TAIWAN - 2017


Radio RTS


Gallery

Welcome In Taiwan

The Yang family welcomes us warmly, a friendship that began 3 years ago. This family will be the centre of all the opportunities, encounters, discoveries of another face of Taiwan, and a special connection to the population, that of generosity and open-mindedness. Received as family members, we spend two weeks in their home. Engineer, he and his wife created the company SunUp eco, producing dynamos for bicycles. His new creation is a dynamo for the front wheel, producing an incredible energy without friction. Xavier will thus have the honour of trying the new prototype.

The New Generation of dynamo with SunUp Eco

It is a real pleasure to see Yang work. He is constantly looking for improvement, problem solving, new projects, all with a smile and contagious enthusiasm. We bring him the dynamos that we used over more than 20’000km. He looks at them with pride and joy. We are moved by their incredible generosity and unconditional welcome.

Rikulau

Being in Taiwan is also exciting, we are getting new bikes, after 60,000 km it was time. We meet Chengnon Hsu for the first time. Tall, warm-hearted and dynamic, he created a small company of about ten people who work in the manufacture of Rikulau bicycles, “More than a bike: a lifestyle”. It is one of the only companies in the world to create stainless steel bike frames. And its bikes are superb, with elegant lines.

Chengnon charms us with his open-mindedness and enlightened vision of the world and Taiwan. Then come the moment when he tells us about the legend of Rikulau. This clouded leopard moves like the wind in the deep forests of this mountainous island. 700 years ago, this animal guided the Rukai people by its footprints to its sacred land. It is the incarnation of agility, speed and style..

Cynthia and Nayla

Today is the Tomb-sweeping day in Taiwan. Here, the ancestors are part of everyday life and have a very important role in the hearts of the families. During this day, extended families meet to clean and honour the graves. We are invited at Alfin’s parents. At five o’clock in the morning, the Grandma got up to start preparing the twenty or so dishes that will make up the meal, all composed of fish, seafood, chicken and pieces of meat, from organs to cartilages. This will especially be an opportunity for Nayla to create a connection with Cynthia and Stella, who will become her close friends in Taiwan.