17cm painted sidewalk gets pedestrians walking tightrope

2026-10-21

The residents in a Taichung neighborhood are training to become tightrope walkers, and not out of their own volition. That’s because a key road in Daya District has a painted pavement so narrow, that there’s barely enough space to set your feet down. At 17cm wide, strolling down the sidewalk at Yahuan Road is not for the weak of heart, especially when there are also electrical boxes and poles to dodge along the way. Let’s hear from some locals.

Member of public
Wants something to be done
It should be widened, or the items blocking the way should be removed.

Member of public
Unhappy about pavement
Sometimes the painted pavement is… look over there, how are you supposed to walk on that?

Member of public
Finds pavement too narrow
It’s too narrow. It’s not at all like a proper sidewalk.

Member of public
Finds pavement useless
They might as well not have painted it. Nobody goes there to walk on it.

A project is underway in Taichung to improve the infrastructure for pedestrians along this road, 1,700m of pavement have been painted green for people to walk on. While it sounds good on paper, some areas are so narrow you have to walk on the actual road with other vehicles. The situation is even worse for parents with buggies or with wheelchair users, who can’t use the pavement at all. The city government says the pavement will be repainted this week, and all the obstacles removed.

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#sidewalk #balance #pavement #urbandesign #urbanplanning

台中"超窄人行道"僅手掌寬! 網友:練過閃身步才能走

2026-10-21

台中市大雅區雅環路一處行人專用道，真的超迷你！寬度最窄的寬度，竟然只有一個手掌寬約17公分。民眾暗酸，走在人行道上，宛如就像走獨木橋訓練平衡感，甚至還會碰到電線杆，讓民眾抱怨連連。

[[民眾]]
“要拓寬一點點，或者是清除障礙物。”

[[民眾]]
“人行道有時候畫的..看像這樣後面，這行人要怎麼走?”

[[民眾]]
“就是太窄了，根本不像人行道。”

[[民眾]]
“有畫跟沒畫一樣，不會有人專程去走那裡。”

綠色區塊是市府畫設的人行道，台中市府推動人行道改善，全長約1700公尺，但人行道有的寬有的窄，走著走著，還會得跟路上車輛爭道，爸媽推嬰兒車沒辦法走，輪椅族可能也無法通行。市府表示，該路段寬度不一，加上電箱和物品占用，造成人行道空間不足，這周將會進行補繪，也會排除占用道路的物品。

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An elder man was sued for dragging a girl by her neck

On Tuesday evening, a young girl in Chiayi was standing outside her family’s restaurant when she was suddenly put in a chokehold by an older man. He tried to drag her away saying, “No one will know if I take you away.” Luckily the family intervened in time, and saved the girl. The man, a friend of the girl’s grandfather, claimed he was just playing with her. However, given the frightened state of the girl, the family decided to file a police report. The police have referred him to the prosecutor’s office on charges of coercion.

- What are you doing?

An 11-year old girl was standing on the pavement when a sturdy man hooked his arm around her neck and started to drag her away. The girl tried to resist but her small body was nothing against the might of the man.

Luckily, the young girl’s grandmother noticed the child being pulled away and rushed after them.

- You’re going too far!
Don’t try us.
Pulling our child away

One family member chased after them and started cursing. Only then did the man release the girl. This terrifying incident occurred on Chiayi’s Yushan Road, where the young girl’s grandparents run a small restaurant, in the evening, while the family was busy closing up. The little girl was standing at the entrance of the shop when the man, her grandfather’s friend, saw her alone and started to pull her away.

Girl’s Grandfather
Disappointed in friend
He was eating here; he wanted to borrow money from me. I said that I didn’t have money to lend him. He just left and started to play with the girl and started to pull her away, dragging her more than 150 meters away over there. He is a good friend, but even good friends can’t do this.

Girl’s Grandmother
Concerned for child
She came back crying, she said her neck was locked and she couldn’t scream.

The family accused the man of telling the little girl that he would take her away and no one would find out. The girl was frightened and couldn’t stop crying when she went home. The man said on Facebook that he was just playing around with the kid and asked her to call him uncle, but this incident has left the girl traumatized driving her family to sue the man.

Family Friend
Disapproves of man’s actions
It’s very inappropriate behavior. We will take her to have her spirit cleansed and calmed.

Wu Chao-yi
Police officer
The case has been reported to the Chiayi District Prosecutors Office for investigation under the Criminal Code’s charge of coercion.

Even though the man was considered a friend, dragging a child away is unacceptable. Given the girl’s wishes the police arrested the man and will deal with the case according to the law.

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#childabuse #predator #publicsafety #sexualharassment #chiayi

2026-10-21

Taipei mayoral candidates share vastly different visions for Taipei

What will Taipei look like 20 years from now? Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an hopes the city will have vast green park where Songshan Airport stands today. Meanwhile, Taipei Mayoral Candidate Puma Shen of the DPP he hopes the capital will be a city where young people can afford to live and build their futures. The vastly different opinions have incited plenty of debate online and offline.

Chiang Wan-an
Taipei Mayor
I hope that 20 years from now, Taipei can be like this. Just imagine going to Songshan Airport, and finding it’s a huge green space with dense canopies.

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an spoke about his vision for Taipei on a TV program. He hopes that 20 years in the future, lush foliage will cover the area where Songshan Airport is today.

Chiang Wan-an
Taipei Mayor
You’ll see self-driving vehicles on the road, all of them using key chips made in Taiwan. The city is full of vitality and innovation.

Puma Shen
Taipei Mayoral Candidate (DPP)
My daughter is 6 years old now. In 20 years, she’ll be 26, freshly graduated from university, or rather, from her master’s program. We hope that this future Taipei will have jobs that aren’t a struggle to land. By then I hope we’ll have a city fund that provides each child NT$500,000 when they grow into adults. I hope that my daughter can live in Taipei, at affordable housing, or at a rental not for sale.

When the DPP’s mayoral candidate for Taipei, Puma Shen, was asked a similar question, his answer considered the needs of different age groups, such as employment, childrearing and retirement. Netizens quickly slammed Chiang’s response in the comments: “Didn’t he want to build an AI park?” “You cut down trees left and right yet you want greenery?” “Chiang when he reads from a script vs. Chiang when he speaks his mind” “Is Chiang competing in an elementary school speech contest?”

Chien Shu-pei
Taipei City Councilor (DPP)
Would shutting down Songshan meet the needs of any age group? Chiang is a master of answering questions without actually answering them. Both candidates have weighed in on this important issue, and I believe the citizens of Taipei are smart enough to make the right choice.

Both candidates have different ideas about what the capital should look like in the future. With Election Day drawing closer, it remains to be seen who will sway voters.

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Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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#taipei #election #songshanairport #housing #retiree

2026-10-21