Bicycle Cemetery: what led to bike sharing in China

At first glance, it seems that this is a picture. But in fact, these are thousands of abandoned bicycles. They were collected on a playground near a school in the city of Hefei in eastern China.

(4 photos in total)

Source: Mashable

A large number of abandoned bicycles were the result of a boom in bike sharing services. In some cities, utilities return vehicles to companies, in others they store them in special places in the hope that companies will pick them up themselves.

According to a report by the Chinese state-run Global Times, the playground originally belonged to the school, but was later vacated.

Empty lands became dumping grounds for the authorities, who confiscated bicycles abandoned on the roads or violating parking rules. According to the Global Times, there are at least 10,000 bicycles in this cemetery.

On the Internet, people thought that the situation was quite ironic. Bike sharing was supposed to develop a culture of shared consumption and preserve the environment, but in fact it caused huge natural landfills. "It's a waste of resources," one commentator said. "No wonder I can't find a free bike in Hefei," another noted.

According to the Global Times, the Hefei City Bureau will start returning bicycles to the relevant companies.