Visual Report

Bamboo-zled

By NewsChina Updated Dec.1

David Wang is making Beijing more sustainable one bike at a time. 　

The 29-year-old American came to China in 2009 on a Fulbright scholarship to study Chinese youth culture after graduating from Pomona College with a major in Asian studies. He moved to Beijing a few years later, and began to notice that a city once known for its herds of cyclists had long foregone the two-wheeler in favor of increasingly affordable personal cars. Because of environmental concerns like the clouds of smog polluting Beijing’s air, Wang wanted to find a way to re-energize the old biking industry.　

In 2013, he spent half a year building a bicycle that used real bamboo in its main frame. The following year, he quit his day job, rented two rooms in the capital’s Langjia Hutong and officially founded the Bamboo Bicycles Beijing (BBB) studio. The studio has since offered weekend workshops in which biking or bamboo enthusiasts can create their own sustainable set of wheels. 　

Wang’s original aim was to construct 25 bicycles with Chinese children, but the popularity of the studio soared beyond Wang’s expectations. Now BBB has held over 60 workshops, in places as far-reaching as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Sanya, Hong Kong, Japan, Boston and Denver. Hundreds of cyclists have visited the BBB studio and built more than 300 bicycles. Wang hopes his bamboo bicycle project can encourage healthier lifestyles and create a diverse and environmental mobile culture. 　

Bamboo Bicycles Beijing (BBB) team member Luo Mingning (center) rides a bamboo bike kitted out with a bamboo sidecar while goofing around with a boy playing in a Beijing hutong

BBB founder David Wang poses with the bamboo bicycle he crafted in 2013, the first one he ever made

Bamboo Bicycles Beijing founder David Wang selects bamboo to make a bicycle frame

An American university student volunteer struggles to assemble the front wheel of a bicycle

Wang (center) and two team members work together to revise a PowerPoint presentation that will be used at an upcoming session

Wang (right) and BBB team members Claudio Rebuzzi (left) and Luo Mingning show off bamboo bikes in a Beijing alley

Wang (right) talks with students who joined a BBB volunteer program during summer break

Wang torches bamboo while making a bicycle frame at the BBB studio

Bamboo must be polished before it is used in a bike frame

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Bamboo-zled