Sports in Taiwan

Baseball is a popular, pro sport in Taiwan that has been tainted with insider betting. Basketball is also somewhat popular but not as high profile.

Plenty of Taiwanese play badminton, swim, golf, ping pong, hike, jog and even river trace. Soccer also attracts a small following.

Lots of older people practice tai-chi early morning, with organized clubs frequently seen practicing traditional varieties of martial arts in parks.

However the "most popular" sport may be mahjong which is sometimes called the "National Sport of Taiwan" that suits people more interested in mental than physical exercise.

There are city-owned community centers in Taipei run by contractors offering swimming pool, gyms and badminton courts, yoga facilities etc. Admission is very affordable: NT$110 for swimming and NT$50 to the gym equipped with various fitness machines.

Well, they play Chinese Yo Yo, which is huge and unattached. Whether this is Olympics worthy, I couldn't say, but it's fun and when done well, very graceful. Tai Chi and Gung Fu are health and self defense exercises which seem to predominate their life-philosophy or Confuscian/Buddhist inspired  discipline and meditation. I see elders practicing Tai Chi early in the mornings and it is great to watch! They emulate Americans there and baseball is big, with little leagues and pros that rival or even excel over their US counterparts. Hiking is huge here, and I am a hiker. The trails are all well worn and maintained and it is elevated to a social or even spiritual level there, with small temples or little kiosks to have green tea, small snacks and conversation. The women, I call "dancing ladies" will go to the parks at night, bring music and dance as a team, also graceful or even beautiful if well executed. This civilization is hardwired for exercise, you don't see many obese people and I have seen people much older than me, breezing past me on very steep trails with crooked logs and ropes for safety on some of the near vertical climbs which abound there!

HI ,

Funny you should mention the  Olympics -  I am here in the  Olympic  village - This is our third Olympics in the  Windsurfing  RS:X  class-   I am the  coach of the  Taiwan Athlete from  Penghu  Islands.  This is where I live and operate a sports B&B  catering for  all sorts of water sports and activities.

Here is  RIO the  waters are pretty  dirty -  far from the  pristine  waters of  Penghu  Islands -   Have a bottle of   hand sterilizer on the  coach  boat to be safe -  along with the  Mosquito repellent.

Racing for  us  starts on the 8th -  Go  Taiwan.

Hi Priscilla, badminton is pretty popular in Taiwan.  I got two racquets myself, along with two shuttle cocks, those are the balls they use for the sport.