E-Paper
Over 1 lakh Chinese students embark on late-night quest for soup dumplings, pics viral
Thousands of Chinese students were seen riding their bikes at night in a quest for good soup dumplings, disrupting the daily traffic.
A trend started by four students in China grew exponentially as over one lakh Chinese students participated in a night-time bike ride in search for good soup dumplings on the streets of Zhengzhou. The 50 km bike ride led to many roads being blocked in the tourist city, with extra security forced being deployed on the highways, reported the Guardian.
Thousands of students rode their public share bikes for several hours through the Henan province, participating in the viral trend, from their campuses in Zhengzhou to the ancient city of Kaifeng.
Liu Lulu, a student at Henan University, told China Daily, “People sang together and cheered for each other while climbing uphill together. I could feel the passion of the young people. And it was much more than a bike ride.”
As students started flocking the streets of Kaifeng, the small city reached capacity with public spaces and local restaurants packed beyond imagination. Videos from the incident showed students flooding the six-lane Zhengkai highway, which connects Zhengzhou to the much smaller city of Kaifeng.
Read more: India-China détente: Cautious optimism over outright enthusiasm
Authorities continued to urge students to turn back and return to their campuses on their bikes or using the free bus. In order to prevent this incident in the future, several campuses on Zhengzhou bans bikes on campus and enforced a pass system for students who wanted to leave the area.
Further, authorities announced temporary restrictions on roads and cycle paths for the weekend and bike sharing apps announced that they will remotely lock the bikes if taken out of the designated regions.
The trend started when four students embarked on a journey from Zhengzhou to Kaifeng, riding their bikes for hours in search for the city's famous soup dumplings, guan tang bao. They documented their journey on social media, with more people joining the night ride, eventually leading to 100,000 students participating.
Henan's media outlet People's Daily celebrated the “surge of young travellers” to the small city, seeing a massive spark in tourism since the social media trend went viral.
“Upon arriving in Kaifeng, many students took the opportunity to explore the city’s cultural and historical attractions, bringing a fresh sense of excitement and energy to the ancient city,” the newspaper wrote on Thursday.
“These youthful adventures embody a vibrant spirit—full of curiosity, determination, and a zest for discovery—that adds new dimensions to the tourism industry,” the media outlet said.
