Bike Trip from Xindian (新店) to Hsinchu (新竹) , Part 9

Bike Trip from Xindian (新店) to Hsinchu (新竹)

2018/02/17-18, Part 9

Before I arrived at the McDonalds I’ve already seen a street sign showing the direction to ‘La La Mountain’ (拉拉山), a popular natural destination with giant trees half way between Taoyuan County (桃園縣) on the west coast and I-Lan County (宜蘭縣) on the east coast of Taiwan. La La Mountain has nothing to do with the Hollywood movie La La Land which won 5 Oscars in 2017.

With this sign I left Hsinchu County (新竹縣) and arrived in Taoyuan County (桃園縣), important for its international airport. The country road continued to be hilly but not too difficult to ride.

Taiwan road signs have different colors for different meanings. The brown ones give the direction to tourist destinations. In my case I just followed these brown road signs to the ‘Window on China’ (小人國) and the 'Leofoo Village (六福村)’ not far away from my home turf.

Brown road signs showing the direction to
‘Window on China’ (小人國) and ’Leofoo Village (六福村)’.

Beside the road I’ve discovered the Longtan Sun-Shui Community (龍潭三水社區) which has rolling hills, vast horizons and fresh air which makes it a great nature destination. This country side community has even a nice bike path, a sign of the positive developments in Taiwan.

Longtan Sun-Shui Community Bike Path Sign (龍潭三水社區)

   I continued until I arrived at the Longtan District (龍潭區), home to the headquarters of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Army. This district is actually named after its famous 龍潭 (Longtan Lake or Longtan Tourist Pond) which has a large Buddhist temple in the center. This time I did not ride into the city center but crossed on a bridge the busy but not crowded Highway No. 3.

   From there I still followed the brown signs to the tourist destination ‘Window on China’ which is one of Taiwan’s earliest theme parks (established in 1984) and includes the miniature Mini World (divided into Mini Taiwan, Mini China, Mini Asia, Mini Europe and Mini America), the Water Park and the Amusement Park.

   A very clear road sign directly in front of the park showed me the way to the Shihmen Dam or Shihmen Water Reservoir (石門水庫), still in Taoyuan Couny. This remarkable engineering marvel was finished in 1964 and still supplies hydroelectricity and water to 3 million people. From an upper lake the water rushes through two Francis turbines to the lower lake, on its way produces electricity on its way.

Road in the Shihmen Water Reservoir (石門水庫) between upper and lower lake

Shihmen Water Reservoir (石門水庫) from a distance

The Shihmen Water Reservoir served as a start and finish of my 78 km Maple Leaf Bike Challenge in December 2017 (2017石門楓葉祭單車爭鋒挑戰賽).

Finish of the rainy 78 km Maple Leaf Bike Challenge December 2017

From here the Provincial Highway No. 4 direction Daxi Township (大溪區), famous for its old street and the large Daxi bridge built over the Dahan River (大漢溪). This river is also know as the Shihmen River (石門溪) because it comes from the Shihmen Water Reservoir (石門水庫).  Daxi Township (大溪區) is a popular destination for lacals and tourists alike. The town is sometimes a destination for a fun ride on Sunday afternoons. 

Daxi bridge

 (to be continued)