Interview Wang Mingxi, Bicycle Collector:
It's hard for people to understand why I collect bicycles. I have been in love with bicycles since I was a child. When I was about 5 or 6, I used to use an iron hook to get a wheel rolling down the road after school. Later, when I had grown up a little but was too short to reach the bicycle seat I would ride in a standing position. Once I saw a bicycle, I was always eager to ride. In those days it was much more admirable and fashionable to ride a bicycle than it is to drive a Benz or a BMW today.
From his love of riding bicycles to collecting them, Mr. Wang Mingxi has gathered more than 150 bicycles in half a century.
Wang Mingxi said this is the first Raleigh I bought in 1956. I've been cherishing it since the day I bought it all those years ago. It is still complete and in good shape. To keep it from rusting I brushed on red paint on the inside of its fender. This bicycle means a lot to me. It represents the beginning of my collection.
After buying his first bicycle and starting his collecting, Mr. Wang Mingxi was impassioned to begin his lifelong hobby of collecting bicycles. All the bicycles he bought have been restored and maintained by Mr. Wang Mingxi himself and he loves them just as though they were a part of his family. What he never expected is that his love for bicycles would bring him some troubles.
For bicycles, I even suffered in the Political Activities. In 1958, they made a poster of me with half my mind focused on teaching and the other half thinking about bicycles.
Although Wang Mingxi suffered a great deal for his bicycles, he never gave up his hobby and continued collecting bicycles. Among all his bicycles, Mr. Wang Mingxi is most proud of a Benjamin bicycle that was produced nearly 100 years ago. It is Mr. Wang's most valuable and prized bicycle. This kind of bicycle is extremely rare today and worth a great deal to collectors. At one point an English gentleman came to Mr. Wang twice asking to purchase the bicycle, he even offered to trade a car worth of 2 million Yuan for the Benjamin bicycle. However, Mr. Wang Mingxi declined his offer.
Wang Mingxi said I can't sell this bicycle because it is a part of the bicycle culture's development in China and should be used to remind people of this history. So, I'll never sell it no matter how much they offer me.
Due to lacking of funding, Mr. Wang maintains his bicycle exhibition hall in an underdeveloped suburb of Beijing. For this 70 year old man, his bicycles are his spiritual support and the only worldly possession that he truly cares about.
Wang Mingxi said my biggest wish is to set up a bicycle museum. I'm already over 70 now, and I do not know how much longer the movie of my life will go on. I have more than 100 bicycles and they are just like my children. Before I leave the world, I must make arrangements for them.
Now, what Mr. Wang hopes most is to find an enterprise to cooperate with him in establishing a bicycle museum so that his beloved bicycles can have a permanent home.
With the economic developments brought by China's policy of reform and opening up to the world, the very core ideas of the Chinese people are also changing. One of the most prominent places that this can be seen is in the acceptance of the vehicle into the household. Now for many middle and upper class families, when choosing a new form of transportation, the bicycle is not their only choice, nor is it their first choice.
Mr. and Mrs. Tang were born in the 1970s when bicycles were still considered a luxury item. Like many others living in China's big cities where the pace of life is fast, they bought a car out of necessity and for added convenience. Still, they have a lot to say about the role bicycles have played in their lives over the years.
Mrs. Tang said, I learned how to ride a bicycle when I was 7 or 8. At that time, there were many children living in my residential compound. All the other children admired those who could ride a bicycle. I learned to ride a bicycle at a very young age. The bicycle's speed seemed very fast. Back then, not many people had a bicycle so most people walked. Riding a bicycle past them, I felt very speedy.
Tang Xu said I could ride a bicycle since I was in primary school, but I had to ride my sister's bicycle. My classmates made fun of me because the bicycle was a red one. They laughed at me for riding a girl's bicycle. I was eager to have my own bicycle, a black 26-inch one. By 1988, I finally had my own bicycle. At that time, my home was on the fifth floor so for many months I had to carry my bicycle up the stairs. When I finished my homework, I would clean the bicycle and just looking at it would make me feel very satisfied.
For Tang Xu and Han Yu, bicycles have played many roles beyond that of a simple transportation tool. In fact, it was a bicycle that brought the couple together in the first place.
