Offbeat entrepreneurs in Beijing's hutong

David Wang (right), Luo Mingning (center), and Rebuzzi (left), members of the Beijing Bamboo Bicycle studio, pose for a photo in Langjia Hutong in Beijing, July 14, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

David Wang came to China to learn about youth subculture after graduating from anthropology major in the United States in 2010.

He started to renovate bicycles with the consent of the owners after he found a lot of them scrapped in the shed. In 2013, he spent half a year making a bicycle with bamboo as the main frame, equipped with metal components. He then quit his job in 2014 and rented two single-story rooms in Langjia Hutong in Beijing, where he established the Beijing Bamboo Bicycle (BBB) studio.

Wang held workshops at weekends, teaching people to learn how to make bamboo bicycles. Now he has held 64 sessions of workshops, some of which were organized in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and also cities in Laos, Japan and the United States. The workshops have attracted more than 400 people who successfully made over 300 bicycles.