The “Night Ride to Kaifeng” started in June, with four university students riding 50km from Zhengzhou in China’s Henan Province to Kaifeng on public bikes in search of soup dumplings.
On Friday last week, about 100,000 joined the night biking trend. One of the university students who took part in the bike ride said they were letting off steam.
This self-mobilized, youthful adventure is a reflection of the pressure felt by young Chinese, their anxiety and feeling of helplessness about their future.
The night ride offered university students in Zhengzhou a chance to escape their oppressive school routine.
There are more than 40 universities in the city, many of which are in remote areas and adopt closed-off management.
As a result, university students usually have small social circles and limited living space.
Many of them become anxious and face a lot of pressure, especially when they apply for postgraduate schools, jobs and government employee examinations. They feel anxious and claustrophobic, struggling to breathe.
The night ride reflected the state of mind of these young people. They were desperate to participate in mass collective action in search of a sense of belonging and community.
Increasingly more young people in China have lost interest in dating, getting married, buying a house or having children.
By taking part in an unconventional event like the night ride they are choosing to avoid an uncertain future and create their own happiness and freedom outside of the social order.
Cheering for each other on the way and erupting into cheers and whistles after arriving at the destination were ways to collectively let off steam.
The event was not political in nature, but it still filled the Chinese Communist Party with a sense of apprehension. Having prevailed upon the youth about the need to work hard and put their noses to the grinding stone, it was distrustful of this show of youthful spontaneity. This disjuncture speaks volumes about the problems of social governance in China.
Young people are feeling frustrated and alienated. They face the prospect of unemployment after they graduate.
The problem cannot be solved by simply imposing restrictions or prohibitions, which could further polarize and divide society, paving the way for what could be the final straw of a potential social collapse.
Liao Ming-hui is an assistant researcher at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research.
Translated by Fion Khan
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