Following the record participation, police announced that the six-lane Zhengkai highway would be closed on Nov. 9 and Nov. 10, and three bike-share apps announced that they would automatically lock down bicycles near the area.
Just days before the viral Nov. 8 incident, Chinese state-run media reported favorably about the night rides, running reports that framed the activity as a nationalistic one that praised the CCP. The media has since changed its tone to chastise the students.
Xiao Wang, a graduate student at Zhengzhou University in Henan, told The Epoch Times that his school has since imposed a curfew.
“Our school said that for our safety, we are not allowed to travel after 10 [p.m.],” he said. “The security guards will not let you go out, and they will also check your bed. If you go out, you must have a leave request form from the instructor.”
Social media users posted videos of police forming a blockade and broadcasting messages for the students to return and not cause a traffic jam, as well as large numbers of abandoned bike-share bicycles.
Besides the university students, the viral Nov. 8 ride attracted other young people and military veterans. Some students had traveled from other cities to Kaifeng by low-fare means such as buses, others traveled long distances by rail, and droves of them waited for dawn by camping out at local chain restaurants.
Initial responses to the night ride were more supportive than critical.
One man in Zhengzhou who asked not to be named compared it to a sporting activity.
“Overall, it’s a very positive thing for these youths,” he told The Epoch Times. “At first, the officials saw that it was beneficial to them. On the positive side, it has boosted the economy and attracted attention online. The local cultural and tourism departments think this is a good time.”
He said that, even if unintentionally, the activity has become a movement that can be seen as a demonstration “to protest against this suffocating era and suffocating society.”
“This campus as a whole is like a prison that restrains people’s minds and restrains their bodies,” he said. “Students are coming together and bringing more people together as a social activity and social action, which has a positive significance.
“This is also a kind of release for these young people from the despair and depression caused by this era.”
Chen, a social activist in Zhengzhou who preferred to use only his surname, told The Epoch Times that the viral incident was not intended as a political demonstration but happened organically with the participation of students who have felt suppressed for too long.
“Most of them are children and students born after 2000. They spontaneously organized a cycling activity,” he said. “They had no other activities to engage in and no money. They could only travel on a budget, ride buses, and bicycles, and vent their emotions.”
