The Cycling Craze of Nighttime China
Fancy a 60 km Night Ride with Thousands of Cyclists? 🚴🥟
Word of the week: 热潮 (rè cháo)
Meaning: a craze, a trend.
目前还不清楚这股热潮是什么时候开始兴起的。It is still unclear when this craze began.
In Zhengzhou, Henan, thousands of young people began cycling at night to the nearby town of Kaifeng. As the activity went viral, even more people joined in, giving rise to the trend known as "Night Ride to Kaifeng" (夜骑开封).
Photo source: cn.nytimes.com
Midway through this month, as many as 100,000 people joined the ride, overwhelming the small tourist town in search of its famous soup dumplings. Kaifeng residents voiced complaints, prompting the police to issue a ban on bike rides. However, some students remain determined to give it a try!
Let’s see how the Chinese students’ nightime biking craze was like:
成千上万的学生骑着自行车出现，似乎不知从哪里冒出来的。他们就像一群带着轮子的快闪族，在夜晚的路灯下连续骑行数小时，有时还会突然唱起中国国歌。一些人举着中国国旗。
他们从中国河南省会郑州出发，骑行约60公里，前往邻近的城市开封，单程可能需要五个小时。为什么？不为什么。
成千上万 (chéng qiān shàng wàn) – tens of thousands
快闪族 (kuài shǎn zú) – flash mob
连续 (lián xù) – continuously
国歌 (guó gē) – national anthem
国旗 (guó qí) – national flag
小时 (xiǎo shí) – hour
Tens of thousands of students riding bicycles appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. They were like a flash mob on wheels, cycling for hours under the streetlights at night, sometimes suddenly breaking into singing the Chinese national anthem. Some carried Chinese flags.
They set off from Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province in China, cycling about 60 kilometers to the neighboring city of Kaifeng. A one-way trip could take five hours. Why? For no particular reason.
目前还不清楚这股热潮是什么时候开始兴起的，但到本月初，似乎每晚都有数百名骑行者加入。起初，在网上，甚至共产党的喉舌《人民日报》都对这股热潮表示赞许，称夜骑是“青春的象征和分享的快乐”。
据中国新闻媒体报道，这种夜间冒险始于今年6月，当时郑州四个大学生朋友决定骑车去开封吃开封特产灌汤包。很快，大批大学生加入了这一行列，因为在中国许多城市，共享单车既便宜又随处可见。
热潮 (rè cháo) – craze, trend
兴起 (xīng qǐ) – to arise, to emerge
数百 (shù bǎi) – hundreds
喉舌 (hóu shé) – mouthpiece (figurative, representing an organization or authority)
赞许 (zàn xǔ) – praise, approval
象征 (xiàng zhēng) – symbol
冒险 (mào xiǎn) – danger, here: adventure
灌汤包 (guàn tāng bāo) – soup-filled dumplings
行列 (háng liè) – ranks, procession, line, or group
共享单车 (gòng xiǎng dān chē) – shared bicycle
便宜 (pián yí) – cheap, inexpensive
随处可见 (suí chù kě jiàn) – can be seen everywhere
It is still unclear when this craze began, but by the start of this month, it seemed that hundreds of cyclists were joining in every night. Initially, even the CCP’s mouthpiece, People's Daily, praised the trend online, calling night cycling a "symbol of youth and the joy of sharing."
According to Chinese news media, this nighttime adventure started in June this year, when four university friends in Zhengzhou decided to bike to Kaifeng to enjoy the town's specialty, soup-filled dumplings (guan tang bao). Soon, large numbers of college students joined in, as shared bikes are both cheap and readily available in many Chinese cities.
Kaifeng. Photo source: pinterest
学生们似乎被一种自发性和冒险精神所吸引，他们在网上发布行程照片和视频，并配文：“青春没有售价。”
夜间的喧闹吸引了河南一所大学工程系三年级学生李槟。周四，除了身上的衣服他什么都没带，就这样登上了开往郑州的火车。
“我和半路上认识的陌生人互相聊天，感觉没那么漫长，”他说。“大家一起干一件事情的时候，有团体意识。”
自发性 (zì fā xìng) – spontaneity
冒险精神 (mào xiǎn jīng shén) – spirit of adventure
配文 (pèi wén) – caption, accompanying text
售价 (shòu jià) – price (for sale)
喧闹 (xuān nào) – noise, commotion
漫长 (màn cháng) – long, endless
团体意识 (tuán tǐ yì shí) – sense of community
The students seemed drawn by a sense of spontaneity and adventure, posting photos and videos of their journeys online with captions like, "Youth has no price tag."
