France seeks to ease tension with PRC after relay
　

NEW PLAN: Beijing has altered the schedule for foreign media coverage of the Olympic flame’s ascent of Everest, reducing the length of their stay in Tibet

AFP AND AP, BEIJING AND CANBERRA
Thursday, Apr 24, 2008, Page 1

China and France sought yesterday to cool tempers over Tibet and the Olympics, with a former French prime minister heading to Beijing for top-level talks criticizing a decision to honor the Dalai Lama.

Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who arrives today bearing a message from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said the Paris city council had contradicted official policy by conferring honorary citizenship on the Tibetan spiritual leader.

Raffarin is one of three senior French figures visiting Beijing this week, all carrying letters from Sarkozy as the president tries to repair relations damaged by pro-Tibet protests in France and hurt pride in China.

At the same time, the Chinese commerce ministry warned against an ongoing boycott of French supermarket giant Carrefour, noting that it employs 40,000 workers here and that up to 95 percent of its products are made in China.

Raffarin is due today to meet the Chinese premier and is expected to pass on Sarkozy’s letter at a separate meeting to the Chinese president.

In the southern city of Zhuzhou, protesters reportedly attacked a young US teacher on Sunday evening after he emerged from a local Carrefour.

Accounts on numerous Internet boards said the man was punched, pushed and chased and was only rescued by police after taking refuge in a taxi. The US embassy in Beijing said it had no information it could release about the incident under rules requiring a privacy waiver.

Meanwhile, six people were arrested as the Olympic flame arrived in Australia yesterday, while officials said they were prepared for more protests on the latest leg of the troubled global torch relay.

Even before a chartered airliner carrying the flame touched down in Canberra under tight security, protesters used the Sydney Harbour Bridge as a backdrop for their pro-Tibet message.

A man and a woman attempting to unfurl a banner and a Tibetan flag on the iconic landmark were arrested hours after lasers beamed pro-Tibet slogans including “Don’t torch Tibet” onto one of the structure’s pylons.

Four more people were taken into custody after raising a pro-Tibet banner on a prominent billboard in the city’s King’s Cross nightlife district, police said.

Australian officials have shortened today’s relay route through Canberra over concerns about security at an event expected to attract thousands of pro-China supporters and pro-Tibet demonstrators.

Barriers have been erected along the 16km route and more than half of the city’s police force will be on patrol.

Police said they were confident that security would be adequate, despite a dispute between Australian and Chinese officials over the role of the torch’s Chinese escorts.

A Beijing Olympics torch relay spokesman, backed by the Chinese ambassador, said that the escorts could use their bodies to protect the flame if necessary.

But Stanhope said this condition had not been agreed to by the Australian government.

In related developments, China has altered plans for foreign media coverage of the Olympic flame’s ascent of Mount Everest, citing weather conditions.

Changes to the plans mean foreign reporters would spend only 10 days overall in Tibet — about half the time initially planned.

Happiness on two wheels
　

Why bike straight from Taitung to Hualien when you can get there the fun way — a 250km-trek that criss-crosses the Coastal Mountain Range three times

By Perry Svensson
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Apr 24, 2008, Page 13
　

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I took the overnight train from Taipei to Taitung to ride our bicycles along the East Rift Valley (花東縱谷) up to Hualien. We didn’t want to only ride on the flats — that would not be exciting enough for us — so we decided to combine the East Rift Valley (花東縱谷) with the East Coast Highway, along with some mountain riding by crossing the Coastal Mountain Range — three times. By the evening of the second day, we had covered more than 250km in a spectacular trek that can only be called a Taiwan classic.

The route took us along sections of the gorgeous Pacific Coast Highway, where the ocean’s thundering waves crash against lush mountainous terrain. It covered the East Rift Valley, some of Taiwan’s most beautiful rural countryside. We traveled on hillside roads with views of meandering river valleys far below. The expansive East Rift Valley floor spread out before us against a backdrop of mountains. And then there were the hot springs of Ruisui (瑞穗), which provided a welcome relief for our tired legs and weary muscles.
　

With our bikes dismantled and bagged, we left Taipei at 10:55pm on a Sunday evening and arrived in Taitung at 6:05 the next morning. After assembling our rides we went looking for a 7-Eleven. We wanted to cut several kilograms from our load by mailing the heavy bike bags ahead to Hualien, and if you know the address of the outlet where you want to pick up your shipment (more information in Chinese can be found at www.7-11.com.tw/search.asp), the cashier in any 7-Eleven in Taiwan will help you ship it there. They will even call you when it arrives.
　

By 8am, we were on the Zhonghua Bridge headed out of Taitung onto Provincial Road 11 toward Donghe (東河), some 40km away. After about an hour of leisurely biking along the scenic Pacific Coast Road with the mountain range tapering off into the distance ahead of us, we saw a sign that read “Water Running Upward” (水往上流) a couple of kilometers ahead of Dulan (都蘭). With a name like that, we just had to check it out; it’s easy to spot as the road signs show the name in English. It’s a narrow stream by the side of the road that, as if by some kind of illusion, does indeed appear to flow upward.
　

Also visit my biking blog: http://bikingintaiwan. theforgetful.com
Next came Donghe, a good place to grab a snack and fill up on water since there are no shops for the entire 45km up to Fuli (富里). We then crossed the bridge outside Donghe and took an immediate left down Provincial Road 23 toward Fuli, for our first ride across the coastal mountain range.

