Lanzhou, China

Jack, citizen
cycling educator

In Lanzhou, the capital city of Ganzu province, in north-west China, as in any other city of the country, cycling is very present in urban cities.

Since 2013, 27 million bikes are available in China to protect the environment, this has stimulated people’s interest in cycling. Those people usually don’t control security rules for themselves or for other people.

Cycling has become a way to become environmentally friendly and to learn about it. Jack Kang, 27 years old, Decathlon Cycle leader in Lanzhou, his native city, helps young people to achieve their goal to protect the environment.

A well-known mountain biker who has won medals in national competitions, Jack helps children to learn about cycling. They meet at week-ends every week at the Decathlon store car park. Kids and their parents never miss a learning session on small bikes without pedals to start cycling. “I am almost a gym teacher with them”, explains Jack. His keen pupils are between 2 to 6 years old. “With the pushbike, you reach for balance. Then you work on gestures coordination. Legs push, the brain learns”. And people laugh. Since he started, Jack has already created three clubs and the community of « push bikes » is rich in more than 500 families. A large audience that follows the leader trips with teenagers and adults from the club he created, the largest in Lanzhou.

Jack is also present on Tik Tok.

“If you offer many activities, people who practice cycling are more numerous, keener, more committed”.

In Lanzhou, cycling attracts bikers from all over the world on the rolling and winding roads of the mythic “Silk Road” through mountains and forest of the Province. Other ones go south towards Tibet and its foothills. You can then appreciate the change of scene. Tomorrow, Jack students will become cycling citizens. Mountain bikes, BMX, the China roads spirit is rising. As a sign, in 2008 during the Olympic Games in Beijing, BMX is included in the Olympic program. The Olympic flame is still on.