Beiyi Highway: The Hitchhiking Girl Taiwanese People Talk About

There is a road in Taiwan called Beiyi Highway, starting from Xindian, Taipei, crossing the mountains to Yilan—a mountain road of several dozen kilometers, full of curves and heavy fog, with many car accidents in the early years.

In Taiwanese online discussions, this road is the most famous ghost road. The most common story goes like this: driving at night, a girl waves by the roadside, dressed in white, saying she wants to go to a certain village. After she gets in, she doesn't speak a word all the way. Halfway there, when you look back, the seat is wet and the person is gone.

This kind of story isn't unique to Taiwan; it exists in many places around the world. In English it's called "The Vanishing Hitchhiker." American scholars have collected many versions, all similar: a young girl, a white dress, hitching a ride, disappearing. In some places it's a girl, in others an old woman, at some intersections, at others by a bridge. Folklorists say this is a story that most easily arises on highways, because on highways there is speed, there is night, and there are strangers.

On Beiyi Highway, there are many curves; when fog rolls in, visibility is only a few meters—even driving in daylight is nerve-wracking. People at night missee, mishear, and add a story they've heard, and suddenly it becomes a tale.

In 2006, the Xueshan Tunnel opened, fewer people took this road, and these stories weren't told as much. Nowadays, most people on Beiyi Highway are cyclists and sightseers.

#Ghosts #网络转载 #台湾