In the middle of the night, a swarm of bicycles covered a 50km road... Chinese authorities imposed a 'curfew' on university students

'Night Riding' Attracts Crowds for Nighttime Bicycle Trips
Despite Signs with Pro-Government Messages... 'Emergency Response'

As nighttime bicycle trips become hugely popular among Chinese university students, local transportation authorities have taken emergency measures such as closing roads.

On the night of the 8th, the Zhengkai Boulevard connecting Zhengzhou and Kaifeng in Henan Province, China, was filled with a university student bicycle squad participating in the "Night Kaifeng Riding." [Image source=Weibo capture]

On the night of the 8th, university students participating in the "Night Kaifeng Riding" occupied the intersection in front of Daliangmen (大梁門) in Kaifeng, Henan Province, China. [Image source=Screenshot from Hong Kong Ming Pao]

On the 10th, Hong Kong Ming Pao and other outlets reported that on the night of the 8th, university students in Henan Province filled the 50 km road connecting Zhengzhou and Kaifeng. The procession was said to be larger in scale than the 2022 blank paper movement by Chinese university students protesting the authorities' 'zero COVID' policy. However, local media reported that there were no slogans or actions protesting the Communist Party in this bicycle procession, and signs bearing the five-star red flag (China’s national flag) with pro-government messages such as "The motherland must be unified and will be unified" appeared.

However, as crowds gathered, local authorities responded urgently by closing roads and universities banned students from going out. The transportation authorities of Zhengzhou and Kaifeng controlled traffic from the afternoon of the 8th until noon on the 10th and completely banned shared bicycles from entering. The three major shared bicycle platforms?Meituan (美團), Hello (哈?), and Qingju (靑桔)?issued notices warning of possible accidents the day before, and when bicycles left the city, warning sounds were emitted and an automatic lock was activated after 3 minutes.

A university in Henan Province announced, "The number of people heading to Kaifeng has already exceeded 200,000," and regarding the ban on going out, stated, "Please understand that impure elements and hostile foreign forces may infiltrate and attempt riots like those in Hong Kong in the past."

Recently, the nighttime Kaifeng riding has gained popularity on Chinese social networking services (SNS). The trend started with a short video of four Zhengzhou university students in June. At that time, they posted a video on SNS of their 50 km journey by shared bicycle to eat Guantangbao (灌湯包), a soup-filled dumpling from Kaifeng. Since then, following their journey has become a trend among university students in Zhengzhou.

Kaifeng tourism authorities also utilized this trend for marketing. Famous tourist spots in Kaifeng offered free admission to university students, and related news was published in outlets such as People’s Daily and Xinhua News Agency. Subsequently, this nighttime bicycle trip trend is spreading across China. Scenes of trips have been shared on SNS from Wuhan in Hubei, Chengdu in Sichuan Province, and Tiananmen in Beijing.