Mrs. Tang said back then I thought the riding positions of young boys were very handsome. Tang Xu could do more than ride though. He could push the seat of a bicycle with a single hand, and the bicycle would go in a straight line. Watching him from the back, I felt he was very capable and handsome. That is what attracted me to him most. In order to have an excuse for us to spend more time together, I sometimes flattened the tyres of my bicycle on purpose after class and told him I couldn't ride it. Naturally he would offer to give me a ride home. On the ride home he would balance my bicycle beside his as he rode. I felt that he was indeed a great man.
From falling love with each other to getting married, bicycles have always been there. To them, bicycles will always be a symbol of romance and change.
Han Yu said we got married in 2001. At that time, it was very popular to rent a wedding car to pick up the bride. But our families lived near each other and the hotel where we planned to have the celebration dinner was nearby, so we all thought there was no need to rent a car. My father said riding a bicycle would be most meaningful, because I had been riding a bicycle since I was a child and bicycles had played such an important role in our relationship. So after we prepared at home, my father put me on his old bicycle and rode me to the wedding banquet. While sitting on the back of my father's bicycle, I thought, "Will this be the last time I ride on my father's bicycle?" And I felt a little bit sad. But then thinking about riding with my husband in the future, I started to feel happy again. After the banquet, Tang Xu took me to our new home on his bicycle. Bicycles had carried me into a new life.
After buying their first car, the family is experiencing two different kinds of life - from the seat of their bicycles and their car.
Han Yu said driving a car and riding a bicycle give you different feelings. When driving a car you'll feel that your circle of life has gotten much bigger, you can go to faraway places. When riding a bicycle, you'll feel you are getting close to nature and you can enjoy the scenery along the way, which is not possible when you are driving. So the feelings are different.
Despite the deep affection that the family has for bicycles, the pressure of modern metropolitan life has relegated the role of bicycles in their life to that of recreation.
Tang Xu said in the past, bicycle was part of my life. Wherever I went, I always rode a bicycle and it was very convenient. I thought bicycle is an indispensable part of my life. But now with the pace of life getting faster and faster, there are more and more vehicles, and my living circle is getting bigger and bigger, the distance to work is getting longer and longer. Riding a bicycle can't meet my demand, so bicycle is only a supplement to my life now.
Although bicycles are gradually becoming less important in their lives now, the memories and affection for bicycles will never disappear.
It's hard for people to understand why I collect bicycles. I have been in love with bicycles since I was a child. When I was about 5 or 6, I used to use an iron hook to get a wheel rolling down the road after school. Later, when I had grown up a little but was too short to reach the bicycle seat I would ride in a standing position. Once I saw a bicycle, I was always eager to ride. In those days it was much more admirable and fashionable to ride a bicycle than it is to drive a Benz or a BMW today.
From his love of riding bicycles to collecting them, Mr. Wang Mingxi has gathered more than 150 bicycles in half a century.
Wang Mingxi said this is the first Raleigh I bought in 1956. I've been cherishing it since the day I bought it all those years ago. It is still complete and in good shape. To keep it from rusting I brushed on red paint on the inside of its fender. This bicycle means a lot to me. It represents the beginning of my collection.
After buying his first bicycle and starting his collecting, Mr. Wang Mingxi was impassioned to begin his lifelong hobby of collecting bicycles. All the bicycles he bought have been restored and maintained by Mr. Wang Mingxi himself and he loves them just as though they were a part of his family. What he never expected is that his love for bicycles would bring him some troubles.
For bicycles, I even suffered in the Political Activities. In 1958, they made a poster of me with half my mind focused on teaching and the other half thinking about bicycles.
Although Wang Mingxi suffered a great deal for his bicycles, he never gave up his hobby and continued collecting bicycles. Among all his bicycles, Mr. Wang Mingxi is most proud of a Benjamin bicycle that was produced nearly 100 years ago. It is Mr. Wang's most valuable and prized bicycle. This kind of bicycle is extremely rare today and worth a great deal to collectors. At one point an English gentleman came to Mr. Wang twice asking to purchase the bicycle, he even offered to trade a car worth of 2 million Yuan for the Benjamin bicycle. However, Mr. Wang Mingxi declined his offer.
Wang Mingxi said I can't sell this bicycle because it is a part of the bicycle culture's development in China and should be used to remind people of this history. So, I'll never sell it no matter how much they offer me.
Due to lacking of funding, Mr. Wang maintains his bicycle exhibition hall in an underdeveloped suburb of Beijing. For this 70 year old man, his bicycles are his spiritual support and the only worldly possession that he truly cares about.
