HONG KONG – They drove for soup dumplings – and a sense of youthful liberation in hard times.
But the gang of university students who cycled through the night would eventually be met by a red light from authorities after their viral quest became so popular it disrupted traffic in central China and overwhelmed the ancient capital of Kaifeng.
The night rides became a trend on Chinese social media in recent weeks after four female university students from Zhengzhou, the capital of China’s north-central province of Henan, traveled to neighboring Kaifeng to sample the famous soup dumplings, known locally as ‘tangbao’ , Chinese State media People’s Daily reported this.
By the weekend, tens of thousands of students had joined this self-described “night driving army,” looking not just for breakfast, but for a way to travel and socialize without spending a lot of money.
They rented shared bicycles and cycled in groups through the night from Zhengzhou to Kaifeng. Waves of riders, propelled by the slogan “youth is priceless,” joined this 40-mile journey along a major road along the Yellow River.
The crowd moved slowly due to its size, with some cyclists carrying the Chinese flag and some people sleeping on the ground in a park after arriving in Kaifeng, according to photos and videos shared with NBC News.
‘We wanted to join in the madness’
Ji Pengbo, a 19-year-old freshman studying architectural engineering in Zhengzhou, said he and two friends joined the night ride after class on Friday after seeing the trend on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok.
In particular, the event’s slogan – “Youth is priceless” – prompted him to participate, Ji said. “It all seemed so wild, and we wanted to join in on the madness too!”
Along the way, Ji said, there were a legion of other university students, as well as police officers keeping order and some people providing free water.
“As I drove all the way to Kaifeng in the cool evening breeze, I felt the thrill of speed. Around me I heard the cheering of fellow riders, the whirring of the wheels and the sound of our breathing,” Ji said in an interview on Monday.
“Some people fell, but got back up and kept going,” he said.
But that feeling may have been short-lived.
On Saturday afternoon, police in Henan imposed traffic restrictions.
They closed the non-motorized lanes on the main street connecting the two towns until Sunday afternoon as a safety precaution.
The same day, China’s three largest bike-sharing platforms urged users not to ride the vehicles outside operating areas, including Kaifeng, in Zhengzhou.
“Do not ride outside the designated areas,” Hellobike, DiDi Bike and Mobike said in the joint statement. “If you do, the bike will play voice reminders for three minutes before locking, and you will be charged for shipping.”
Officials had initially reacted positively to the trend and tried to use it to boost tourism.
The Kaifeng tourism board praised the night cycling as a demonstration of “youthful energy” and a variant of “special force tourism” among students. “Once you arrive, you will be one of us in Kaifeng,” it said in a statement last week. “We hope you will not see yourselves as outsiders.”
Several popular tourist attractions in Kaifeng offered university students free entry, with those cycling to Kaifeng from other cities receiving a free 366-day annual pass.
But the authorities have now taken a more critical stance.
“Youth is priceless, but society bears a price,” China Comment, an influential magazine of the ruling Communist Party, said in a WeChat post, adding that “every moment of youthful exuberance” depends on public resources.
“Every action has its limits, and true freedom comes with self-discipline. We hope that this night-time cycling event will provide university students with great memories and food for thought at the same time,” the report said.
Hongsheng Zhu, an assistant professor at Lingnan University in Hong Kong who studies Chinese governance, said this trend of night cycling is the embodiment of a local event becoming national, mainly due to the algorithm of short video platforms and the reporting by central media.
“The Kaifeng government is of course very lucky to have seen such a viral trend heading its way,” Zhu said, noting that officials sometimes underestimate the huge size of China’s connected population, which local governments struggle to cope with .
The trend could be more “sustainable” and do more to boost local economies in the long term if local officials chose to capitalize on the trend organically rather than trying to perpetuate it with the help of the central media to push, said Zhu.
He said the trend was likely to be one of many, including spontaneous gatherings of young people, leading to a “competition between the capabilities of local governments with the new form of communication.”
Last month, police in China’s financial capital Shanghai responded on Halloween after the costumes of some 2023 partygoers attracted attention on Chinese social media.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
