On November 15th, in the past week in the city of Zhengzhou, Henan Province, major universities are still closed due to the lockdown, and bike-sharing services from Meituan and Hello Bike have been suspended. Some citizens who rely on bikes to commute are expressing frustration.
A week ago, 300,000 university students flooded the streets of Zhengzhou chanting “Youth is priceless, conquer Kaifeng”, creating a grand scene with shared bikes throughout the city of Kaifeng. Subsequently, authorities started to implement campus lockdowns in Kaifeng, Zhengzhou, and other areas.
After a week, bike-sharing operator Meituan announced in a notice that due to vehicle maintenance, Meituan Bikes would suspend operations starting from 10 am on November 15th.
Hello Bike suspended operations citing a system-wide upgrade, with bike services in Zhengzhou city being temporarily halted from November 15, 2024, until further notice. The sudden suspension left Zhengzhou residents in need of bikes feeling lost and expressing their grievances online.
One netizen using the handle “Hardworking and Irritated” lamented, “It’s terrible! I have a delivery to make at noon and was thinking of riding a bike, but more than ten bikes downstairs are marked as unavailable by Hello Bike and Lime.”
Another netizen, “Peinan”, shared, “I rode a bike around lunchtime, and when I finished eating, I suddenly received a notification informing me about the service suspension.”
Netizen “Internet Enforcer” complained, “This is a disaster! After getting off the subway, I still had one or two kilometers to go, and I rely on biking to get to work.”
Netizen “Annie on the Green Mountain Wall” expressed frustration, “I just bought a Meituan bike card this morning, and now this has happened. I give up.”
Some Zhengzhou netizens commented, “Who did the workers provoke? While the number of university students participating in night rides is considerable, in terms of the overall student population in Zhengzhou, they are a minority. Why is it always the obedient ones who pay for the misdeeds of the disobedient?”
Feeling helpless, netizen “Onion Who Likes to Cut” exclaimed, “I give up, it’s a disaster! Not only can I not go home for lunch now, how will I commute in the future?”
According to public records in mainland China, the three major bike-sharing operators in Zhengzhou collectively have over 400,000 bicycles. On November 8th, due to the massive nocturnal student activity in Kaifeng by Zhengzhou university students, by 10 pm, no bikes could be found on the streets of Zhengzhou. A photo of the last bike became popular on social media platforms and circulated widely.
In addition to the service suspensions announced by bike-sharing companies, the famous Kaifeng attraction Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden, which was previously open to students nationwide for free, also announced a temporary closure today.
A large electronic screen at the gate of the Qingming Riverside Garden area displayed a message stating that due to the high flow of visitors during the Chrysanthemum Culture Festival, the current reservations have reached the limit. To ensure everyone’s safety and a better travel experience, the free reservation entry to the park has been temporarily suspended. The notice also apologized and asked for understanding.
As the notice was released at 3:15 pm today, a group of students arriving around 3:20 pm expressed disappointment. Some students complained, “Qingming Riverside Garden is no longer free, why wasn’t this communicated in advance? Even if you had given us half a day’s notice, now all of us are left standing dumbfounded at the gate.”
The changes at the attraction have also drawn attention from students online, with a student from Henan University analyzing, “Even our school received a sudden notice to close, someone must have called for it. Once we receive the call, we must comply immediately.”
Some students even remarked, “Kaifeng Tourism, you lack credibility.”
The event of hundreds of thousands of university students in Zhengzhou collectively cycling to Kaifeng has sparked a strong reaction across society. Subsequently, major universities in Zhengzhou and Kaifeng announced campus closures, conducted room inspections, registered participating students, and some institutions imposed penalties, deducting 20 points from moral education achievements and disqualifying them from being rated as excellent or outstanding.
The authorities’ actions have caused great resentment among university students, with some students sarcastically saying, “Instructor, I was wrong. No more night rides or walks, I just want to go home!” More university students are calling online: When will the lockdown be lifted?
Taiwanese commentator and financial expert Huang Shicong told Epoch Times on the 15th that the student night ride event in Zhengzhou turning into a mass gathering was initially a good thing, but now it has become something that everyone, including the authorities, is wary of.
He emphasized, “So China is currently in a very fragile state. If any disturbance occurs in the future, leading to more gatherings or sparking a social movement, it could have a very lethal impact on the Chinese regime. Therefore, the authorities will be extremely cautious now and use high-pressure stability maintenance measures to suppress any potential sparks.”
Lai Rongwei, Executive Director of the Taiwan Motivation Association, analyzed for Epoch Times on the 15th that the Chinese Communist Party is most afraid of these kinds of group assemblies, fearing that things will eventually spiral out of control. “In other words, when people gather, they start whispering to each other, expressing their grievances, and then consensus starts to form. I believe the CCP is very afraid that this collective consciousness will rise, leading to an attempt to overthrow the ruling regime.”
Senior current affairs commentator Wang He told Epoch Times, “The CCP is now like a panicked bird, seeing threats everywhere. They view everything from a political or stability perspective and use high-pressure policies, which push those who do not have clear political demands and expressions to the opposite side, causing everyone to criticize the CCP. The CCP’s approach is digging its own grave.”