Shared-bike hunters stalk streets after dark

Hunters find a cluster of shared bikes in a blind alley in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. [Chen Kaizi/For China Daily]

Hunting addiction

Zhao, who works until 10 pm, cycles between his home and the nearest subway station on his daily commute.

His own bikes were repeatedly stolen - then bike-sharing services launched in Beijing. He found the dockless shared bikes easy to use: open a mobile app, find the nearest bike and unlock it by scanning the QR code with a smartphone. And it never costs more than 1 yuan (15 US cents) for 30 minutes.

"I registered as a user the first day I saw shared bikes on the street," Zhao said.

But he was frustrated at the difficulty of finding a bike to get home. The app always led him to a residential area where a lot of shared bikes were parked, hidden or even secured with private locks - so he became a hunter.

"Bike sharing is a brilliant idea and I don't want to see it fail," he said.

Once he moved a dozen bikes from a private housing area, drawing the attention of security guards and passersby. "I'm proud that my actions are allowing more people to enjoy the convenience of shared bikes," Zhao said.

Many hunters are addicted. Some have reported more than 10,000 bike violations in the past year. They spend hours hunting and thousands of yuan on flashlights, power banks for smartphones and other tools.

"My girlfriend joked that my love of bikes is greater than my love for her," Zhao said.

Many people - especially those who have impaired vision or disabilities - praise hunters for keeping sidewalks clear, but critics say they are meddling in other people's business and accuse them of being bounty hunters for the service providers.

Zhao has been arrested by security guards who suspected he was stealing bikes.

"We are not role models. We just want to make the city better," said Zhuang Ji, 42, a pioneer of hunting in Shanghai.