Focus Taiwan is reporting that a trio comprised of two Taiwanese and a French national will soon embark on an expedition aiming to cycle from China to Vatican City with the message of environmentalism while planting trees along the way.
The three cyclists are each making personal sacrifices in order to embark on their latest adventure.
Chang and Chen have quit their engineering jobs, while Merlingeas, who teaches French in Taiwan, has postponed her marriage to her Taiwanese boyfriend.
Merlingeas said she will get married after the trip and joked that hopefully
Something tells me there is also a missionary subtext here that is not being reported. If this is the case I can't help but point out the irony of an environmentalist project combined with a colonial project that, at its very root, contains the type of dominionism that has led to so much of the planet's environmental woes.
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In other news Giant's King Liu shares his vision of the future with CENS
Liu is upbeat about the prospects of the global bicycle industry, noting the global cycling population now reaches only 15%. He said that soaring oil prices will stimulate the purchase of bicycles, as growing numbers of people would use bicycles as transportation vehicles between MRT stations and their homes or destinations. This will combine with the growing popularity of cycling exercise to enhance the global cycling population, according to Liu.
It is understandable that Liu would be so bullish on light commuter bikes, as his company has been tapped to supply Taipei City with its You Bike.
Maybe instead of letting Giant tell customers what they want, people will look to other alternatives for their city travel-- alternatives like the sleek Tern Verge. The Taiwanese company that was born out of a Dahon family feud has just won the prestigious Red Dot award for design.
Of course, before people can bring their bikes into the city for transportation, they need to have a safe place to ride them.
