For Chen Liang, a 26-year-old resident of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, a typical weekday morning usually begins with a solo bike ride in the Phoenix Mountain Forest Park. There, he finds himself riding through countless warm beams of light cast by the morning sun peeking through the dense canopy of towering trees along the trail.
"Pushing my pedals up the greenway, wrapped in that gentle light, is when I feel most at ease all day," he said.
The park marks the start of the 200-kilometer Kunpeng Trail, which links more than 10 of the city's major peaks, 17 nature parks, eight large reservoirs, over a dozen historical and cultural sites and nine key urban development areas. Along the way, riders and hikers can enjoy a rich variety of scenery, ranging from mountain ridges and forests to lakes, streams and urban landscapes.
The Kunpeng Trail forms part of the Shenzhen Mountain-Sea Vistas greenway network, an urban ecological initiative launched in 2020 that also saw the creation of a coastal cycling route stretching across the city from east to west, linking parks, fishing harbors, docks and ancient villages.
Chen's favorite place to ride at dusk is the coastal greenway in the Qianhai area. From there, he can enjoy the sunset vista over the sea, the glittering office towers piercing the sky and a cross-sea bridge stretching into the distance, as well as the Bay Glory Ferris Wheel rotating slowly against the fading light.
"The greenway really brings nature and the city together," said Chen. "With the sea on one side and skyscrapers on the other, riding here offers the perfect combination: the pure joy of exercise and a real sense of the city's energy."
For years, Shenzhen's cycling environment lagged behind those of other first-tier cities in China. Its urban fabric, built around expressways and overpasses, largely neglected nonmotorized traffic, leaving cyclists with fragmented routes and dead ends.
Cycling infrastructure was an afterthought. Most bike lanes were painted onto existing roads, with little physical separation from cars or pedestrians.
In recent years, however, the city has been playing catch-up by retrofitting continuous bike lanes, building greenways, and introducing buses with bike racks. Consequently, more locals and visitors are now exploring Shenzhen by bike.
Chen, the manager of a bike rental and repair station near Shenzhen Bay, noted that, since the station opened in April, over 60 percent of out-of-town renters have come from the Pearl River Delta region, with about 30 percent of visitors hailing from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, and foreign tourists accounting for a further 10 percent.
Pan Yong, president of Shenzhen's cycling association, credited the shift to three factors: expanding greenways and bike lanes, a thriving local bike industry and weather conducive to recreational riding for most of the year.
The transformation extends beyond infrastructure. The ecology has also been restored along the greenways. Take the Dashahe River ecological corridor, which forms a core section of the sixth segment of the Kunpeng Trail, as an example. The river cuts through the city's Nanshan district and was once notorious for carrying industrial sewage and household wastewater. Today, however, its clear waters attract wild ducks and egrets, while residents enjoy cycling and jogging along the riverside path.
