As a first time visitor to Kaohsiung, Taiwan last month (Feb 2016), I was so impressed by how well the city planning is to cyclists.
It's truly an eco-friendly, environmental-friendly, cyclist-friendly, runner-friendly city of 2.779 million people!
The Kaohsiung streets are so so wide and clean!
And most of them are very straight, long and flat with proper bicycle lanes!
I couldn't even spot any trapping holes on the road or bicycle lanes that might put cyclists at risk of falling!! :)
It will be a joy to cycle in Kaohsiung exploring tourist attractions if you decide not to run the Kaohsiung Mizuno International Marathon which is usually held in February / March period.
And I would like to recommend that you fully utilize on Kaohsiung City Bike Systems (高雄市公共脚踏车) for your convenience! It's simple, easy and convenient!
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| City Bikes provided by Kaohsiung City - available in all MRT stations. |
Where to Rent the City Bike?
Basically, you can easily and leisurely cover Kaohsiung by foot, by MRT and by bike.
All the bike stations are near MRT stations. This means you can hop off the MRT at any stations and go out to the main road to rent a city bike to go to your next destination.
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| City bikes available outside one of the MRT stations in Kaohsiung |
And here is a snap shot of where the city bike stations are:
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| City bike stations are at every MRT stations and other convenient locations! |
So many places..... Isn't it amazing? :)
Not only that, you can actually check out online the availability status of the city bikes at a particular station online here.
Impressive yeah? No?
Ok - I hope the next special feature will impress you:
You DO NOT need to return the bicycle to the original bike station.
This means you can rent the bicycle at Central Park MRT Station and then return at a different station. Then you hop on MRT again from there to another of your destination.
How Much Is The Rental?
It's actually FREE for the FIRST HOUR (60 min).
Next 30 mins charges TWD $10 ( RM 1.25)
If you use 90 minutes (1.5 hour), the charges are TWD $20 (RM 2.50) for every 30 minutes.
So if you use the bicycle for 4 hours, it would have been TWD $ 110 (RM 13.70)
Seriously, can it be any cheaper than that to discover Kaohsiung City besides by foot? :)
There is also a very advanced payment machine at the city bike station allowing you to make payment via I-Pass (equivalent to Malaysia's Touch and Go Card), VISA or MASTER Card.
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| Very clear map and guide to use the City Bike. |
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| Payment system. Fast and easy! Accept credit card payment too! |
Cycling Scenes in Kaohsiung
As you can see from the pictures I took below, cycling is very popular in Kaohsiung for the young and the old. Even auntie cycles to morning market to buy her fresh vegetables. :)
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| I took this photo right outside of an MRT station at downtown Kaohsiung. |
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| Even Auntie uses bicycles to go to morning market to buy vegetables! :) |
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| School children and the young ones are also on bicycles! |
My Own Cycling Experience in Kaohsiung
I wish I had the chance to rent the city bicycle to explore Kaohsiung during my trip.
But for this particular trip, I opted to run the 42 km full marathon to explore Kaohsiung City. :)
However, I wouldn't want to leave Kaohsiung without the cycling experience.
How could I miss the opportunity? I would regret if I didn't cycle.
Thankfully, the hotel that we stayed provided bicycles for free. So I decided to borrow one to ride along the street around the hotel for the wonderful cycling experience in Kaohsiung! :)
That experience put another big smile on my face and made the Kaohsiung trip a complete and memorable one!
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| Cycling Path with very cute mark! |
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| Ok lah - pose pose a bit! :) |
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| Yohoo! Here I come.... cycling in Kaohsiung!! |
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| As you can see - the intersection has very clear cycling path marked on the road. Even the pedestrian traffic light has little bicycle sign besides the pedestrian sign! So cute and considerate! |
There you go - now I have experienced running and cycling in Kaohsiung City!!
What a wonderful, memorable experience!
For More Information:
If you want to find out more about the cycling experience via City Bike in Kaohsiung, you may watch the below video:
For the official city bike website info, please click here
You can also drop me a message. :) I am more than happy to share my Kaohsiung experience with you!
