Wuhan police located a Japanese cyclists custom bike after gaining netizens' sympathy.
Needle in a haystack? A Chinese bicycle park Image: Always at home |
A young Japanese man almost had his dreams of cycling the globe taken away from him in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province. Keiichiro, a nurse from Yokohoma, had plans to cycle across the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the Americas, until his 13,000 yuan ($2,063) bicycle was stolen from outside a parking area in the central Chinese city. Devastated, Keiichiro sent out a video, pleading “My bike is my true love, my girlfriend, my best friend. I hope it will be returned.”
The plight of the hapless 'foreigner' set off a chain reaction amongst China's netizens, who tirelessly reposted his story. Within two hours of creating the video, the explorer's sad tale had been forwarded over 60,000 times making it shoot up to the number one trending story on Sina Weibo, China's popular micro-blogging service. Although many people offered replacement bicycles, Keiichiro's obvious affection for his two-wheeled steed meant he would not rest until it was found.
A needle in a haystack; a bicycle in China? Conservative estimates put the number of bicycles in the Middle Kingdom at around half a billion, making the police's spectacular recovery of the very same bicycle only two hours later all the more impressive. After the police found and returned his bike, Keiichiro thanked the citizens of Wuhan for their kindness and set off again on his travels, but not before he had bought a new bicycle lock.