{"id":25014,"date":"2026-08-02T09:23:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T04:23:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=25014"},"modified":"2026-08-02T09:23:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T04:23:05","slug":"tourists-chase-high-octane-thrill-in-chinas-trending-biker-capital-of-chongqing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=25014","title":{"rendered":"Tourists chase high-octane thrill in China\u2019s trending biker capital of Chongqing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">CHONGQING \u2013 The roar of engines fills the night air in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/multimedia\/which-floor-is-this-chongqings-maze-like-environment-powers-its-rise-as-a-megacity?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"inline font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"typography-test-id\">China\u2019s Chongqing city<\/span><\/a> as tourists awkwardly clamber onto gleaming motorbikes and cling to muscular drivers to star in personalised videos.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Teams of sellers hawk their filming services to passersby, many of whom have been drawn to the city and its cyberpunk image by motorbiking videos on social media shot against the neon-lit nightscape.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cI flew from Shanghai to Chongqing this morning, and the first priority is this shoot,\u201d 30-year-old Liu Changqing told AFP, dressed in one of the heavy motorcycle jackets rented to customers, despite the sweltering heat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cThey even have make-up artists to help you,\u201d she said as she mounted a crimson superbike, wrapped her arms around her driver and sped off with a videographer in pursuit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">While many Chinese cities have restricted motorcycling, Chongqing has embraced it and become a biker\u2019s paradise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">What began with local riders snapping each other to post online exploded in 2025 as tourism to the mega-city of 23 million spiked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Videos using a hashtag related to the trend have racked up a cumulative 1.3 billion views on Douyin \u2013 China\u2019s version of TikTok \u2013 helping to elevate Chongqing\u2019s motorcycle culture to national prominence and even gaining recognition overseas.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"font-primary-headline-md-semibold\" data-testid=\"article-subhead-test-id\">Manufacturing hub<\/h2>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cThere is a local saying that if you put a camera at an intersection in Chongqing, every 30 seconds you\u2019ll see a motorcycle pass by,\u201d said Zhang Yuanming, a 29-year-old motorbike enthusiast and instructor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Zhang attributes biking\u2019s popularity in the city to the prevalence of manufacturers, the rugged terrain, and bad traffic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Chongqing has been an industry hub since 1979, when state-owned military equipment manufacturer Jialing began producing civilian motorcycles in the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Motorbikes quickly became popular, and the city now accounts for more than a third of China\u2019s total motorbike production.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">While many Chinese cities are dominated by electric scooters, which face fewer regulations, Chongqing has remained open to petrol-powered two-wheelers.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"landscape inline-media-wrapper\" data-testid=\"inline-media-test-id\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col items-start relative w-fit\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/00bc226aeb74aeedfe6fe913e1482490d93cf74d2605c58555faf5448347fe06?w=480\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 720px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/00bc226aeb74aeedfe6fe913e1482490d93cf74d2605c58555faf5448347fe06?w=720\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 721px and max-width: 3999px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/00bc226aeb74aeedfe6fe913e1482490d93cf74d2605c58555faf5448347fe06?w=900\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 4000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/00bc226aeb74aeedfe6fe913e1482490d93cf74d2605c58555faf5448347fe06\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/00bc226aeb74aeedfe6fe913e1482490d93cf74d2605c58555faf5448347fe06\" alt=\"The city now accounts for more than a third of China\u2019s total motorbike production.\" class=\"aspect-landscape flex items-start shrink-0 object-cover landscape article-landscape mobile:w-auto tablet:w-auto\" data-testid=\"image-test-id\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"mobile:mx-16 tablet:mx-00 pt-08 pb-16\">\n<p class=\"inline text-secondary font-secondary-captions-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"inline-media-caption-test-id\">The city now accounts for more than a third of China\u2019s total motorbike production.<\/p>\n<p class=\"inline text-tertiary font-secondary-captions-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"inline-media-credit-test-id\"> <!-- -->PHOTO: AFP<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Zhang, who teaches students to race at a track on the outskirts of the city, hopes tourism will further burnish the city\u2019s biker reputation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cWhen (tourists) take photos and videos, they may come to like motorbikes and learn to ride, then buy a bike,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Zhang has also seen increased interest from students since March, when local brand ZXMoto made headlines by becoming the first Chinese manufacturer to win a race in the prestigious WorldSSP class in Portugal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cIt\u2019s pushing young people to get in touch with motorcycles,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"font-primary-headline-md-semibold\" data-testid=\"article-subhead-test-id\">Roaring business<\/h2>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">For the local bikers offering videos for tourists, Chongqing\u2019s motorcycle prowess is a business opportunity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The packages of choreographed photos and videos \u2013 in which customers are swept off their feet by dashing riders and cruise past the city\u2019s landmarks in slow motion \u2013 cost upwards of 200 yuan (S$38).<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cWe used to just make short videos of ourselves. Later other people saw that we looked pretty handsome so they started wanting to sit on the back,\u201d 26-year-old rider Li Yan told AFP, explaining how he now earns up to 1,000 yuan a night from customers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Li\u2019s team has grown to seven members working together to advertise online and to passersby, drive the bikes, and edit the footage, with each rider attracting around six to 12 customers a night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Domestic interest has cooled from the craze\u2019s peak in 2025, but foreign tourists \u2013 who now make up around a third of customers each evening \u2013 are helping fill the gap as the news spreads overseas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cI saw it was a \u2018must do\u2019 in Chongqing,\u201d said Alex Schodorowska, a tourist visiting from Britain, who saw the trend on Instagram.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cThere\u2019s nowhere with a view like this, with all the lights,\u201d the 29-year-old told AFP as she waited her turn for a ride.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cI don\u2019t think many places could have the same effect for video.\u201d AFP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHONGQING \u2013 The roar of engines fills the night air in China\u2019s Chongqing city as tourists awkwardly clamber onto gleaming motorbikes and cling to muscular drivers to star in personalised videos. Teams of sellers hawk their filming services to passersby, many of whom have been drawn to the city and its cyberpunk image by motorbiking&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/a67d1121990950d971c773366bfab00aad566ef59365ea1d8ecd2d256596fbb7","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}