That’s How We Roll: Traveling Taipei with YouBike
Yang Ling-yuan / photos Hao Chen-tai / tr. by Scott Williams
July 2014
Taiwan has long been a major bicycle manufacturer, but nowadays it’s also becoming a popular Asian destination for cycling vacations. In addition to the Taiwanese who have fallen in love with cycling, we now often see foreign tourists flocking here specifically to make a cycling circuit of our island.
In 2012, renowned international travel guide publisher Lonely Planet named Taiwan one of the top countries in the world to visit, in part because our comprehensive system of urban bike paths makes it easy for budget travelers to get around.
Taipei was the first city in Taiwan to establish dedicated bikeways. Having gone on to introduce YouBike, its own bicycle rental system, the city has now kicked off yet another trend: casual bicycle touring among those who don’t own bikes. Such efforts have marked the city as a global leader. With its YouBike system now having been used more than 10 million times, Taipei been selected to host the 2016 iteration of Velo-city Global, a major international cycling conference, which will give the city an opportunity to demonstrate its “cycling power” to the world.
Taipei has six riverside bikeways. Beautifully scenic and beloved by city residents, on holidays they bustle with cyclists of all ages. Just how popular is cycling in Taipei? Let’s take a look!
Rows of YouBike rental bicycles have become a common sight on Taipei’s streets.
Near the exit of Xingtian Temple Metro station, a casually dressed girl locks up a bright-yellow YouBike bicycle in the sidewalk parking area. Almost immediately afterwards, a waiting boy runs his EasyCard through the reader to unlock the bike, then pedals away.
YouBike bicycles zipping merrily through heavy traffic have become a frequent sight on Taipei’s busy streets, fluttering past like happy little fireflies through the concrete jungle.
Do you YouBike? Cycling along Taipei’s tree-shaded Dunhua South Road offers a moment’s respite from the urban rat race.
Guo Wen-ling used to ride a motorcycle to work even though she lived quite close to her office. But the ready availability of YouBikes and the convenience of the YouBike app, which shows where bikes are currently available to rent and when they’ll be arriving at a particular rental station, have gotten her into the habit of cycling instead. Nowadays, she even rents a bike for trips of just a few hundred meters.
“The reason Taipei residents didn’t use to think about cycling,” says Guo, “was that we didn’t have space for bikes in our rented apartments and we couldn’t keep one in the building’s stairwell. But the YouBike system has made it so convenient and eliminated so many of the headaches that it’s made cycling totally practical.”
Guo adds that she and her friends are avid Metro riders and love the convenience of Taipei’s Metro network, but that cycling has added an even greater sense of breadth to her life. Her love affair with cycling has reached the point that when friends visit from abroad, she takes them out riding to introduce them to the joys of exploring Taipei’s side streets.
She has discovered that her foreign friends really enjoy the many little boutiques of area around the intersection of Zhongshan North Road and Nanjing West Road. They also like the organic farmers’ markets held in various locations around the city. She’s found that foreign visitors to Taipei are often surprised to find neighborhoods possessed of a rural simplicity in such an international city.
Cycling in Taipei holds still other charms for the city’s foreign residents.
Tom Howard, a British designer for a local computer firm, experiences a lot of job-related stress. He alleviates it by cycling around the city or into nearby mountains. He’s met a number of like-minded individuals through his hobby, and now often meets up with them for trips to scenic spots like the Sishou Mountains, Yangmingshan, and Wuzhi Mountain to relax and bask in the tranquility of mountain forests.
“There’s nothing more fun than cycling around Taipei,” says Howard. He sees the city as a kind of melting pot, filled with charms and fascinations ranging from the Yongle Market’s textile wholesalers to street-side snack stands and Café Lumière, the art-house cinema and café located in what used to be the American ambassador’s residence. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. There are also the pop cultural and artistic offerings of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, the bustling Xinyi shopping district, and much, much more. “It’s too much work to discover the city’s less obvious attractions on foot. Cycling makes it much easier.”
The network of riverside bikeways that stretches far and wide through Greater Taipei leads past many popular scenic spots.
While Taipei’s promotion of bikeways initially resulted in a wave of enthusiasm for cycling as exercise, that enthusiasm began to wane in the face of a lack of bicycle parking. Fortunately, the city has managed to rekindle interest via its ongoing construction of new YouBike rental kiosks and its introduction of a program under which the first half hour of use is free. The city currently has 148 kiosks that collectively offer 4,905 YouBike bicycles for rent and enjoy an average of more than 40,000 rentals per day. With construction of new locations continuing apace, the city government aims to have some 300 kiosks in place by 2019.
Among the secrets to YouBike’s success are its 24-hour operations, its policy of allowing customers to return bikes at a different location than they rented at, and its use of the EasyCard system for payments. The system is so user-friendly that even foreign visitors and people who don’t usually cycle are willing to give it a try.
The “Love” installation on the Songshan stretch of the Keelung River Bikeway enables couples cycling past to seal their love symbolically with a lock.
Renting a YouBike for a turn around Dajia Riverside Park has become the latest “must-do” for backpackers visiting Taipei. Riders circuiting the looping bike path that runs along the Keelung and Danshui Rivers, Xindian Creek, and Dahan Creek can make the rounds of almost the entirety of Greater Taipei. And, with each path offering its own unique scenery, repeat rides are never boring.
