Tears, excitement, warmth, friendship, tiredness and even sickness were experienced by participants in the "Walk Against the Wind" march that started in Oluanpi (鵝鸞鼻), the southernmost tip of the country, and finished yesterday in Taipei.
The march was initiated by 12 young people, including former National Youth Commission chairwoman Cheng Li-chun (
Along the way, supporters gave participants high fives and hugs. Many joined them on the way, expanding the team to more than 200 people yesterday.
PHOTO: HUANG LI-HSIANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"[On the walk] I found Taiwan to be a very, very lovely place," Sam Lang (郎恩祺), a 23-year-old graduate student in Canada, said. "You can always find something touching everywhere in the country."
Lang said that he was especially touched to see elementary or senior high school students leaving their classrooms to cheer them on.
"When I was in high school [in Taiwan], the teachers never allowed us to show an interest in politics," he said. "But it's different now -- I see hope for the country in these young students."
Although many people lost weight during the walk, Lang gained 2kg.
"People fed us really well along the way," he said, with a big smile on his face. "During the walk today, when people lined up along the roadsides were giving us high fives, someone put a meatball into my mouth all of a sudden," Lang said. "I was surprised, but I felt touched."
A college student who wished to known only by her last name Hung (洪) and one of the original dozen, said that the spirit of some accompanying walkers made her cry.
"I remember once when we were in Changhua County, a very, very old lady who could barely walk insisted on joining us. As we were walking fast, she tried very hard to catch up." she recounted as she walked on Zhongshan N Road in Taipei towards Zhongshan Soccer Stadium, the end of the journey.
Although the walk was harder for the old lady, "she tried to show her care for us by putting a candy into my mouth," Hung said.
Henry Yen (嚴江龍), also among the original dozen, was shocked when he realized how little he knew about Taiwan.
"We visited many places where key events in Taiwan's history happened -- but I never heard of those places before," Yen told the Taipei Times during an interview at the stadium.
Yen injured his knees four days into the trip, but continued to walk regardless of the pain.
"I couldn't give up. How could I?" Yen said. "I had to carry on after all the support and good wishes we got from supporters along the way, I just couldn't give up."
Friendship among walkers was also an important support.
"Many of us started out as strangers, but became best friends along the way," Yen said. "We got together every night to share what we saw and felt during the day and give support to each other."
Besides joy, sorrow was something that Lang felt at the end of the journey.
"I feel a bit sad because I know that it will be a long time before I can run into high fives and hugs from strangers again on the streets," he said.
There was also appreciation.
"A lot of supporters along the way thanked us but actually we owe much more to them. We really want to thank them for their support and the warmth they showed us," Yen said.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but