A recently completed paved path connecting coastal bike routes in Hsinchu and Miaoli allows both casual and committed cyclists to enjoy a diversity of natural scenery and manmade phenomena, although parts of the trail could use some refurbishing. It’s not the most auspicious start to a trip. My bus driver inexplicably ushers me off one…
Visitors eager to get a glimpse of the Taiwan of yore can easily devote an entire day to Lukang and at least two days to Tainan. Lukang, a small town on the west coast, in its 18th-century heyday was one of the island’s foremost centers of trade, while Tainan was Taiwan’s capital for over 200…
Taiwan is a multiethnic country, and nowhere is this truer than in the northwestern counties of Hsinchu and Miaoli. This region is home to less than 7% of Taiwan’s 23.2 million people, but includes five ethnic groups, not counting the Southeast Asians, Westerners, and Indians who have moved here for marriage, or to work in…
