Life in Mainland China
Bikes and e-bikes: a Chinese conversation with pinyin
Dockless shared bikes, what became of ofo and Mobike, today's brands in Shanghai, and the e-bikes of delivery riders.
Play: Bikes and e-bikesThe conversation
Speakers: Yichen and Xiaoyu.
- Yichen
这辆单车是谁的啊？
Whose bike is this?
- Xiaoyu
谁的都不是。扫个码，二十分钟内它就是你的了。
Nobody's. Scan the QR code and it's yours for twenty minutes.
- Yichen
还记得当年的共享单车大战吗？马路牙子上密密麻麻全堆满了。
Remember the crazy bike-sharing wars? Curb to curb was completely packed with them.
- Xiaoyu
黄色车和橙色车，一六年那会儿。我可喜欢了。
The yellow ones and the orange ones back in 2016. I loved those.
- Yichen
那橙色的摩拜后来怎么样了？
What ever happened to those orange Mobikes?
- 美团在2018年收购了它 Meituan acquired it in 2018
- 它变成了一家无人机快递公司 It turned into a drone delivery company
- 它现在依然叫摩拜单车 It's still called Mobike today
Answer
美团在2018年收购了它 Meituan acquired it in 2018
- Xiaoyu
被美团买下来了。那黄色的ofo呢？
Meituan bought them. What about those yellow ofos?
- Yichen
它在2018年资金链断裂，两千多人去总部排队退押金。
Their capital chain broke in 2018, and over two thousand people queued up at headquarters for their deposit refunds.
- Xiaoyu
我的九十九块钱押金就再也没退给我。我经常想起这事。
My ninety-nine yuan deposit was never refunded. I still think about that all the time.
- Yichen
当时App上排队等退钱的有1170万人。
Back then, 11.7 million people were lined up on the app waiting for their money back.
- Xiaoyu
现在上海街头主要就是哈啰、美团和青桔了。
Now the streets of Shanghai are mostly Hello, Meituan, and Qingju.
- Yichen
那满大街骑电动车的外卖小哥呢？
What about all those delivery guys zipping around on e-bikes?
- Xiaoyu
电动车没电了就在路边柜子里换个电池。
When an e-bike runs out of juice, they just swap out the battery at a roadside locker.
- Yichen
你这不对，换个方向扫码。
You're doing it wrong. Turn your phone around and scan it.
- Xiaoyu
这辆车可不欠我什么，它欠我九十九块钱呢。
This bike doesn't owe me anything, but ofo definitely owes me ninety-nine yuan.
Words in the conversation
Notes
The boom
Dockless shared bikes, unlocked by scanning a QR code with a phone, spread through Chinese cities from 2016. The two largest brands were ofo and Mobike.
Mobike and Meituan
Meituan bought Mobike in April 2018; two sources told Reuters the equity value was US$2.7 billion. Mobike's bikes now run under the Meituan name: in Shanghai they are rented through the Meituan app.
ofo's refunds
ofo ran short of cash in 2018. In December that year nearly 2,000 people queued outside its Beijing headquarters to ask for their deposits back, and its app showed about 11.7 million users waiting for refunds. Deposits had been 99 yuan, later 199 yuan.
Hellobike
Hellobike took investment from Ant Financial in 2018.
Today
In Shanghai, the shared bike brands are Hellobike, Meituan and Qingju (DiDi's). Hellobike is unlocked from its own app or from a mini-program inside Alipay, by scanning the QR code on the bike (December 2023).
E-bikes and delivery
Food and parcel delivery riders travel on electric bikes and electric scooters. China's on-demand delivery riders number more than ten million, and e-bikes are their main transport, according to a 2025 study. Because a rider can empty a battery in a shift, battery-swap cabinets for e-bikes have spread; Meituan began working on charging and swap points in 2019.
Bikes and e-bikes
Dockless shared bikes, what became of ofo and Mobike, today's brands in Shanghai, and the e-bikes of delivery riders.
How do you unlock a shared bike in China?
Answer
By scanning a QR code with a phone. Riders scan the QR code on the bike in an app such as Alipay, Meituan or Hellobike.
Which company bought Mobike in 2018?
Answer
Meituan. Meituan bought Mobike in April 2018; the equity value was reported as US$2.7 billion.
What were the crowds outside ofo's Beijing headquarters in December 2018 asking for?
Answer
Their deposits back. About 11.7 million users were waiting in its app for deposit refunds.
Which three shared bike brands did Shanghai list in 2023?
Answer
Hellobike, Meituan, Qingju. Qingju is DiDi's bike brand; Meituan's bikes are the former Mobike.
What do most delivery riders in Chinese cities travel on?
Answer
Electric bikes and scooters. E-bikes are the main transport of a delivery workforce of more than ten million riders.