Just curious, I heard the guy was a legend in Taiwan, reverentially talked about in hushed tones.
perhaps he’ll see this post and tell you himself…??
I expect Muzha Man can fill us in on this…
No idea.
Still enjoying life in a rural, inland part of Taitung County, I would assume - but I’ve not heard anything of him for more than a year.
That sounds pretty idyllic. Sounds like a place to retire.
Ran into him in Taidong last week. He’s running a town guest-house, and living rurally.
RS lives in Luye, one of the most beautiful parts of the east, and he chooses to open a place in Taitung, the Chungli of the east? Don’t really get that decision. Too bad, it would have been fun to write in the new Lonely Planet that the old author now has a guesthouse.
Likely a commercial decision to locate in Taidong city rather than a more rural area?
Just spent 5 days in Taidong last week and I just don’t understand what you mean by saying Taidong is the Zhongli of the east. As I mentioned in another recent thread, I found Taidong to be a fabulous base for the east coast. Taidong itself has great food, cultural activities, art, and a few very good cafes. We also visited Luye and Dulan among other places and I would much rather be based in Taidong and drive out during the day to explore the other places.
Next time.
Just spent 5 days in Taidong last week and I just don’t understand what you mean by saying Taidong is the Zhongli of the east. As I mentioned in another recent thread, I found Taidong to be a fabulous base for the east coast. Taidong itself has great food, cultural activities, art, and a few very good cafes. We also visited Luye and Dulan among other places and I would much rather be based in Taidong and drive out during the day to explore the other places.[/quote]
The last time I was there was 3 years ago and that is how it was (and was the opinion of so many people I talked to). Maybe much has improved. Taiwan can change fast. It was a dull depressing backward place with a few good things yes but not enough to make it a nice base imo. Even as you write, you need your own transport so why stay in town?
Just spent 5 days in Taidong last week and I just don’t understand what you mean by saying Taidong is the Zhongli of the east. As I mentioned in another recent thread, I found Taidong to be a fabulous base for the east coast. Taidong itself has great food, cultural activities, art, and a few very good cafes. We also visited Luye and Dulan among other places and I would much rather be based in Taidong and drive out during the day to explore the other places.[/quote]
The last time I was there was 3 years ago and that is how it was (and was the opinion of so many people I talked to). Maybe much has improved. Taiwan can change fast. It was a dull depressing backward place with a few good things yes but not enough to make it a nice base imo. Even as you write, you need your own transport so why stay in town?[/quote]
To answer your last question, we just bicycled around town for 2 days and there were plenty of places to visit by bicycle. For example: taidong forest park, tiehua village, converted old sugar factory (the one in Taidong, not to be confused with the one in Dulan) which is fantastic IMO with interesting art displays,shops,cafes and it’s bigger in scale than the Dulan sugar factory. We bicycled around town almost every evening (after finishing our daytime car excursions) to visit various restaurants and cafes/bars. So, yes, scooter/motorbike/car is needed to visit places in the wider East Coast area but there’s plenty to do in the town itself. No disrespect to other nearby places such as Dulan but I’d much rather spend my evenings in Taidong town with its greater variety.
