Taiwan, also known as Formosa, is an island about twice the size of New Jersey. The island of Taiwan is shaped roughly like a tobacco leaf.
台灣又叫做福爾摩沙, 面積大概是紐澤西的兩倍大, 形狀有一點像是煙草的葉子.
It is located off the eastern coast of Asia in the Western Pacific. At its widest point, it is 395 km long and 142 km in width. Unlike China, Taiwan is a free country where citizens elect their own president and congress. The population is about 21 million.
The remarkable economic successes in Taiwan for the past twenty years has made Taiwan the fourteenth largest trading country in the world. Taiwan is the head of the well-known "Four little dragons of Asia." Taiwan exports many products such as shoes, textiles, personal computers, and more to world markets.
上面都是廢話
However, the Taiwanese sport of pigeon racing is also very well-known throughout the world. There are approximately 500 clubs and 50,000 pigeon flyers resident in Taiwan.
台灣的賽鴿運動舉世聞名, 有將近500個分會和五萬名會員.
The prize money is so great that no country in the world can match it.
賽鴿獎金沒有其他國家比得上.
Every year Taiwan imports a lot of pigeons from Europe and some from America.
每年台灣從歐洲進口大量鴿子, 也有從美國進口一些.
It is safe to say that every month there is a race in Taiwan. If it were not sponsored by one club, it would be sponsored by another. The competition is so fierce that it is beyond one's imagination. This article is meant to share with you the fascinating pigeon sport in Taiwan.
在台灣到處都有賽鴿比賽, 競爭非常激烈, 讓我一起和大家分享台灣迷人的賽鴿運動.
Since Taiwan is 395 km (247 miles) long, pigeon clubs located in the middle of the island can only fly 196 km or 123 miles over land. This is not much of a distance for old birds to fly (recently, they have started to fly over the ocean to increase the distances of the races).
台灣因受地域限制, 逐漸發展出海翔比賽.
For this reason, there are no old bird races at all and flyers in Taiwan only fly young bird races. A bird's racing career finishes in one season, some five or six consecutive weeks of competition. One could say, "What a way of retiring a pigeon." Nevertheless, this is unique in the world.
台灣大多是幼鴿多關賽, 一羽鴿子一生只能比賽一次, 這是世界上獨一無二的比賽制度.
There are two kinds of young bird races: one group includes the young pigeons that are 100–120 days old; another is aged 180–240 days old.
有出巢100-120天左右的幼鴿賽也有6個月-8個月的成鴿賽.
To make sure that every flyer races birds of the same age against each other, bands are sold within a specified time span, usually three days to a week only.
腳環統一時間發售的目的是要控制比賽鴿的年齡(怕你偷跑)
If you forget to pick up and pay for your bands, you miss the entire season and the young birds that you breed would not be able to compete in this race.
插組沒繳錢取消資格.(單子交了不能後悔)
The chance to compete in another club is quite slim. The rules are very strict and there are no exceptions.
規則很嚴格.
The prize money comes from band sales and pooling. A club offers different denominations of bands for members to choose. They are the equivalent in USAdollars of $30, $60, $100, $150, and $300 apiece, respectively.
腳環有很多種, 可以只掛底環, 也可以掛特比環.
A flyer can buy any combination of bands depending on his/her budget and the number of young birds that he/she will breed. Usually, it is required to purchase 12–15 bands and you can buy up to 60 bands. Some clubs do not set a limit on how many bands one can buy.
你有錢有能力可以掛多羽一點, 通常沒個人羽數限制.
Assume that there are 100 members of a club, and each member buys 15 bands at an average of $150 a band. The band sales would be $225,000 ($150 x 100 x 15). Some readers may think that this figure is inflated. As a matter of fact, this figure is quite typical in any given race in Taiwan. Some big clubs have much larger band capital than the one I just mentioned above.
上面是在說腳環費.
Now, let's talk about the pool money. Unlike in America, where flyers pool birds mostly on the shipping night, pigeon clubs in Taiwan, in addition to pooling the birds on the shipping night, also conduct two to three sessions of pooling three to four weeks before the race. The good thing about this is that the club can deposit this pooling money into the bank, accruing interest, which produces income for the club.
