In Chaoyang District, there is a special team that travels through the streets and alleys of the city every day. The 173 public bicycle rental stations serve as their “mobile” work platforms. The 5,000 public bicycles stationed at these locations are like their children—every mark on the bikes and every minor issue is something they know inside out. While people ride these public bicycles through the city, it’s this team of over 90 dispatch and maintenance workers who quietly ensure safe and green travel.
Zhou Chunsheng, a bike repair technician, is part of this dispatch and maintenance team. Unlike most repair workers who fix bikes in fixed locations, Zhou’s work is truly “on the move.” A toolbox and a basket of spare parts are his essential “gear.” Every day, he rides an electric bicycle loaded with his equipment between the 42 stations under his care. Wherever there's a broken bike, he stops to fix it. Minor issues can be resolved in minutes, but if a bike is too damaged to be repaired on-site, it’s taken to an offsite maintenance facility in the suburbs for centralized repair.
One afternoon a few days ago, a reporter followed Zhou Chunsheng to the Shenlu Street rental station. The dispatcher told him that the pedal axle of one bike was broken, and Technician Zhou immediately got out his tools. Working quickly and meticulously, he had the faulty axle removed in just a few minutes. “That’s normal wear and tear. With so many people riding the bikes these days, problems are bound to come up over time,” Zhou said. The most common issues are loose screws, especially on the bike baskets. Once the screws come off, the baskets can’t stay steady and become impossible to ride with.
As he spoke, Technician Zhou had already replaced the broken pedal axle with a new one, tightened the clamp with a wrench, gave the pedals a few turns to make sure everything was fine, then took out some anti-rust spray from his toolbox to treat areas prone to rusting. “Anywhere there are screws or connections is vulnerable to rust,” he explained. Finally, the dispatcher made sure to wipe down the repaired bike with a cloth before returning it.
“When we find a broken bike, we take it off the lock and call Technician Zhou. He comes over and fixes it if he can,” Dong Jianli, the dispatcher at Shenlu Street rental station, told reporters. Technician Zhou has been in the trade for over ten years, previously working for a private bike rental company. Just by looking at a bike, he could tell which ones were damaged. “I really admire Technician Zhou. Not only is his skill top-notch, but he’s also very responsible,” Dong said, giving a thumbs-up. “He checks all 42 stations every day and inspects over 1,000 bikes—it’s not easy.”
“It’s a good thing the government provides such convenience for the people. By taking good care of these bikes, we’re making that good thing even better,” Technician Zhou replied modestly to his colleague’s praise.
The reporter noticed that Technician Zhou’s electric bicycle basket was filled with spare parts—from small items like screws and brakes to larger ones like bike seats. The basket was packed full, and he also carried a spare battery for his electric bike. “A full day out means using up all four batteries by the time I get home—that’s over a hundred kilometers on the road.”
These days, with the cold weather, riding an electric bike for eight hours a day isn’t easy—even for many young people. Now nearly sixty years old, Technician Zhou gears up from head to toe every day. “Even with these thick knee pads, my knees still feel stiff from the cold when I first start riding in the morning,” he said, speaking proudly of his work. “I leave home before 7 a.m. every day. This job really suits us older folks. Young people wouldn’t be able to handle the hardship,” Zhou added, before hopping back on his electric bike and heading to another rental point in Zuojiazhuang, where more broken bikes awaited his repair.