CHINA TRAVEL · trisAino

How to grab a shared bike in Shanghai

Three color-coded bike-share platforms line Shanghai's sidewalks. Here's how to tell them apart, pick an app and unlock a ride.

Practical China travel · 2 min read

Conceptual travel illustration about How to grab a shared bike in Shanghai
AI-created editorial illustration; not a photograph or exact reconstruction.

Bikes on every corner, but which one do you pick up?

Step out of a Shanghai metro station or hotel lobby and you'll almost certainly see clusters of shared bikes parked along the pavement. Shanghai has three major bike-sharing platforms — Hellobike, Meituan Bike and Qingju Bike — and their fleets are color-coded so you can tell them apart at a glance: blue for Hellobike, yellow for Meituan Bike and green for Qingju Bike.

For a short hop between a restaurant and a riverside promenade, or a last-mile connection the metro doesn't quite cover, these bikes can be a handy option. The trick is matching a bike's color to the right app and knowing the unlock sequence.

Conceptual travel illustration about Bikes on every corner, but which one do you pick up?
AI-created editorial illustration; not a photograph or exact reconstruction.

Three platforms, three colors

Hellobike (blue bikes)

Bikes can be rented through the standalone Hellobike app or through Alipay.

Meituan Bike (yellow bikes)

Bikes can be rented through the Meituan app.

Qingju Bike (green bikes)

Bikes can be rented through the Didi Qingju app or the main Didi app.

If you already have Alipay on

If you already have Alipay on your phone, Hellobike is accessible without a separate download. Likewise, if you use Didi for taxis, Qingju Bike lives inside that same app.

Finding a bike and unlocking it

  1. There are two ways to start a ride. You can open the relevant app or mini program, see available bikes on its map, and follow the in-app navigation to walk to one nearby. Or you can simply spot an available bike on the street, scan the QR code on it, and follow the on-screen instructions to unlock it.

  2. Using Hellobike as an example

    open the Hellobike mini program in Alipay or the standalone Hellobike app, register an account, and link a payment method to activate the service.

  3. On the app's homepage, tap "Bike" to view nearby bicycles on the map, then use the navigation function to locate your chosen bike.

  4. Once you've found the right bike, scan the QR code on it to unlock the wheel and begin your ride.

Set up before you need the bike

Registration and linking a payment method take a few minutes, so consider doing that over hotel Wi-Fi rather than standing on a pavement trying to set up an account while your group waits. Having the app ready means you can walk up to any bike of the matching color and scan straight away.