Twenty-eight-year-old Taiwanese Wu Shih-chang (吳時暢), who embarked on an around-the-world bicycle tour as a way to celebrate his 30th birthday, has recently reached Vancouver, Canada after starting his tour in Alaska on June 1.
A tanned Wu on Tuesday had his first good meal in 70 days at a Japanese restaurant at the invitation of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the city.
Wu says the most frightening experience on his ride from Alaska to Vancouver was the eight bears he encountered on his way through the Yukon, which straddles the Arctic Circle, and British Columbia. Although the bears didn’t seem hostile and didn’t follow him, he has taken some friendly advice and bought anti-bear spray.
PHOTO: CHANG LING-CHU, TAIPEI TIMES
Wu said the bears heard him coming from far away, but that he just kept on riding as if nothing had happened.
A story about him in the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) led a reporter from the German DPA news agency to find him, and it was only because this German reporter later sent an e-mail to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office that the office was made aware of Wu’s arrival in Vancouver.
Wu said he first thought that riding around the world on a bicycle was a romantic thing to do. After setting out, however, Wu said he came to realize there was nothing romantic about it, as he instead had to deal with loneliness and learn to survive.
Every day, he was busy thinking about how to make his food last until the next food stop 100km down the road and about where he would set up his tent that evening.
Wu said that during the first few days of his ride in Alaska, he miscalculated and didn’t bring enough food. With the next shop more than 100km away, his blood sugar levels dropped and he started feeling dizzy, as all the trees seemed to be white. After that experience, he said he never dared set out again on an empty stomach.
Every day he slept in a tent, and bathed and washed his clothes in rivers. He said the water in Alaska in June was only about 5ºC, so every time he washed his hair, it felt as if it would explode.
Wu said he hoped he would be able to ride around the world in 1,000 days. So far, he has only spent US$8 per day, which is within his budget of US$8,000.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
RSS