反正是在說獎金存在銀行所生的利息會變成會裡的收入.
Traditionally, the club takes 4–5% of the total prize money and the interest income to run the club. These two incomes are sufficient to pay salaries for two full-time club employees, rents, utilities, etc. The bad news is that flyers are forced to commit a lot of money up front. If a pooled bird is lost before the race starts, the pooled money is lost.
比賽獎金會裡抽4%或5% 會員比賽要先交錢才能比賽(怕輸了不認帳)
The pooling system is quite complicated—too complicated to discuss it here. The pool money is usually three to four times more than the band sales capital. It is the so-called "Where's the Beef?" If you add the band sales and pool money, the total prize money is approaching one million dollars.
暗組大概是腳環的三四倍以上, 插組方式五花八門.
Do all flyers in Taiwan have strong financial backing? The answer is no. Lately, many lofts are formed by two, three, or more flyers to share the financial burdens.
台灣養鴿家不一定很有錢, 很多都是股東制.
It is common that several people form a company, which owns lofts competing in different clubs in different cities. They hire a full-time loft manager who cleans the loft, feeds, and trains the birds. If they win, this loft manager gets a certain percentage of the prize money.
很多職業櫥請專職教練集團式經營, 贏了教練可以分紅.
They treat racing pigeons just like running a business. It is not a hobby anymore.Is this good or bad for the pigeon sport? You decide.
這像是在搏財產已經不是一種娛樂休閒. 你覺得好嗎?
So far, the flyer population has stayed about the same for the past two or three years.
最近兩三年養鴿人口有減緩趨勢
Believe it or not, you may have to wait for a year or two to join some prestigious clubs.
不管你相不相信, 有時你要等一兩年才能加入某些優良的鴿會(坦白說我不信!)
In terms of the racing system, Taiwan has developed a unique system in itself. All pigeons must pass three or four qualification races before being allowed to enter into real races.
正關前有資格賽.
A qualification race is a race where birds must maintain a minimum speed of 600 to 800 yards per minute (ypm).
資格賽分速限制大概600-800碼(懶得換算)
You must ship the pigeons just like regular races, and clock the birds. If a pigeon does not clock minimum speed, this pigeon is out for the rest of the races regardless of how expensive this pigeon is banded.
前一關失隔就不能比賽下一關.
The distance of the qualification race is not all that great, ranging from 95–180 miles. But it runs three or four weeks in a row. It could be rough for young birds that are just two months old.
資格賽距離較短, 但對未成熟幼鴿而言也是很硬.
The real race is five successive weeks of racing, called the Five-Race Championship.
正關賽有一個名稱叫做 ”過五關” .
A Five-Race Championship is equivalent to young birds or old birds season here in America, except each club in Taiwan runs an average of three series of Five-Race Championship races a year. The minimum speed of 800 ypm is imposed, and the club training on Wednesdays of 700 ypm is also required. In any of the races during the five weeks, if a bird does not maintain minimum speed, this bird is automatically disqualified for the rest of the contest.
一年平均有三季, 五關淘汰制.
For example, even a great young bird that has won four races and does not make minimum speed in the fifth race is disqualified. There is no mercy at all. The idea is to find out the toughest birds, which can endure this kind of brutal contest. Speed is desired, but consistency is more important.
四關一第五關失隔還是失隔鴿, 所以速度雖然重要, 站關能力也要夠強.
Endurance is the characteristic that pigeon flyers in Taiwan have been searching for throughout the entire world. Taiwan is in subtropical weather and three fourths of the island is forest. The weather is unpredictable, mainly the notorious island air turbulence, strong ocean winds, thick fog, etc. Therefore, in any month, bad weather can be encountered. The liberation policy is rain or shine, let's liberate except when there is a hurricane. It is common for any race in any month to have the contest ended early due to bad weather.
是說台灣放鴿很殘, 只有颱風天不放, 常常提前結束比賽.

[皮皮]

好玩，但也很貼切（病態的台灣鴿界～）
謝謝阿飛兄，讓英文破破的我領略了　阿透仔　的文章