About sixty years ago, China was known as the "Bicycle Kingdom". But the two-wheeled way of transportation began to become less popular, with many bikes soon replaced by their four-wheeled competitors.
But recent months have seen a revival(复兴) of the bike across China, with an increasing number of people choosing cycling instead of driving to schools, to workplaces or to do sightseeing. The introduction of bike-sharing plans, pioneered by companies like Ofo and Mobike, has brought cycling to a new level. According to the latest data, the first week of this year saw 5, 850,000 active users of Mobike while Ofo had 1,400,000 active users.
People can unlock the shared bikes by simply using their smartphones. The bikes are equipped with GPS and can be left anywhere in public for the next user. They are popular among many Chinese people. "In places where the underground railway doesn't extend, it's so easy to get where you want to go with Mobike," Hu Hong said. She cycles to her workplace in Shanghai.
Bike-sharing is a greener method of transportation and provides a user-friendly experience. However, the plans have also led to problems such as illegal parking, breaking and stealing. Last month, two nurses in Beijing put locks on two shared bikes. And in December, a man stole a shared bike.
Now Chinese service operators are also trying to solve these problems. Setting credit points is one of the ways. Mobike sets a 100-point credit score for each user, with points taken because of bad behavior. Once a score drops below 80, bike Tental((租金) is increased to 100 yuan per 30 minutes rather than 0.5-1 yuan.
