[TW; 2018] Solo Series | Cycling in Taipei with YouBike

Cycling in Taipei City for 1 Day with YouBike!

Cycling in Taipei City is superb easy, you just need a metro card, find a YouBike docking station (it's almost everywhere), and ta-da you can happily cycle off! (Disclaimer: this is not a collaboration post)

YouBike 微笑單車, https://taipei.youbike.com.tw/home

8 tips for new YouBike users:

1. Check the tyres - gently squeeze the front and back tyres to make sure there is enough pump
2. Check the seats and adjust to your preferred height - follow the instructions on the bike on how to adjust, be careful not to injured yourself as it was abit tight
3. Check the brakes - cycle around the station deck slowly and test out the brakes (there is a grace period to return back the bike if it is faulty)
4. Grab your favourite drink - although convenience store is everywhere in Taipei but it's good to have one with you, and drink plenty of water!
5. Place your phone in a safe & reachable spot - as a tourist, we are not familiar with the streets; usually I will cushion the base of the basket with my bag and place my phone on top of it, so I can reach out to it easily to check the direction / or / my phone will be in google map screen with GPS on, I will stabilise the phone to ensure I can cycle and look at the screen conveniently
6. Cycle on the designated pathway - there are cycling tracks around Taipei so please use them! If the cycling tracks are not available, please use the motorcycle lanes on the road (on the most right), I try not to use the pedestrian walk way unless necessary, so obey the traffic rules!
7. Finding the nearest station - Open google map with your GPS on and search for Youbike, the nearest stations will appear in the search
8. If the bicycle is faulty - return back to the station, and rotate the seat 180 degrees to indicate that it is faulty (the tip of the seat should be facing the back)

Having all these basic tips in mind, you are ready to cycle in Taipei! Remember safety comes first! If you have no confidence cycling along with motorcycles or cars, please do not attempt cycling - not suitable for beginner cyclist!

Itinerary

Dadaocheng & Wharf  大稻埕 & 碼頭 > Longshan Temple 龍山寺 > Huashan 1914 Creative Park 華山1914文化創意產業園區 > Wufenpu 五分埔

1> Dadaocheng & Wharf  大稻埕 & 碼頭

I never fail to visit dadaocheng for my recent Taipei trips - I loved the oldies vibe over there!

Yongle Market 永樂市場;
No. 21, Dihua St, Section 1, Datong District, Taipei City

It was my first time stepping into the market!

Not forgetting the famous temple for the singles.

Taipei Xiahai City God Temple 台北霞海城隍廟, http://www.tpecitygod.org;
No. 61, Section 1, Dihua St, Datong District, Taipei City

& my favourite bowl of fish beehoon goodness -

Yongle Tainan Fried-Spanish Mackerel Thick Soup 永樂台南土魠魚羹, https://www.facebook.com/永樂台南土魠魚羹-533763566667312/;
No. 1, Minle St, Datong District, Taipei City

Stumbled across the wharf while navigating my way to my next destination! Why not enjoy the peaceful side of Taipei?

2> Longshan Temple 龍山寺

The bustling temple in Taipei City!

Longshan Temple 龍山寺, http://www.lungshan.org.tw/;
No. 211, Guangzhou Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City

Headed off for my favourite food near Longshan Temple!

Dingtop1 Tempura 頂級甜不辣, http://www.dingtop1.com.tw/;
Intersection of Wuzhou Street & Guangzhou Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City

The underground of Longshan Station is also a nice place to explore - there is a cultural & creative section at basement 2! Lots of culture exhibitions presented in creative ways.

3> Huashan 1914 Creative Park 華山1914文化創意產業園區

Hop back to the youbike and cycle off to Huashan - there's a docking station near the Longshan metro exit!

Huashan is the most hipster place for the youngster in Taipei City - it's also family friendly!

Loved the red bricks alley - so I decided to play around with my self-timer for a good photo shot!

There are also mini-concerts during the weekends - do check out them before heading over! If I knew earlier I would have set aside some time to catch this concert, such a pity!

There are cafes at every little corner - tea break time!

Huashan 1914 Creative Park 華山1914文化創意產業園區, https://www.huashan1914.com/w/huashan1914/index;
No. 1, Section 1, Bade Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City

Wufenpu 五分埔

It was a long ride to Wufenpu - almost an hour cycle! Going through Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, unfamiliar places and finally - so happy when I saw a docking station to park my YouBike near Wufenpu!

Why Wufenpu? 2 reasons - (1) I wanted to cycle to catch the sunset somewhere, but I missed the timing; (2) then I realised I missed my favourite bun store at Wufenpu.

Who knows... my favourite bun store was closed for that day! ):

But I got a bubble tea to celebrate this long cycling journey!

Loved the creative drawings by Duncan (@duncan_design https://www.instagram.com/duncan_design/?hl=en)!

Good Day Good Time Boba Tea 良辰吉時 茶飲專門店, https://zh-cn.facebook.com/GoodDAYGoodTIMEtea/

But since I'm at Wufenpu... it's shopping time! I spent 2-3hours shopping through each and every alley - so shagged after the whole shopping! (No pictures cause I really wanted to concentrate shopping HAHAHA)

Grabbed late dinner with my all-time favourite braised minced meat rice chain outlet!

Formosa Chang 鬍鬚張魯肉飯, https://www.fmsc.com.tw/ch/index.php

This marks the end of one day cycling trip in the big Taipei City! & also marks the end of my 2nd solo trip to Taiwan!