今日上海
如何在没有红绿灯和地铁人群的情况下上班 - 2023年08月10日
How to commute to work without traffic lights or Metro crowds
It's only about a 15-minute drive from home to office, traffic permitting, but 37-year-old Ivan Li prefers a longer, greener and more unusual commute route.
Working in the medical equipment industry, he kayaks 6 kilometers to his office in the Pudong New Area, though it adds a half hour to the trip.
On the Chinese Twitter-like platform Weibo, a video about Li's form of transport has been viewed nearly 470,000 times.
"I get a lot of exercise by kayaking, and I consider it green travel," Li told Shanghai Daily. "But if it rains en route, I arrive at the office all wet. I am thankful, the office has a shower room."
Compared with traveling amid congested traffic, kayaking is peaceful and the scenery is really beautiful, he said of his waterways trip from Yangjinggang to Zhangjiang.
Li is experienced in sailing and kayaking in the city and beyond. He and a friend once kayaked 20 kilometers from Pudong's Zhangjiabang River to the estuary of the Yangtze River.
The water commute to work began after Li found a watercourse near his office that is passable by private boats.
He studied related regulations and sought advice from professional clubs when designing his commute route. He had to avoid protected areas and major waterways, but that still left smaller creeks suitable for a kayak.
He recorded his trip on short videos and uploaded them on the lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu.
"He should live and work in Venice," one netizen joked about Li's commute format.
Another asked if there might be "shared boats" instead of shared bicycles or cars.
Kayaking now is a popular sport in China. On the e-commerce platform Taobao.com, some online stores have sold more than 1,000 kayaks in the past month, with prices ranging from hundreds to thousands of yuan.
Zhou Wei, an operations officer with Qingpu-based kayak and paddle club China Splash, said water sports popular in places like the US and Australia are now catching on in China.
"It's a good trend," he said.
The club, which has been in existence for 11 years, experienced a brief boom in new students after the Covid pandemic waned.
Nearly 10,000 people attended trial classes last year, Zhou said, but the numbers have since returned to a more normal 10 or so new students a week.
On the Xiaohongshu platform, many kayakers are sharing pictures and videos.
Edison Wu posted a video showing him and his girlfriend eating watermelon while kayaking on a lake in New Jiangwan Town Park in Yangpu District.
"I saw posts about this place on Xiaohongshu and found the water course there is good for kayaking," Wu said.
Wu said he plans to expand his range by kayaking on Qingpu's Dianshan Lake and in waters near Chongming Island this year.
"I've been in Shanghai for two years but have never been to these places," he said.
However, Wu said he worries that the growing popularity of kayaking may result in novices taking up the sport without proper training, increasing the risk of accidents.
"If accidents happen, the government may ban people from kayaking in local creeks," he said.
Kayak commuter Li agreed.
"The most important thing is safety," he said.
Risky behavior includes taking pets or too many people on board, traveling without life jackets or even trying to take selfies or videos that may unbalance a kayak in motion.
China Splash's said kayakers should receive training before taking boats on water.
At the club, coaches teach beginners basic safety procedures, such as how to wear life jackets correctly, how to identify dangerous areas in water, how to read water flow and how to embark and disembark safely at a pier.
Where to kayak?
The Shanghai Pudong New Area Shipping Business Development Center said those wishing to ply navigable waterways must register their craft and crews with urban management authorities.
For smaller waterways not considered "navigable," they are advised to consult local river affairs management.
The park management section of the Shanghai Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau recommends a few parks where residents can rent kayaks, including Jiading District's auto expo park and Fengxian's Haiwan Forest Park.
Source: Shanghai Daily
