TIL of the “Huandao” (環島). The Huandao is a coming-of-age ritual and patriotic act in which someone in Taiwan cycles the entire length of the island over 2 weeks, and optionally, removes rubbish as they go. Taiwan is comparable in size to the island of Ireland.

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  3. During the 1980s, “Giant Bicycles”, a bike company in Taiwan, exploded in popularity. The sustained popularity of the company led the Taiwanese government to invest heavily in cycling infrastructure in the 2000s.

    In 2006, the film “Island Etude” was released, about a deaf man who cycles the length of Taiwan and meets interesting people from the communities along the way. The popularity of the film led to college students and other young people seeking to recreate the experience of the film themselves. In time, going on the Huandao became a coming-of-age ritual in Taiwan, as well as a patriotic experience.

    As environmental consciousness increased over the decades, cleaning up rubbish from stop to stop has become another aspect of the Huandao.

    Today the Huandao is considered one of the three “Taiwan triathlon” challenges. The challenges are

    * Cycle the Huandao

    * Climb Taiwan’s tallest mountain, Yushan (“the Jade Mountain”)

    * Swim Taiwan’s largest body of water, Sun Moon Lake.

  4. I dream of a future Ireland, criss-crossed by greenways and the national cycling network, where heading out for a couple weeks becomes a right of passage for older teens, much like inter railing is for college students.

  6. Taiwan’s also pretty mountainous, and can be extremely hot and humid. I really wouldn’t fancy cycling the length of that island.

  8. Don’t know where the OP got the information and pictures from but, like many of these things, it’s mostly bollix.

    Taiwan is about half the size of Ireland, not comparable at all. Population is close to 24 million and most of the centre area is mountainous with few roads or buildings. This means high density traffic which can be horrendous and extremely unsafe for cycling.

    “Huandao” (環島) is not about cycling the length of the island. “Huandao” (環島) is around island so it’s doing a circuit of the island. Very, very, very few people would ever attempt it by bicycle, it is relatively popular to do on a motorcycle/scooter usually attempted in less than 24 hours continuous riding.

    The cycle lanes shown are a bit of a fantasy, if they exist they’re going to be extremely limited. For the most part you’ll be cycling in either horrible traffic or on mountain roads with nutcases driving on the wrong side of the road in cars/motorcycles/trucks/tour buses.

  14. Cycled Mizen Head to Malin Head last summer. You’re not a man until you’ve done it.

    It was tough, especially a horrible thing they’ve got in Cork/Kerry called the Cara Pass. That needs to be flattened.

    A greenway the length of the country would be class.

  15. Ok, but according to *The Aborigines of Taiwan* by Cauquelin, and William A. Pickering’s *Pioneering in Formosa*, the Puyuma required young men to take a human head as an obligatory part of their initiation… Are we sure we want to emulate Taiwanese coming-of-age rituals?

  16. I cycled Malin to Mizen some years ago and it was quite a trip. It’d be really nice if we actually had some joined up thinking and cycle lanes to make it safer and more viable for casual recreational use.

  18. There is no round the island greenway bike lane in Taiwan, that pic is very misleading.

    There are some great cycling routes , mostly on roads actually and some up huge mountains. Some of the roads also have heavy traffic and dangerous like Ireland.

    Also most go round in a week not two weeks.

    Generally cycling infrastructure is good, Giant bike co supports renting of bikes round the island, lots of groups do this.

    Cities also have excellent riverside greenways in Taiwan.

  24. Little bit more sense of public duty in Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and Japan than here (I haven’t been to China). Their culture just doesn’t produce people who litter or vandalise or who are public scumbags.

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