Near Liziba in Banan District, an elderly cycling group from Ziyang, Sichuan, drives toward Wulong
Have you ever thought about traveling around with your spouse after retirement? Take a look at this elderly cycling team from Ziyang—they’ve seen the most beautiful sights with minimal expenses.
Driving tricycles and motorcycles, they tour in style with their partners
At around 10:30 a.m. on the 21st, seven tricycles and three motorcycles that had stopped at Shuinan in Jiulongpo attracted the attention of many passersby. Small red flags on the vehicles’ fronts were printed with the words “Ziyang Elderly Cycling Team,” and one tricycle even had a bumper sticker that read “Don’t get too obsessed with me.” Team leader Yu Mingquan explained that they were on their way to Wulong and were waiting for a lagging companion.
They covered over 300 kilometers in one day
The line of Sichuan-licensed tricycle motorcycles—such as Chuan MX1951—drove smoothly onto the open space beneath the Shuinan Dayan Village Station and expertly lined up.
“Young man, could you help me figure out where we are?” Team leader Yu Mingquan, wearing a red cap and a blue shirt, politely asked a passerby for directions. He showed an A4-sized sheet with a copied topographic map of Sichuan and Chongqing, on which two distinct red routes were clearly marked—one for the outbound trip and another for the return, ensuring the team would see more varied scenery.
“We originally planned to go through Yubei, but somehow ended up in Jiangjin.” At a little past 8 a.m., over ten seniors set off from Ziyang, Sichuan, passing through Anyue, Tongliang, and Bishan. They had intended to take Shapingba to head toward Yubei, but took a wrong turn and ended up in Jiangjin that evening.
At 8 a.m. on the 21st, they began a new day of cycling from Jiangjin. After a little over two hours, near Erlang Torch Avenue, due to heavy traffic at the traffic lights, Han Zhihua’s tricycle fell behind. Coupled with poor mobile signal, this worried team leader Yu Mingquan, who decided to wait for him near Shuinan.
Liao Mingwu, over 60 years old, volunteered to ride back to Torch Avenue. About ten minutes later, he returned with the lagging Mr. Han. “We have three motorcyclists riding in the middle of the group. This way, they can keep an eye on the tricycles ahead and also lead those behind.”
In fact, one of their vehicles had an old GPS device, but since the maps weren’t updated, it led the group astray several times. The walkie-talkies assigned to each vehicle played a crucial role, though when riders were too far apart, they had to rely on mobile phones. Yu Mingquan said that while riding a tricycle isn’t a problem in the rain, it’s more troublesome for motorcyclists. Therefore, before departure, they also checked the weather forecast for Sichuan and Chongqing for the coming days.
70 yuan from Ziyang to Chongqing
Yu Mingquan’s wife, Qing Sufang, also joined her husband on the trip. Dressed in black and looking somewhat unwell, she felt tired after covering over 300 kilometers on the first day.
Why was this elderly cycling team formed? Yu Mingquan revealed that it was because his wife suffered from meningitis and needed frequent treatment and relaxation. He retired early from Chengdu Transport Corporation. Years of experience in vehicle dispatching led him to think that if he often visited scenic spots, he could choose an economical and effective method—tricycles. So, two years ago, he started this elderly cycling team.
“Look, I only filled up with 70 yuan worth of gas when I left Ziyang, and here I am.” The team did the math: they had driven over 300 kilometers in total, which was even cheaper than taking a long-distance bus. Plus, family members could sit on the back seat of the tricycle, and they carried lots of food—it really is an economical way to travel.
When asked about the places they’d been to over the past two years, the seniors became animated. Chen Kejin, 77, the eldest in the group, previously worked in the postal service and looked full of vigor. Over the past two years, the cycling team had traveled to Huanglong, Leshan, and cities in Yunnan such as Kunming and Dali. Their mode of transport was a “convoy” made up of tricycles and motorcycles. This time, they chose Wulong, Chongqing, mainly after seeing Wulong’s tourism promotional videos on TV—especially the images of the Three Natural Bridges and the karst caves, which greatly intrigued the seniors.
Including Yu Mingquan, those who had been to Chongqing before had mostly visited two or three decades ago. Even passing through a small part of the city proper this time left them amazed. To prevent the seniors from getting lost, the reporter marked details like Nanpeng and Jielong nodes clearly on their photocopied map. As there were many intersections and traffic lights along the route from Liziba to Yunan Avenue, fearing they might get lost again, our car escorted them all the way to the Nanquan intersection, reminding them to take it slow and not rush.
Don’t assume that travel is only for the wealthy. As long as you have the desire and the mood, you can definitely make it happen. Don’t believe it? Just take a look at this elderly cycling team from Ziyang—this elderly couple spent just 70 yuan to travel from Ziyang, Sichuan to Chongqing. Choose what’s right, not just what’s expensive—maybe this way of traveling suits you too.