Phoenix Bicycles : Bike Graveyard

If you’ve never heard of Phoenix Bicycles and are living in or around Shanghai, then something must be wrong with your ears . . They can be considered the backbone of many things ‘ cycling ‘ in Shanghai, and China.

Phoenix Co. Ltd. originated from Shanghai Bicycle the Third Factory, which was created in May,1958.  The establishment of the Third Factory marks that the enterprise became joint state-private owned from privately owned, then transferred into publicly owned enterprise. The Third Factory bid farewell to yesterday and started its arduous hard-working process.

Since then the trademark Phoenix, one of the first top-ten well-known trademarks in China, has been registered in 104 countries.  Phoenix bicycle is the Chinese Nation’s special-supported export product.  When foreign leaders used to visit China, they were treated with a beautiful Phoenix bike as a welcoming gift !

However, with the new infiltration of Taiwanese bike companies into China, companies like Phoenix have slowly been shutting down shop and factories.  This means that there has been an excess amount of bikes not being sold . . And, well, they’ve got to go somewhere ! Meet the Phoenix Bicycles Graveyard : 620 Nong Quyang Lu.

Here’s a LINK to a map for anyone who wants to venture there themselves  . .

We took a trip there on Wednesday just to see what the local hype was all about . . Lugged forks for 3 RMB ?? Complete wheelsets for 30 RMB ?? Rooms full of new and old bikes ?? Yep, you’ve got it ! Check out the photos below, they’ll tell the rest of the story :

This is what the store looks like from the outside.  It’s hidden from the main road behind a large black fence.

The front door : Did we mention that this place is completely underground ??

At the bottom of the first staircase looking back up towards the front door.

Looking towards the maze of hallways and rooms.

Meet the boss !

Anybody need a fork ?

And so it begins . . rooms and rooms full of bikes !

O, and they even have trispoke wheels !!