Lock whisperer: Chinese boy picks bike lock in less than a minute using nothing but bare hands and a keen ear
Feat sparks online comments ranging from concern to admiration
A primary student in southern China cracked a shared bicycle lock in less than a minute, sparking controversy over the use of his talents and the sustainability of China’s red-hot bike-sharing boom.
The young boy in Kunming, Yunnan province was caught on camera last Friday evening breaking the lock on a bike belonging to the bike-sharing start-up Ofo, the largest operator in China, local news outlet Yunnan.cn reported.
Video of the boy’s lock-picking, showing him hunched over the yellow Ofo bike listening to the sounds of the lock in order to crack it, was shared by a local resident surnamed He the next day.
In the video, He was heard telling the young boy he had to pay for the bike, which required a 99 yuan (US$14) deposit before it could be rented for 1 yuan per hour.
The man was later quoted by local media as saying the boy did not respond to his comments, and left the scene. After putting the lock back on the bike, He moved the bicycle to its original place.