Taipei, Taiwan
August 2011
The Scooters Rule the Road
In a stark contrast to Guangzhou, I could easily live in Taipei for a year. What a great city! There are numerous restaurants that I’d like to try and the people have been very warm and receiving. The craziest adjustment would be getting used to the traffic. The traffic just makes me laugh, albeit nervously. Imagine you’re in a cab and you pull up to a red light. Now imagine all the the scooters, approximately 60 or more, begin to fill in all of the available space around your taxi. They speed along between the curb and your car or race down the white dashed line that separates each lane. It’s no wonder so many scooter fatalities occur here in Taipei. As the light changes, everyone begins to move forward and the scooters take off first. Then the taxis and other vehicles gun for space. Speaking of the open space, if you see it, grab it. If you’re going to hit someone, they will yield. That seems to be the norm here. Surprisingly, there was very little honking. I can only imagine the colorful metaphors that would come out of a New Yorkers mouth if this were to happen in Manhattan.
Typical Morning Commute
Sharing the Road
