Skating - Taipei - Taiwan Return

This city is difficult to talk about. Traffic is "challenging", car drivers are indifferent. I think this is because there are so many motorcycles on the streets that the cars are used to just pushing out into traffic without regard. Motocycles were easy to skate with, but not the cars. Road surface is overall good. But the police hated us skating there and chased us off the road. There are lots of stop lights so that means stopping and waiting a lot, and some of the stop lights have really long waits.. And of course the air pollution form all the cars is often choking.

Sidewalks are a mess. If they are there, then much of the time they are used as motorcycling parking lots. And they are often not made of smooth concrete, but out of bricks or cut stone. All of which is not smooth, some have ruts, some and high edges that can not be skated over. This is important as some police will try and chase you to the sidewalks, which in most cases can not be skated on. Other police said to get off the road and go to a "park". When asked which park we could skate in, no answer was forthcoming. So we just avoided the police and stuck to the roads.

Traffic is very heavy, but for us that was a lot of the fun.

There are lots of places to skate. The city is fun, the smaller streets are full of shops and people. In and around the city there are some tree lined streets that are nice to skate. The area around the snake market is fun, with a nice temple to visit. The city was fun to skate, but the cars and police were a bit of a bother, but neither stopped us for long!!!

What makes it difficult is there are lots of real issues in regards to skating in Taipei, but on the other had we really enjoyed it. Escaping being chased off the roads was fun. Chatting to the motorcycle drivers when stuck at the very long traffic lights is fun. Skating down the busy streets, all that resulted in a really good time. The bits are often not great, by the overall effect was a good time.

Category	Category Description	Graph	Explanation
Road Surface	Describes road surface conditions		Overall, good. Some holes and bad spots, but no more than most places.
Road Conditions	Is there enough room for skating on the road? Are intersections crossable?		The roads were very busy, and the cars can be a pain. And if you see a police then be cool. Traffic is HEAVY so we had to keep our eyes, and ears, open. There are lots of motorcycles and at the many stop lights you have to wait for the riders are fun to chat to.
Traffic Conditions	Describes level and condition of traffic. Is the traffic heavy, fast or erratic.		Traffic was HEAVY, and cars did not ever try to go around us, but always straight through. The motorcycles, though many, were very nice to us and would wave and at stop lights chat to us. Air pollution is heavy from all the cars and motorcycles.
Driver Attitudes	Describes how drivers react to and treat skaters		We were polite skaters in Taipei, but still the police and cars were a bother. Car drivers mostly just pretended we were not there and drover overus, or rather tried to.
Danger Level	Describes overall danger of skating in this location. Everyplace is dangerous to street skate. Street skating means crumbling roads, bad drivers (or worse), air pollution and even nature. But some places are more dangerous than others		Roads are ok, Motorcycle drivers nice, but Cars and the Police were more difficult.
Criminal Factor	How serious is crime in this location.		Did not hear of anything, did not see anything to worry about. People (excpet those behind the wheel of a car) were all nice and friendly.
Cool Factor	Is this a cool place to skate.		It is ok, the street markets are fun, but it is a big city with big bussess. But there are things to see and do.
Fun Factor	Is this a fun place to skate.		Yes, skating in and out of the traffic, you have to be extra careful here, the cars will make you jump out of the way. But it is fun, lots to see and do.
Sidewalks	Are there sidewalks, and if there are what are they like? Often having sidewalks can be worse than not having them. With a bad sidewalk drivers may assume you should be using it - no matter how dangerous it is to use, and react very badly when they see you on the road instead of the sidewalk.		The worst! There are sidewalks, but they can not be skated on. They are not made of smooth concrete a lot of the time but stuff that is difficult to skate on. Worse yet, the police often try to chase you to sidewalks, which are much more dangerous to skate than the roads.
Misc	Any other conditions or issues that were found while skating here
Summary	A summarization of the skating experience at this location.		It was ok, not the best, traffic (cars) are not all the friendly. But the place and people are very good.
Desire to Return - Overall Rating	The bottom line. Is the place good enough that we want to return here to skate it more. With all the above taken into consideration how much are we looking forward return and skate this location further.		I like Taipei, nice place, nice people. Return just to skate? No. Frankly skating here is a worry, mostly I worried the police would chase us of the road and not leave us alone.
Taipei Photo Gallery
Disclaimer

All material included in this Web site is for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current developments, nor does it promote physical activity of any kind. The authors are not professionals and should not be interpreted as being such. They are not offering instructions, but are sharing of personal experiences, that should not be construed as advice, instruction, or best practices. This information should in no way be taken as an guarantee of future results. As such, the material contained herein is not offered as official advice on any particular matter. The contributing authors expressly disclaim all liability to any person in respect to actions taken or in respect to the consequences of anything done or omitted, and which may be done wholly or partly in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this Web site. Transmission of this information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, a relationship between us and the user or browser. No reader should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any matter contained in this Web site without seeking the appropriate professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue. Nor are we responsible for any third party contents which can be accessed through the website

Reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited other than for individual use only and may not be recopied and shared with a third party. The permission to recopy by an individual does not allow for incorporation of material or any part of it in any work or publication, whether in hard copy, electronic, or any other form.

Services
Airport Pick Up	Please arrange car pick up to and from airport.
Airport Tax	Airport tax is TWD300(Included in price of airline ticket.)
Business Hours	Government offices: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday; 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday. Banks: 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. Commercial firms: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.on weekdays. Malls: 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Clothing	Taipei is not known for being stylish and the business traveler will not note any designer clothing on his counterparts at meetings. Casual dress is acceptable in many situations, especially during factory visits. Evenings events are more formal.
Currency	TWD (New Taiwan Dollars)
Custom Rules and Regulations	Tobacco Products: 200 cigarettes or 25 cigars or 450g of tobacco. Alcoholic Beverages: 1 bottle of wine or spirits not exceeding 1,000cc per bottle. Others: A reasonable quantity of perfume. Goods up to the value of NT$6,000.
Entry Requirements	Visitors entering Taiwan under the 14-day visa waiver should ensure that their passport is valid for at least 6 months before entering. Those holding passports with less than 6 months validity will be refused entry by the Immigration Service. Most travelers, including diplomats, can apply for an entry visa good for two weeks on arrival at the airport. Citizens from mainland China require special entry visas. Citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Cuba and North Korea are not allowed into Taiwan.
Health Risks	Although air pollution was severe 10 years ago, it has improved recently and is not threatening to asthmatics; heat stroke in the summer is more likely. Dengue fever and malaria are most prevalent in the hot summer months (June and September), after the rainy season when mosquitoes are most abundant.
Language	Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects
Miscellaneous	The smuggling of narcotics carries the death penalty.
Name of Airport	Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport. Four transportation companies operate buses between CKS Airport and Taipei City. The NT$120 ride to the city covers a 40-km distance and takes one hour.
Phone adaptors
Power adaptors
Tipping	It is standard to add 10 percent to restaurant and hotel bills. Give porters NT$50 per piece of luggage. It is not necessary to tip cab drivers
Useful Links	Taiwan - Interactive Government Directory Nations Online - the countries of the world Taiwan Taiwan & the World Taiwan Tourism Information Taiwan travel and tourism information
Useful Numbers	Police 110, Emergency assistance 119 Visa: 008-010-3008, Mastercard: 0080-10-3400
Voltage	110V