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Just spent 5 days in Taidong last week and I just don’t understand what you mean by saying Taidong is the Zhongli of the east. As I mentioned in another recent thread, I found Taidong to be a fabulous base for the east coast. Taidong itself has great food, cultural activities, art, and a few very good cafes. We also visited Luye and Dulan among other places and I would much rather be based in Taidong and drive out during the day to explore the other places.[/quote]
The last time I was there was 3 years ago and that is how it was (and was the opinion of so many people I talked to). Maybe much has improved. Taiwan can change fast. It was a dull depressing backward place with a few good things yes but not enough to make it a nice base imo. Even as you write, you need your own transport so why stay in town?[/quote]
To answer your last question, we just bicycled around town for 2 days and there were plenty of places to visit by bicycle. For example: Taidong forest park, tiehua village, converted old sugar factory (the one in Taidong, not to be confused with the one in Dulan) which is fantastic IMO with interesting art displays,shops,cafes and it’s bigger in scale than the Dulan sugar factory. We bicycled around town almost every evening (after finishing our daytime car excursions) to visit various restaurants and cafes/bars. So, yes, scooter/motorbike/car is needed to visit places in the wider East Coast area but there’s plenty to do in the town itself. No disrespect to other nearby places such as Dulan but I’d much rather spend my evenings in Taidong town with its greater variety.[/quote]
Sounds good, but as I wrote, last time I was there most of that did not exist, or hadn’t been around long enough to risk telling people (in a guide that has to last 3 years) to base themselves in a town I, and most everyone else I talked to, felt was on the way out. Teihua was just getting going, the sugar factory hadn’t really gotten off the ground as anything to see, the forest was filthy (I used to include it but grew disgusted with Taitung’s refusal to clean itself up) the cafe scene had died, all the interesting restaurants I knew had closed, and you couldn’t rent a scooter at the train station. I used to have a larger writeup on Taitung, and a map (2 maps once) but over the years the town just never lived up to its potential. Maybe it finally has. Next time I am there I will give it fair look over.
Next time.[/quote]
Does LP have a policy that businesses owned by former LP writers can’t be reviewed due to perceived or actual conflict of interest/favoritism? If not, there is no reason not to review RS’s guesthouse in a future edition. Although its my understanding that’s just not going to happen for reasons that I’m unwilling to discuss publicly.
Next time.[/quote]
Does LP have a policy that businesses owned by former LP writers can’t be reviewed due to perceived or actual conflict of interest/favoritism? If not, there is no reason not to review RS’s guesthouse in a future edition. Although its my understanding that’s just not going to happen for reasons that I’m unwilling to discuss publicly.[/quote]
It won’t be reviewed by me because I am not doing the guide this time round. Have a new baby and don’t want to be on the road for a few months when he’s so little.
There is a COI policy that any potential conflict of interest must be told to the company. That’s it. You just notify them.
MM: It’s a bummer that you won’t be involved with the next edition of LP Taiwan. I’ve really enjoyed your write ups over the years, starting I think with the 7th edition: fantastic tone, lots of enthusiasm (you seemed to love Hsinchu more than any Hsinchu resident I met!), really communicating some of Taiwan’s strengths. I hope to see you back once your kid is older!
Guy
I am curious. Are guides in book form still selling these days, especially one like LP targeting younger travelers? Or is it all going online now? Is there even a point of having a new edition or does it make more sense to update content regularly on the web and in apps, etc.
[quote=“afterspivak”]MM: It’s a bummer that you won’t be involved with the next edition of LP Taiwan. I’ve really enjoyed your write ups over the years, starting I think with the 7th edition: fantastic tone, lots of enthusiasm (you seemed to love Hsinchu more than any Hsinchu resident I met!), really communicating some of Taiwan’s strengths. I hope to see you back once your kid is older!
Guy[/quote]
Thanks. I really appreciate that. If you go on Amazon, half the reviews say it is the worst book they have ever bought. 
I don’t pay much attention to that as the criticisms are usually along these lines: the book doesn’t have any Chinese script (everything has Chinese script); the book has no bus information (it is loaded with every option); the book is just standard tourist stuff (wtf?); the book has almost nothing on Taipei (the book has about 80 pages on Taipei). Etc.
Yeah, I would love to try the next edition. In some ways though it will depend on the company. Authors have much less freedom to shape the book and write what they want then they used to. So it may be best to go out on a high note.
Hannes: I think print still does well. There are a lot of places people don’t want to be always whipping out their cell phones. And LP apps are still pretty basic. Ebooks are useless when you are on the ground. I do see some really disruptive apps coming in though very soon. One in particular I know is like a customizable Google Map which allows you to pin add pic/text/video to the map, and share it.
That said, for LP, the emphasis now is on the website which contains more sites and reviews than the books. Oh and LP hasn’t been targetting young travelers exclusively for over a decade. The books are heavily geared toward midrange travellers now.
I agree with print books for travel: a book doesn’t run out of batteries, it’s easy to flip back and forth between pages, it’s easy to write notes in the book, and books are less of a target for theft than an iPhone.