Youthful Nights, No Price Tag, Night Ride Beyond "Getting There"

“Youthful nights have no price tag; night ride goes beyond just 'getting there'.”

Cities are always a hot topic of discussion. However, bringing the city to life with a night ride is still a fresh idea. Before this, cities were famous for their food, such as Zhengzhou's barbecues and Tianfu's spicy noodles.

From city walks to city rides, and now to night rides, cities' "spotlight" has been shining on Zhengzhou. Night ride, as a lifestyle choice chosen by citizens and tourists alike, has gradually become part of the cultural and tourism landscape, with huge development potential.

What new thoughts does night ride bring to urban tourism?

Recently, many university students from Henan province set out on a night ride adventure in Zhengzhou, sparking heated discussions online.

They mostly rented shared bicycles and rode for over 50 kilometers before reaching Zhengzhou. After enjoying the city's nightlife, they returned to Zhengzhou by train the next day.

Although the event was first reported on social media in early November, tracing back the history of "Zhengzhou Night Ride" reveals that at least since June, there have been small waves of night ride enthusiasts online.

In fact, there is a popular saying that four university students from Zhengzhou rented shared bicycles and rode to Zhengzhou on June 18th for a taste of the city's hot pot. They spent hours riding before reaching their destination.

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The reporter discovered through browsing social media that, since early June, there have been numerous posts from students in Zhengzhou about their night ride adventures.

"Zhengzhou Night Ride" has gone viral after this event, and many users have asked for tips and recommendations online.

In essence, just like the popularity of Zhenzhou's barbecues and Tianfu's spicy noodles, Zhengzhou Night Ride has experienced a fermentation process, only this time targeting a new lifestyle choice – night ride.

Night ride can be roughly divided into two categories.

The first type is more professional and appears as an event with local cycling enthusiasts who are equipped with professional gear. The primary goal is to exercise.

The second type, represented by Zhengzhou Night Ride, is a sightseeing-oriented night ride experience that attracts tourists, especially young people with abundant energy and time. The primary goal is to have fun.

In the future, this type of night ride will likely continue to "go viral" as seen in Beijing's Chang'an Street.

According to media reports, during the summer vacation period, Chang'an Street experienced a phenomenon called "locked bicycles." On Rowing App, the total number of times this route was challenged exceeded 140,000 times.

In reality, at least since last year's summer vacation, night ride has become one of the hottest tourism choices for citizens and tourists alike in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Tianjin.

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As of this year's summer vacation, night ride's "temperature" has further increased.

Data from Mobike shows that since July, the top cities for night orders have been Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Shenzhen, and Wuhan.

For example, in Beijing, users' average nighttime ride time has increased by about 15% compared to last year's same period. The most popular routes include the city's central axis, the greenbelt along the second ring road, Lianhua Riverbank, and Bird's Nest – Olympic Forest Park.

Subsequently, "Zhengzhou Night Ride" has brought new "traffic" to this movement.

As of November 2nd, night ride began to rapidly ferment and traffic surged. The hashtags #University Students Go on Night Ride in Zhengzhou, #Zhengzhou Tourism Responds to University Students' Night Ride, and #University Students Go on Night Ride by Bike have become hot topics.

How can we create a tourism brand?

It is clear that most participants in this night ride are university students, and their vehicles are mostly shared bicycles. In terms of people and equipment, there has not yet been any "climate" formed, and it's still just a small-scale practice for the tourism market.

As a destination city, Zhengzhou has shown similar practices to those in Shijiazhuang and Tianfu, providing thoughtful services such as volunteer street services, free or delayed opening of scenic areas, and promoting local cultural resources. This has helped attract tourists and created a sense of community.

However, unlike the aforementioned cities, Zhengzhou had already gained fame for its "wang pua says" and Clear Waters Above the Yangtze River Garden, which have been hotspots for tourism. During the National Day holiday period, Zhengzhou received a total of 7.59 million domestic tourists, with a cultural and tourism revenue of 53.03 billion yuan.

Therefore, for this city that is not lacking in cultural resources, night ride can bring limited additional tourism revenue.

Through the lens of night economy integration, the current discussion about night ride mainly focuses on creating unique routes and promoting local cultural resources. From a product supply perspective, cities' nighttime tours and themed cycling activities are still lacking.

From a broader perspective, night ride as part of the night economy has not yet fully integrated into the scene industry, with considerable distances to be bridged in terms of connecting different elements, scenes, and chains to create an immersive experience.

If night ride's vehicles are solely reliant on shared bicycles and follow university students to Zhengzhou for a "single loop," then as one netizen joked, "Zhengzhou tourism laughed, Mobike cried."

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Furthermore, there is still much to be explored in terms of market potential for night ride development.

According to Huang Guang, a researcher at the China Tourism Research Institute, the underlying laws and trends driving the development of night ride activities are actually the rise of all-around fitness, the integration of sports and tourism, and slow-paced transportation becoming an essential part of urban comprehensive transportation systems.

He suggests that city management departments may even plan dedicated cycling routes that traverse natural landscapes and ancient towns to create a unique "cycling and tourism" route.

From one activity to urban tourism, perhaps for cities, the "flood of traffic" will manifest in different forms as people's night ride adventures unfold. At this point, city management departments are only just beginning to face their exams and answer questions.