment, and probably crowded urban areas. \u00c2\u00a0That&#8217;s about it. \u00c2\u00a0While Taiwan certainly has an abundance of all of those things, there is so much more to it than that. \u00c2\u00a0 But the perception of Taiwan &#8211; which has been reinforced over the lifetimes of most Westerners by the ubiquitous &#8220;Made in Taiwan&#8221; label &#8211; remains a significant challenge. \u00c2\u00a0While I&#8217;ve managed trips to many of the cities in Taiwan&#8217;s corner of the globe &#8211; Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, and Shanghai &#8211; Taiwan was never even on my radar. \u00c2\u00a0We simply don&#8217;t meet enough people who have been there for anything beyond business, and it hasn&#8217;t at all made its way into the public consciousness as a destination. \u00c2\u00a0This failure to grab potential tourists&#8217; imaginations isn&#8217;t a knock on Taiwan, either. \u00c2\u00a0In fact, it&#8217;s something of a compliment to Taiwan&#8217;s other strengths &#8211; technological innovation and manufacturing exports &#8211; that a place with such enormous tourism potential could have that overshadowed.<\/p>\n<p>Yet with just a bit of effort, and little more time, Taiwan should be able to move itself into the list of places a cyclist thinks about when looking for a new adventure. \u00c2\u00a0 Any place that can offer riding like this &#8211;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"image\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4036\/5161647234_362138904e_z.jpg\" alt=\"Riding through Taroko Gorge\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; has an enormous leg up on the competition. \u00c2\u00a0When you combine that with cyclist-oriented rail travel into the region, well-marked routes through a beautiful countryside, and no shortage of off-the-bike pleasures, Taiwan should be able to work its way toward the top of any short list of destinations. \u00c2\u00a0But first, people have to know about it. \u00c2\u00a0So stick around, and let me tell you a bit more about all of those things. \u00c2\u00a0And hopefully you&#8217;ll tell your friends. \u00c2\u00a0And they&#8217;ll tell theirs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2010\/11\/09\/taiwan-cycling-festival-cycling-infrastructure-improvements-in-taitung-and-hualien\/\">Recent Improvements to the Eastern Region&#8217;s Cycling Infrastructure<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Having managed our way from Taipei to Taitung, finishing the day in Chihpen&#8217;s hot springs, we&#8217;re ready for the opening event &#8211; the kickoff to the 2010 Taiwan Cycling Festival. \u00c2\u00a0We started off with an energetic aboriginal Taiwanese drumline: Opening Ceremony Marking Ongoing Efforts The 2010 Taiwan Cycling Festival is is what we&#8217;ve come for, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,468,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cycling","category-taiwan","category-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4382"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4439,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4382\/revisions\/4439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}