Wang Mingxi said my biggest wish is to set up a bicycle museum. I'm already over 70 now, and I do not know how much longer the movie of my life will go on. I have more than 100 bicycles and they are just like my children. Before I leave the world, I must make arrangements for them.
Now, what Mr. Wang hopes most is to find an enterprise to cooperate with him in establishing a bicycle museum so that his beloved bicycles can have a permanent home.
With the economic developments brought by China's policy of reform and opening up to the world, the very core ideas of the Chinese people are also changing. One of the most prominent places that this can be seen is in the acceptance of the vehicle into the household. Now for many middle and upper class families, when choosing a new form of transportation, the bicycle is not their only choice, nor is it their first choice.
Mr. and Mrs. Tang were born in the 1970s when bicycles were still considered a luxury item. Like many others living in China's big cities where the pace of life is fast, they bought a car out of necessity and for added convenience. Still, they have a lot to say about the role bicycles have played in their lives over the years.
Mrs. Tang said, I learned how to ride a bicycle when I was 7 or 8. At that time, there were many children living in my residential compound. All the other children admired those who could ride a bicycle. I learned to ride a bicycle at a very young age. The bicycle's speed seemed very fast. Back then, not many people had a bicycle so most people walked. Riding a bicycle past them, I felt very speedy.
Tang Xu said I could ride a bicycle since I was in primary school, but I had to ride my sister's bicycle. My classmates made fun of me because the bicycle was a red one. They laughed at me for riding a girl's bicycle. I was eager to have my own bicycle, a black 26-inch one. By 1988, I finally had my own bicycle. At that time, my home was on the fifth floor so for many months I had to carry my bicycle up the stairs. When I finished my homework, I would clean the bicycle and just looking at it would make me feel very satisfied.
For Tang Xu and Han Yu, bicycles have played many roles beyond that of a simple transportation tool. In fact, it was a bicycle that brought the couple together in the first place.
Mrs. Tang said back then I thought the riding positions of young boys were very handsome. Tang Xu could do more than ride though. He could push the seat of a bicycle with a single hand, and the bicycle would go in a straight line. Watching him from the back, I felt he was very capable and handsome. That is what attracted me to him most. In order to have an excuse for us to spend more time together, I sometimes flattened the tyres of my bicycle on purpose after class and told him I couldn't ride it. Naturally he would offer to give me a ride home. On the ride home he would balance my bicycle beside his as he rode. I felt that he was indeed a great man.
From falling love with each other to getting married, bicycles have always been there. To them, bicycles will always be a symbol of romance and change.
Han Yu said we got married in 2001. At that time, it was very popular to rent a wedding car to pick up the bride. But our families lived near each other and the hotel where we planned to have the celebration dinner was nearby, so we all thought there was no need to rent a car. My father said riding a bicycle would be most meaningful, because I had been riding a bicycle since I was a child and bicycles had played such an important role in our relationship. So after we prepared at home, my father put me on his old bicycle and rode me to the wedding banquet. While sitting on the back of my father's bicycle, I thought, "Will this be the last time I ride on my father's bicycle?" And I felt a little bit sad. But then thinking about riding with my husband in the future, I started to feel happy again. After the banquet, Tang Xu took me to our new home on his bicycle. Bicycles had carried me into a new life.
After buying their first car, the family is experiencing two different kinds of life - from the seat of their bicycles and their car.
Han Yu said driving a car and riding a bicycle give you different feelings. When driving a car you'll feel that your circle of life has gotten much bigger, you can go to faraway places. When riding a bicycle, you'll feel you are getting close to nature and you can enjoy the scenery along the way, which is not possible when you are driving. So the feelings are different.
Despite the deep affection that the family has for bicycles, the pressure of modern metropolitan life has relegated the role of bicycles in their life to that of recreation.
Tang Xu said in the past, bicycle was part of my life. Wherever I went, I always rode a bicycle and it was very convenient. I thought bicycle is an indispensable part of my life. But now with the pace of life getting faster and faster, there are more and more vehicles, and my living circle is getting bigger and bigger, the distance to work is getting longer and longer. Riding a bicycle can't meet my demand, so bicycle is only a supplement to my life now.
Although bicycles are gradually becoming less important in their lives now, the memories and affection for bicycles will never disappear.