Taiwan Biking

I found a loop around the island a good ride--there's a lot of culture and beauty to experience. The mountainous interior and the east coast regions have the best scenery. You'll need a good guidebook to learn about the ways of doing things, as well as places of interest to link together. Also, consider the season--Taiwan can be rainy. Road signs may be only in Chinese, so a map with both Chinese and English writing will save you a lot of frustration. If you are on a low budget (Taiwan is on the expensive side), consider carrying light camping gear; youth hostels are available in some places. You can search the Internet for travelogues; www.bikechina.com</a> has some Taiwan stories in the travelogue section.

I've lived in Taiwan for nearly 8 years. It's an amazing island... once you get away from the mass of concrete jungle. I reckon it's Asia's best kept secret - and I have ridden in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Japan, Korea and Cambodia. The key (obviously) is finding the best routes. But many of the mountain roads are pretty quiet.
Summer is really too hot and between Oct and April is best, athough it does rain during these months.

Taiwan is great for cycling. I just finished Taipei to Taidong and it was very beautiful. Taidong down to Kenting is also good. I met about a dozen Taiwanese cyclists on the way.

rode taiwan a couple of months ago, it was pretty awesome, like china, but missing all the things you wouldn't like there. the climb up through the taroko gorge is awesome, from sealevel all the way up to 3400, with wonderful gorges and a amazing transition from tropical forests into alpine mountains. also great YH at sun moon lake (the treat you like a king for pretty cheap, and very intersting aboriginal cultures to explore. only downside might be that there has been a lot of landslides that block out a lot of the minor roads, so zigzagging around out in the back country is slightly difficult. did about two weeks there, but would have been well worth to spend more time there.

woirth a look

I've also cycled most of the island on various weekend trips. My favourite would have to be the southern cross island highway. A real out of the way treat.

Oh yes, websites. Formosafattire is one. There are some others too I can't quite remember.