A bit down the road, we stopped to take a look at a band of macaques sitting by the roadside. One of them wasn’t very happy that my wife, Diane, wouldn’t feed them, so she and two others attacked her. Only by dashing to our bikes and pedaling quickly away were we able to make an escape and avoid a fight.

The first 20km of Provincial Road 23 aren’t very steep, but they are followed by about 7km or 8km of continuous climbing. It might not be much steeper or higher than Wuzhishan in Taipei, but having already traveled 60km, it was still a bit trying. After this section, the inclines are less steep and mixed with a few drops before finally sloping all the way down to Fuli.

After a late lunch in Fuli, we set out for the final 50km up to Ruisui, the thought of the eagerly awaited hot springs ever clearer in our minds. We crossed the railroad to avoid the busy Provincial Road 9 and instead rode next to the green rice paddies along Zhuofu Access Road (桌富產業道路) to Yuli (玉里), where we switched to County Road 193 up to Ruisui.

In Ruisui, we stayed at Juisui Hot Spring, a place with the best kind of water, or so they say — in contrast to most hot springs we’ve been to in both Taiwan and Japan, the water is so thick with minerals that it is a brownish yellow. We were told not to shower afterwards because the minerals are good for the skin, and our skin certainly felt smoother. As expected, the soak did wonders for our sore legs.

Ruisui to Hualien

After a slow start the next day, we rolled into Ruisui at 9:30am and returned to 193 for a couple of kilometers, until we reached Township Road 64, also known as Ruigang Road (瑞港公路). Less steep and shorter than Provincial Road 23, it is a beautiful 22km ride across the mountain range back to the Pacific coast. Weaving through meandering bends above the Xiuguluan River (秀姑巒溪), it mixes dark green forest with gorgeous views down into the river valley below.

Throughout the trip, the mountain roads were almost completely empty, with that beautiful, noisy, not-so-quiet silence, or calm, you get in the mountains: birds singing, cicadas chirping, a gentle breeze, fresh air, but no man-made sounds, no matter how hard you try to detect one.

After reaching the coast at Dagangkou (大港口), we continued for another 20km to Fengbin (豐濱), where we filled up on water before taking Provincial Road 11A (11甲) toward Guangfu (光復) 19km away, to cross the mountains for the third time.

The first half of the lush and beautiful road wends its way leisurely along the Dingzilou River (丁子漏溪). Descending on the other side after crossing over the ridge, we came across a small stretch of road where there is no mountain on either side. We were riding along a narrow strip with a sheer drop on each side. It was an exhilarating feeling.

After 15km to 16km, before reaching Guangfu, we returned to County Road 193, which skirts the eastern edge of the East Rift Valley along its entire length. Here in the northern part of the valley, it flows up and down along the rolling foothills of the mountain range. There are no major climbs, but even a moderate, longish climb can be tiring after two long days. It’s worth it, though: at one moment you’re riding along next to the rice paddies and then suddenly you’re on a hill with a view of the valley.

The 193 meets the coastal highway a few kilometers south of Hualien. We turned right, and a few kilometers down the coast we hit a cluster of bed-and-breakfasts, or min su (民宿). We stopped at the first one, Blue Ocean Resort: a good clean room and a soft bed, but no dinner and a meager breakfast.

No dinner meant getting back on our bikes and rolling down the road for 5km or 6km until we found “055” — a great seafood restaurant where you choose your seafood from a counter and have beer served in a six-pack holder you keep next to you on the floor. These are always the best seafood restaurants, and this was no exception: we thoroughly enjoyed a small lobster, squid, and clams with lots of chili, garlic and basil — another Taiwan classic — together with a couple of beers.

The next morning, we rode the 14km into Hualien, where we picked up our bike bags at the 7-Eleven, then crossed the street to the railway station, where we bought tickets for the next train to Taipei. In all, we had covered 268km in an amazing two complete days and one short morning.

`Big Sue' proud of big price tag for painting

Thursday, Apr 24, 2008,Page 15
　

A woman who posed naked for British artist Lucian Freud has revealed she was paid US$39 (NT$1,180), and the resulting painting is expected to become the most expensive work by a living artist.

Sue Tilley said she had been delighted to be the inspiration for Benefits Supervisor Sleeping in 1995, which is set to become the most expensive painting by a living artist when it is sold in New York next month.

Art experts expect the painting of a fleshy woman reclining on a sofa to fetch up to US$33.5 million dollars (NT$1 billion) when it goes under the hammer in New York in May.

Tilley, nicknamed Big Sue, joked she was the first nude pin-up to grace the front page of the Financial Times newspaper, which carried a photograph of the painting.

“I can’t quite believe it, to be honest,” she said. “You know, I didn’t have any idea it was going to happen, so I’m a bit in shock.

“I was reading on the Internet... all the things about it. And I was just going ‘Oh my god,’ I could hardly believe it was about me.

“Half the time I don’t really think it’s me. But then this morning I was looking at it again and I was going: ‘that’s my funny little face!’”

Tilley, who now manages a job center in London, said she was introduced to Freud by a friend.

Freud, the 85-year-old grandson of pioneering psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, was born in Berlin. His family fled Germany as the Nazis rose to power, and he became a British citizen.

He has said: “I paint people, not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be.”

(AFP)