Beijing Vintage Ride enjoys 2nd run

Spaniard explores China on a bicycle

One man's lost-and-found service

Bai pulls the rickshaw with his nephew sitting on top to the vintage ride party. He is a vintage bike and rickshaw collector.

"I have different types of bicycles for different occasions. Sometimes I pull my parents out with my rickshaw to parks," says the 58-year-old, who runs a bike-repair shop.

The vintage ride attracts more than 200 bikers, including both Chinese and foreigners living in Beijing - each with a cool-looking vintage bicycle.

"In order to take part in our vintage ride, many bought a vintage bike just a few days ago. And some are riding their old bikes again. That's what we're happy to see," Ma says.

A longtime bike lover, Ma and his friend Xu Hu founded a website, 700bike.com, three years ago to promote the cycling culture when they both resigned from an Internet company.

Once, Ma held a get-together with bike lovers at a coffee shop and everyone was asked to ride to the event. It was snowy that day, and the idea to hold a vintage ride struck him suddenly.

The first Beijing Vintage Ride made a big splash last year, and then Ma duplicated the event in Shanghai and got plenty of riders and attention. That enthusiasm has strengthened his determination to continue the vintage rides.

"When people see that riding can be fashionable and stylish, maybe there will be more people joining in," says Ma, who rides from his house to his office almost every day.

"If people complain about the haze in Beijing while doing nothing to protect our sky, it will be a vicious circle. We'd like to invite people to ride more and to keep riding as a green lifestyle."