Bike Family from Taiwan

They left Taiwan in July 2002 to see the world. On bikes. The United States was their last leg and Minnesota was part of the trek. After pedaling for more than 12,000 miles in 13 countries, the Huang family arrived in the Twin Cities on June 8, 2003. Shr-Wei Chen, president of Taiwan Student Association at the University of Minnesota, and TAAMN members Tsan-Kuo Chang and Chung-Linn Kao greeted the bike family at Hastings.

The Huangs on their way to the Twin Cities near Cottage Grove. This photo appeared in Read On 3.

John Ko, president of TAAMN, hosted a welcome dinner reception (see photos below) at the Ho Ho Restaurant and made arrangement for them to stay at the Red Lion Hotel on Old Hudson Road in St. Paul. Present at the dinner were 22 members. The World Journal, the Star Tribune, WTIP, a public radio station in Duluth, and KSTP TV 5 all reported the Huangs' amazing story.

Cyclist Chin-Pao Huang, 44, his wife, Li-Chun Yang, 39, and their two sons Chien-Chia, 19 and Tsung-Fu, 16, left Taipei, Taiwan on July 10, 2002. They traveled across Hong Kong, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Germany, and Netherlands. On their way, they biked through deserts, snow storms and war zones. They camped most of the times, but also stayed in schools, churches, hospitals, restaurants, mosques, motels, homes, and even a jail cell in Iran because they could not find a place to spend the night. They were often welcomed as guests. During their sojourn in the Twin Cities, some members of TAAMN took them to visit Science Museum of Minnesota, Mall of America, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Weisman Art Museum, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Taylors Falls, and the "Peanut" Gangs.

People in Taiwan call the bike a steel horse. Chin-Pao, a welder who owns a small shop that makes metal windows and doors, came up with this idea to see the world on bicycle about two years ago.

Shr-Wei Chen and the Huang family at Hastings

Although his family members are experienced cyclists, they first thought that he was crazy and it was impossible to pedal around the world. Chin-Pao stuck to his plan. Knowing that Chin-Pao would not give up his dream of biking through different countries, his wife and their two sons joined him to tour the world on their steel horses.

The Huangs packed more than 100 pounds of supplies on their specially designed bikes. They rode on average about 60 miles a day. They arrived in New York at the end of April and went through Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago and other cities. They left Chicago on June 3 and entered Minnesota several days ahead of their schedule, staying in the Twin Cities for a week to rest and restock their supplies. The Huangs attended a summer picnic hosted by TAAMN on June 14. About 160 people came to meet with them. They departed on June 15 and continued their journey via Fargo, Minot and Spokane to Seattle. John Ko and several TAAMN members, including Sung-Peng Hsu, Chi-Ming Tseng and Shu-Yun Tseng, went to the hotel to bid them goodbye. Rui-Wen Lu and Ying-Yuh Lu biked with them for nearly three hours. Lilian Lai, Chung-Linn Kao and Tsan-Kuo Chang followed them by car. They saw the bike family off near Highway 10 in Blaine. The bike family reached Seattle on July 24 and flew to San Francisco on July 30.

They left for Taiwan on August 13, after touring the world on bikes for a total of 14,750 miles (23,733 kilometers). The Huangs are the first family from Taiwan, and probably in the world, to do so. Their story was later published in a book that covered the Twin Cities stop. Three years after their journey started in 2002, the bike family's story still fascinated an American publisher. The New York based McGraw-Hill included the story in Read On 3 in 2006.