The nighttime buzz caught the attention of Li Bin, a third-year engineering student at a university in Henan. On Thursday, he boarded a train bound for Zhengzhou with nothing but the clothes on his back.
"I chatted with strangers I met along the way, which made the trip feel less long," he said. "When everyone is doing something together, there's a sense of community."
这个夜晚就像是不断滚动的街头节日，相邻车道上的汽车偶尔会放慢速度，为骑行者播放轰鸣的音乐。一些人甚至在沿途燃放烟花。有一次，一名背上系着国旗的骑手出现了，人群不由自主地唱起了国歌《义勇军进行曲》。
“能听到声音都有点没力气了，但还是在努力唱，”李槟说。“前面跟着国旗，后面唱着国歌，能感受到一种力量，震撼很大。”
滚动 (gǔn dòng) – rolling, continuous
街头节日 (jiē tóu jié rì) – street festival
放慢 (fàng màn) – to slow down
播放 (bō fàng) – to play (music, videos)
轰鸣 (hōng míng) – booming, roaring
沿途 (yán tú) – along the way
燃放 (rán fàng) – to set off (fireworks, fireworks display)
烟花 (yān huā) – fireworks
系 (xì) – to tie, to fasten
不由自主 (bù yóu zì zhǔ) – involuntarily, without control
震撼 (zhèn hàn) – profound, overwhelming
The night felt like a rolling street festival, with cars in adjacent lanes occasionally slowing down to blast booming music for the cyclists. Some even set off fireworks along the way. At one point, a rider appeared with a Chinese flag tied to their back, prompting the crowd to spontaneously sing the national anthem, March of the Volunteers.
"You could tell people were exhausted, but they were still trying hard to sing," Li Bin said. "With the flag leading the way and the anthem behind us, you could feel a kind of power. It was incredibly moving."
Photo source: cn.nytimes.com
起初，官员们鼓励这种热潮，认为这有利于商业和旅游业。开封的主题公园和许多受欢迎的旅游景点对开放时间做出了调整，提前开放，让学生免费入场。志愿者在门口分发免费早餐。
开封市还设立了额外的自行车停靠点，并派遣交警护送学生。据官方媒体报道，许多学生会在开封待上一两天，然后坐火车回去。
有利于 (yǒu lì yú) – to be beneficial for
主题公园 (zhǔ tí gōng yuán) – theme park
调整 (tiáo zhěng) – to adjust, to modify
分发 (fēn fā) – to distribute
停靠点 (tíng kào diǎn) – docking station (for bikes, buses, etc.)
交警 (jiāo jǐng) – traffic police
护送 (hù sòng) – to escort
官方媒体 (guān fāng méi tǐ) – official media
At first, officials encouraged the craze, seeing it as beneficial for business and tourism. Kaifeng's theme parks and many popular tourist attractions adjusted their opening hours, opening earlier and allowing students to enter for free. Volunteers handed out free breakfasts at the entrances.
Kaifeng also set up additional bike docking stations and dispatched traffic police to escort the students. According to official media reports, many students stayed in Kaifeng for a day or two before taking the train back.
但欢迎很快变成了批评。
周五晚上，照片和视频显示，两座城市之间的一条多车道公路上挤满了自行车，汽车被挤到两边，人群绵延数公里。当时，这一趋势已经蔓延到大学生之外，吸引了来自全国各个城市各个年龄段的参与者。
多车道 (duō chē dào) – multi-lane
挤满 (jǐ mǎn) – to be packed, to be full
挤到 (jǐ dào) – to be squeezed to (a place)
绵延 (mián yán) – to stretch out, to extend
数公里 (shù gōng lǐ) – several kilometers
趋势 (qū shì) – trend
蔓延 (màn yán) – to spread, to extend
But the warm welcome quickly turned into criticism.
On Friday night, photos and videos showed a multi-lane highway between the two cities packed with bicycles, with cars forced to the sides and crowds stretching for several kilometers. By then, the trend had expanded beyond college students, attracting participants of all ages from cities across the country.
Would you join the ride?
Antoine & Dorota
Referenced article: cn.nytimes.com