Every weekend, a workshop in a hutong near the old drum tower in central Beijing springs to life, with lessons given teaching people how to make bamboo-framed bikes from scratch. David Wang, a 30-year-old American who started the workshop “Bamboo Bicycle Beijing” three years ago, believes the project can help create a renewed interest in cycling culture in Beijing, where streets and alleyways used to be dominated by millions of bicycles.
What made you interested in transport culture in China?
I’ve been working in China since 2009. I started out doing anthropological work and eventually got a job researching youth culture in Beijing. A lot of my clients were car companies, like BMW, Mercedes, Audi and they all wanted to know what Chinese youth think about mobility in China and what they want for their future. I thought it was very interesting because I went throughout China and every single young person I spoke to, people who are 18 years old or 20 years old, they all have the same aspiration for their mobility: they all want to own a car. And if they could, own a really nice car, like a BMW or even better. And then when I began to probe and ask a lot more questions about it, I found that the reason they wanted to own a car wasn’t necessarily for transportation, it was as a status symbol. Especially the guys would say, “in order to get married, I need to own a car”, “my fiancée’s parents need to see me own a house and own a car”. There was another guy who said in order to get a promotion or to have some status at his company, it was better for him to arrive at work in a car. A young entrepreneur said in order to meet with clients, he had to arrive in a car, even if it was faster to take the subway or ride a bicycle.
I’ve talked to probably hundreds of different young people about this question and it got me thinking: why is it so unbalanced? Why can’t it be culturally valuable to cycle? Why can’t it be culturally valuable to take the subway? And I realise that a big reason for a lot of our environmental problems, our health problems, a lot of problems in the city, is because more and more people are owning cars and there is a huge culture around that. It’s not just about money, it’s not just about technology. Actually, the culture we have makes us want to own cars and cars aren’t good for society.
How did you come up with the idea of making bamboo bikes?