The network of riverside bikeways that stretches far and wide through Greater Taipei leads past many popular scenic spots.
There are bike paths on both banks of the Keelung River. Riders who enter the left-bank path via the Lin Antai Flood Gate soon find themselves pedaling among the green meadows and flowerbeds of the Dajia Riverside Park. The Fountain of Hope, the park’s best-known attraction, is also worth a look. It offers half-hour-long fountain shows four times a day. Riders exploring a little further can also take in Taipei Story House and the Taipei Fine Arts Museum.
Those setting out along the right shore pass by the Miramar Entertainment Park, the Grand Hotel, Meiti Riverside Park, and Neihu Technology Park. This stretch of path is especially enjoyable at night, when the inky surface of the river mirrors the Miramar Ferris wheel, the resplendent Grand Hotel, and the colorful Rainbow Bridge to create scenes almost dreamlike in their loveliness.
The network of riverside bikeways that stretches far and wide through Greater Taipei leads past many popular scenic spots.
Entering the Guandu Bikeway from the Guandu Temple entrance, cyclists pedal through the Guandu Nature Park. The route takes riders past swathes of mangrove wetland and offers views across the river to Mt. Guanyin. The scenery is straight out of a landscape painting, dotted with waterfowl taking flight.
To the north, the path joins with the Gold Coast and Bali Left Bank bikeways, and crosses the river via the red arc of the Guandu Bridge. Worn out cyclists can walk their bikes over to the Bali Ferry Pier to catch a ferry back to Guandu, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Danshui shoreline a second time as they cruise back upriver. The ferry is especially popular with cyclists at twilight, when the last rays of the setting sun speckle the river’s mouth.
The network of riverside bikeways that stretches far and wide through Greater Taipei leads past many popular scenic spots.
There are bikeways on both banks of the Jingmei River. The path on the left bank runs between the river and a brilliant green ridge. Just 3.8 kilometers in length, it offers a perfect spot for families to ride. The bikeway on the right bank is flanked by the long, narrow Daonan Riverside Park as it makes its way past the high-rise apartment buildings on the shores of the murmuring river.
Tourists can rent a bike at the Muzha Metro station and cycle straight into the park, where they’ll find green meadows dotted with stone sculptures and benches. Riding to the park offers an escape from the rat race. It’s a great way to slow down, relax, and enjoy some playtime with your kids.
The network of riverside bikeways that stretches far and wide through Greater Taipei leads past many popular scenic spots.
The Shezidao Bikeway takes riders past the varied scenery of the Shezi Flower Market, Shezi Sports Park, the Hongshulin (Mangrove) Conservation Area, and the Children’s Recreation Center, as well as offering outstanding views of Mounts Datun and Guanyin in the distance.
The colors in the sports park are incredible, its richly hued art installations complementing the green of the grass and blue of the sky. When riders reach the mangrove swamp at the intersection of the Keelung and Danshui Rivers, the scenery changes abruptly. The modern world recedes, replaced by rice paddies and vegetable gardens that give the bikeway a rustic air. The sight of the Guandu Nature Park across the mouth of the Keelung River lends an almost utopian otherworldliness to the scene.
YouBike has joined Taipei 101 as a city trademark.
Located right in the midst of a residential area, the Shuangxi Riverside Bikeway is flanked by high-rise apartment buildings. Though the path doesn’t offer much in the way of mountain views, its tree-shaded “green tunnel” is nonetheless a very popular summertime destination for cyclists.
Riders enjoy cool breezes on a route that takes them past the Meilun Science Park, the Taipei Astronomical Museum Observatory, Zhishan Hill, Shuangxi Park, Zhishan Park, and the National Palace Museum. Having enjoyed some exercise, they can then dash over to the Shilin Night Market for some tasty snacks.
Even non-Taiwanese feel the allure of casual cycling around Taipei. Tom Howard (right), a Brit, meets friends to cycle the Beitou Hills Trail, getting some exercise while also blowing off steam.
Cycling along the right bank of Xindian Creek from Fuhe Bridge, riders pass through the brilliant green expanses of Guting Riverside Park on their way to the creek’s confluence with the Danshui River. The route’s scenery includes a unique perspective on the many bridges between Taipei City and New Taipei City.
Starting at the other end of the bikeway, riders pass Dihua Street, Youth Park, the Taipei City Hakka Cultural Park and the Taipei Water Park. The path eventually takes them up the Jingmei River shore, through a manmade wetland, and into another cluster of parks. Those keeping an eye out may even spot waterfowl and protected migratory bird species taking flight.
Taipei has promoted cycling as exercise for a number of years and marked a pair of important milestones in 2014: soaring usage of the YouBike system and selection as the host of the Velo-city Global 2016 cycling conference. These affirmations of the city government’s cycling policies have spurred it to further ongoing efforts to encourage bicycling.
A cyclist-friendly environment, fascinating side streets, and the warmth of city residents are working together to enhance the appeal of cycling in Taipei, helping make the city even more alluring as a tourist destination.
Taiwan has long been a hub for bicycle manufacturing. Now that interest in cycle touring is on the rise, the local cycle market is enjoying a boost as well.
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