【Epoch Times Nov 19, 2024】The enthusiasm shown by students in Zhengzhou, Henan to take part in the “Night Ride to Kaifeng” to eat soup dumplings has sparked inspiration among some Chinese residents in the Los Angeles area. Last Saturday (16th), they also organized a cycling event, riding from downtown to Chinatown, then back to downtown, and finally arriving at the Chinese consulate. However, their journey was not to savor soup dumplings but to voice out for the freedom of Chinese people to travel.
The student-led Night Ride to Kaifeng event in Zhengzhou reached its peak on the 8th of this month. Tens of thousands of cyclists rushed like tidal waves along the Zheng-Kai Expressway towards Kaifeng. The Chinese authorities, initially supportive, turned concerned and began to obstruct the event. On November 9th, the officials closed off the road section, prohibiting non-motor vehicles from passing. This harsh measure sparked discontent among the students, leading thousands to walk instead. Local schools started to shut down, prohibiting students from participating in the cycling event.
Los Angeles resident and native of Kaifeng, Fang Yinglong, expressed his pride in participating in the support activities. He mentioned his fondness for soup dumplings from a young age, and even in Los Angeles, he enjoys buying dumplings from local shops. “I feel very proud of the (Zhengzhou students) for this activity,” he said. “These young people in China, their pursuit of freedom has not died. Seeing such young people, I feel that there is still hope in China.”
Fang believed that the authorities’ frequent prevention of assembly activities is an overreaction. “This kind of prevention is illegal,” he analyzed. Through past events like the 1989 student movement and the Blank Paper Movement, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) becomes fearful whenever large groups of young people take to the streets.
This event, with over 100,000 students participating, originated from several female university students from Zhengzhou who rode bikes to Kaifeng, 60 kilometers away, to taste the local soup dumplings in mid-June. Initially, the Kaifeng government encouraged students to visit for tourism purposes. However, as the number of night riders increased, similar groups emerged in other cities across the country.
Some famous landmarks like Huanghelou in Hubei, Chaohu in Anhui, Lingbo Door of Donghu in Wuhan, Xianyang in Xi’an, also became destinations for young people’s group cycling. Some out-of-town university students even rushed to Zhengzhou by train to join the night riding army. Beijing also saw young people cycling to Tiananmen Square.
During the peak of the event, videos showed bicycles with banners reading “The brave are fearless in freedom” trailing behind students.
The cycling crowd on Zheng-Kai Expressway attracted wide attention. Some questioned on social media, “Is a new wave of student movement beginning?” Coupled with the current unstable political situation in China, Chinese people at home and abroad were speculating.
In Los Angeles, the vice chairman of the China Democratic Party’s United Headquarters, Jie Lijian, organized the cycling support event. In his view, the Zhengzhou students’ Night Ride to Kaifeng is a symbol of the post-2000 generation’s thirst for freedom.
“These young people have more active thoughts compared to the post-1980s and post-1990s. They access real information from overseas by circumventing the internet firewall; about the lies of the Communist Party, we all see through it without exposing it,” he said. “The CCP has oppressed the Chinese people for too long. These young people are expressing: I don’t want to be exploited by you, my freedom is mine to decide.”
Jie believed that such large-scale night cycling trips are related to the bleak job prospects in the country. “The CCP has turned education into a money-making platform, and many parents spend hundreds of thousands [RMB] to educate their children in university, only for them to be unemployed upon graduation. This is a very sad reality faced by Chinese university students.”
In recent days, major universities in Zhengzhou have rapidly closed the campuses, allowing students to enter and exit only with credentials, giving a feeling of returning to the lockdown period during the epidemic. Some students living off-campus were unable to return to school because of this.
“The CCP is now strictly guarding against anything; its deep-seated panic is irreparable,” Jie said. “Even if you don’t shout slogans, suddenly so many people gathering, spreading across the country like a storm, this is what they fear the most.”
During the ride in Los Angeles, cyclists chanted slogans along the way: “Youth is priceless, stamp out the CCP underfoot!” The Los Angeles police escorted in some sections to prevent accidents.
Many residents were curious about the cycling procession and took photos and videos. After understanding the situation, some people scorned the CCP’s practice of preventing young people from riding bicycles.
Lin Hairui, who came from Hainan Province to the United States this year, bluntly stated that the rapid prevention of the night cycling activity by the CCP stemmed from “fear.” “Fear of people gathering and creating other effects,” he said. “Over the past few years, during the epidemic, the Communist Party’s actions have been obvious, so it is afraid of students gathering and erupting as they did in the White Paper Movement two years ago.”
Zhou Lanying, a former state-owned enterprise employee from Anhui, also joined the cycling support, feeling that the Zhengzhou students had no political agenda.
“People across China, not just university students, are under great mental pressure under oppressive rule; especially after experiencing three years of the epidemic, Chinese people need a way to relieve stress; cycling both exercises the body and relieves stress,” she said. However, she added, “The ordinary people are unarmed, yet the CCP is very afraid.”
Zhou spoke frankly that her ride was to protest against the CCP and expose its wrongdoings to the international community. “After cycling for two hours, it was very difficult, my legs are still trembling now. I greatly admire those students in Zhengzhou,” she commented. ◇