The National Youth Commission (NYC) launched a program yesterday to encourage young people to explore the country by bicycle and earn a chance at big prizes by sharing their stories.
Commission Minister Wang Yu-ting (王昱婷) said that as part of the agency’s Ride for Dreams initiative, people aged 15 to 30 who tour Taiwan by bicycle should submit stories and pictures of their trips to encourage more people to do the same.
“Given that more young people are choosing to travel around the country by bicycle, we hope to promote Taiwan to the world as a perfect island for bicycle tours,” Wang said.
Ride for Dreams aims to help broaden the experience of young people and encourage them to be more competitive, Wang said.
Four young people who have cycled around Taiwan attended the news conference to share their experiences and urge others to follow in their footsteps.
Lu Ying-lung (盧映龍), a graduate student at National Taiwan University, said his two bike tours were very simple and modest, as he took only five T-shirts and one backpack.
“[Setting off] with minimal expectations, I ended up having many surprises,” Lu said.
People aged 15 to 30 have until Aug. 31 to participate in the Ride for Dreams project and submit their biking stories and pictures for a chance to win NT$30,000, the commission said.
People aged 18 to 30 can also take part in the project as a team, and have until Aug. 17 to submit their “coming-of-age biking ceremony plans” for a chance to win a grant of NT$70,000 from commission to help fund their tours.
More information is available at www.nyc.gov.tw or youthtravel.tw.
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