When young people in America are disgruntled with their economic prospects, they can vote against the ruling party. In the Nov. 5 election, for example, men under 30 years old opted against incumbent Democrats. Yet in China, where elections are nil, what do unhappy youth do?
They ride bikes at night. En masse.
On Nov. 8, more than 100,000 university students – many with grim hopes of finding a job – pedaled more than 30 miles from Zhengzhou in central China to the historic city of Kaifeng. The nocturnal spin, mostly on rental bikes, was for the joy of it. At first, the Chinese Communist Party praised the spontaneous swarm of bright-eyed bicyclists. Kaifeng is known for its soup dumplings, its ancient temples, and a theme park. Tourists are welcomed.
Yet many of the riders were also glad to be part of a mass movement that expressed their values. “Young people in mainland China are very eager to take part in public life,” Zhengzhou-based teacher Li Na told Radio Free Asia.
They are also well connected through social media. In the days that followed, young people in other Chinese cities began to copy this exuberant expression of freedom by taking nighttime rides together. The ruling party’s security forces quickly put an end to all the fun.
Any large gathering outside the party’s control, especially among youth, is seen as a threat. In 1989, the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests were led by students. Many had biked to the Beijing square.
Today’s young Chinese people know the limits of staging protests driven by fear or anger, even if they are experiencing record-high unemployment. Instead, their public expressions are often affirming, even joyful.
“I want to be a normal person in an abnormal society,” one woman told China expert Ian Johnson in a book last year about the country’s unofficial historians. “I want to be able to say truthful things and express what’s in my heart.”
The real foes of the Communist Party, writes Mr. Johnson, are “the lasting values of Chinese civilization,” such as righteousness and freedom of thought. “As strong as the party is, is it stronger than these deep reservoirs of resilience?” he asks. Independent thought lives in China, he states, and has not been crushed.
When China’s leader Xi Jinping said after taking power in 2012 that young people should dream big, he probably did not imagine they would take night rides by the tens of thousands. One of the riders to Kaifeng, Xia Tian, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp., “I’ve been feeling a bit down and anxious lately, and when I saw a night cycling event, it looked so spirited and free.
“I decided to tell my friend and join in and unwind.
“Everyone was so polite, cheering each other, and even people at the intersections were giving us encouragement.”
The pedalers and their supporters were living democracy. Even if they don’t live in one.
Mark Sappenfield
