Trend sees 200k students blocking highway for soup dumplings

Trend sees 200,000 students blocking highway for soup dumplings

A new social media trend which involves hired bikes and soup dumplings has led to thousands of students blocking the highway, causing authorities to step in to remedy the situation.

Chinese woman standing by rental bikes in Taipei City
Chinese woman standing by rental bikes in Taipei City/iStock

How far would you go to get your favourite meal? 

These Chinese students have started a trend of hiring bikes so that they can take over the highway to go get their favourite soup dumplings. 

The trend started in June but has since gained momentum. 

Over the weekend, authorities were called to remedy the situation after thousands of students occupied the highway in central China with their hired bikes on their way to get Guantanamo, a type of soup dumpling.

Sky News reports that 'Up to 200,000 young people rented bikes - which cost as little as £1.51 a month - to travel from Zhengzhou to Kaifeng for soup dumplings as part of a Chinese social media trend'.

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Police were forced to do a clampdown after Kaifeng residents in the area complained. 

According to Sky News, the bike lanes between the cities were temporarily closed after residents complained about bikes being improperly parked near city landmarks and that it was difficult for them to walk in the affected areas.

Social media has been flooded with images and videos from the scene. Some videos have more than a million views. See some of them below. 

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@metrouk All of this for some good dumplings... Chinese police are cracking down on students cycling 50km for a special type of soup dumpling in Kaifeng. Up to 200,000 people headed there at once, completely overwhelming the city. #fyp #news #newstok #china #viral_video #viraltrend #dumplings #soupdumplings #chinafood #foodie #foodtok #cycling #chinapolice #kaifeng #chinanews #students #travel #traveltiktok #strangenews ♬ original sound - MetroUK
@thetelegraph

More than 100,000 Chinese students took part in a 37-mile night-time bike ride on a quest for soup dumplings, bringing a main highway to a standstill. The “Night Riding Army”, as some participants called it, rode for hours after a huge turnout for the rolling flash mob that had been gathering riders for months. It was inspired by a viral craze of young Chinese people trying to travel as cheaply as possible in the face of high youth unemployment and scarce job prospects. For more from #thetelegraph, click the link in our bio. #china #nightridingarmy #internationalnews

♬ original sound - The Telegraph

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