Treadmills to karaoke — China goes sharing crazy

SHANGHAI: Backed by a torrent of venture capital, China has gone sharing mad with everything from treadmills to karaoke booths and napping capsules all up for shortterm rent - and at the click of a smartphone.

With the boom spawning some novel ideas but also warnings of a sharing ‘bubble’ in the world’s second-largest economy, AFP lists a number of the services that have come (and gone) in China in the last 18 months.

Brightly coloured bicycles kicked off the sharing craze last year and have since threatened to take over pavements and streets.

That sparked a backlash and Beijing and Shanghai are among the cities that moved to lay down regulations.

At least two Chinese bike-sharing services have gone bust and it is not uncommon to see officials carting bikes off to a fate unknown.

If you are looking for something much more classy, a company in the northeastern city of Shenyang is rolling out a first batch of royal blue BMWs for sharing.

Like the bikes, users scan a QR code with their mobile phones - and bingo! A snazzy BMW 1 Series is yours for the rental fee of 1.5 yuan (US$0.22) per kilometre, plus the 999 yuan deposit.

Forget the sweaty gym and look no farther than a grandly named ‘shared sports warehouse’ - actually a treadmill inside a black-and-yellow glass-encased box.

The company behind the scheme, which just launched, says there are 10 of the pods in Beijing and thankfully they come complete with air conditioning, plus a television to break the monotony.

No need to head home for a rest, however, and instead pop in for a snooze at a shared napping capsule (you don’t actually share it at the same time as a stranger).

But no sooner had these cozy coffin-type structures popped up, the company behind them had a rude awakening when Shanghai authorities quickly closed them down and dismantled them, citing them as a fire risk.

Experts say that while China is becoming increasingly wealthy, many people remain very costfocused.

So rather than shelling out for the handbag of your dreams, why not just borrow one? Companies renting out top European-brand handbags say it also means users are guaranteed that they are getting the real thing, not a cheap knock-off.

Just don’t spill any wine on it.

Karaoke (KTV) booths are springing up in shopping centres and subways, taking China “by storm”, says state media. — AFP