Sharebiking Dandong

From the bridge on approach to Hushan Wall

Dandong has been a disappointment.

The hotel owner answered my request for a rental bike by referring me to sharebikes.  I had already determined via one of the travel wikis that these were available and in advance registered for the bikeshare company with operations in Dandong, but I was hoping the hotel owner could help me out with something a little better.

ZXBike with basket and broken bell but no hand grips. Seat at maximum extension,

To its credit, ZXBike (智想单车) offers simple registration.  All that is required is to download the app (only in Chinese, but easy enough to figure out) and verify your mobile phone number through an SMS code. You don’t even have to provide your name or passport number.  Unfortunately, ZXBikes are crap.  I used perhaps a dozen different bicycles in my three days in Dandong and only one had a bell attached -- and it was broken.  Others had no baskets or hand grips on the handlebars, and the seats do not extend high enough for someone taller than about 170cm.  Worst of all, the bikes are fitted with electronic brakes that literally stop it from being used beyond a certain GPS point.  I tried riding out to the new city and made it only half the distance, about 7km, before the bike locked itself.  I called a taxi to take me the remainder of the way into the new city and asked the driver to drop me where the app showed three bicycles, which is when I discovered that the app for locating bikes is unreliable. There were not three bicycles.  There wasn’t even one.

Dandong sharebike options: ZXBike and Hellobike

More ubiquitous in Dandong is Alipay’s Hellobike, for which I registered and am waiting, now close to 72 hrs, for registration approval, which requires submission of name, phone number, passport number, passport scan, and selfie with passport.

Dandong was also disappointing because the government decided, in the face of a little inclement weather, to close the two major tourist sites, the broken bridge and the Hushan Wall.  (The other major site, the Korean War Museum, is _still_ under reconstruction and also not open.) All the hotels, restaurants, shops, trains, taxis, and every other private business is up and running, but the government decided to take a three-day holiday because of a “typhoon” that produced rain for perhaps a total of 6 hours over the past 72.   Even the airport is open and no flights have been cancelled on account of the “typhoon” that has so terrified local officials.

Roadside bicycle repair

In my taxi ride out to the Hushan Wall I noticed a number of lycra-clad cyclists along the riverside road.  Once past the city there is some lovely countryside that looks worth exploring.  If you’d like to cycle Dandong, bring your own bicycle.

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