The Sports Affairs Council (SAC) announced yesterday that it published a guidebook documenting the 50 most noteworthy bicycle routes around the nation.
The book, titled Let's Bike: Carefree Tour Biking (
In addition to maps, the guidebook includes photos of tourist attractions that can be seen along the routes. The guidebook also provides information on bicycle rental shops and hostels near each route.
The book's chief editor Anita Lai (
While similar publications have been previously available, Lai said none of them could likely match the resources and time spent on this project.
Lai emphasized that there are more than 50 bike routes in Taiwan. The ones introduced by the book are absolutely safe for regular bikers, she said.
When asked how editors chose 50 out of so many other bike trails, Lai said they all are bike routes highly recommended by county governments.
The book includes some of the most popular bike routes as well as the most challenging ones, including the route along the riverbanks in Taipei County and the one in Baguashan (八卦山), Changhua County.
SAC minister Yang Chung-ho (楊忠和) told a press conference yesterday that in the past five years the council has been executing the Executive Yuan's project to build a nationwide bike route 1,000km long. He said that 70 percent of the construction is completed.
Yang said he hoped the book would help foster a new biking culture in Taiwan.
The hardcopy edition of the book can be purchased at the Government Bookstore on Bade Rd in Taipei and Wunan Books in Taichung City. It can also be downloaded from the council's Web site at www.sac.gov.tw.
In related news, the legislative Finance Committee yesterday rejected an amendment proposed by the council to allow a portion of the profits generated from Sports Lotteries to be used for sports development.
The current regulation says the profits earned from the sports lotteries must be used to fund the operations of the National Pension Program, National Health Insurance and other social welfare expenses.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS