China's bike sharing graveyards

Chinese police have an extra job to add to their workload: collecting unwanted bicycles from parks and pavements, and leaving them in fields outside city centers. The growth of bike sharing has left unintended consequences for local governments.

Since it rolled in two years ago, bike sharing has become part of daily life in megacities such as Beijing. Officials claim millions of these bikes trundle along the streets of China.

Bike sharing is designed to be simple and convenient. Users download an app, pay a small fee to unlock a bike — some charge by the hour — and then lock it back up upon reaching their destination. Some cities have designated parking places but many shared bikes can be left anywhere, meaning many are simply abandoned.

The strategy of flooding cities with cheap bikes has attracted the wrath of authorities that have to deal with the discarded ones. Chinese industry giants such as Ofo and Mobike compete by offering extremely low prices.

While the scheme has proven to be popular with city-dwellers, industry growth far outstrips demand. That has led to widespread abandonment of bicycles. Cities such as Shanghai have introduced regulations to prevent discarded bikes accumulating on sidewalks — but not quickly enough to prevent bicycle graveyards such as the one pictured here.

Critics fear speculation has taken hold, with venture capital funds blowing a bubble of cheap bikes that are not needed and which may never even feel a foot on their pedals. Some companies such as Bluegogo have already had to fold while Chinese authorities are grappling with the daily reality of the problem.