How to set up a Mobike account in China

Today, I get up at 10 am. I have done my daily routine and joined the girls for setting up their bank account in the ICBC Bank. Then we had lunch, consisting of noodles like having it nearly every day. It was a kind of soap with eggs and tomatoes. Then, I accompanied them to her lecture room.

The next three hours, I tried to set up my Mobike account or to authenticate my identity for the Mobike account in WeChat. This campus is huge, so riding a bike is a well-having option. There are three apps to use Mobike. The embedded Mobike app in WeChat, the European Mobike app, and the Chinese App. First, of course, I tried the embedded app. It was not working because I don’t have a Chinese id. Instead, I should use the Mobike app to authenticate myself. Ok, so I tried to use it, but every time I tried to log in, nothing happened. Later, I contacted the not English speaking service to help me. So, I had to use a translator. She could not help me. Never running out of ideas, Pei gave me her Chinese id. I tried it with her id, and I send Mobike a photo of me and my passport. Still didn’t work. Then I also tried to use the Chinese app and even wrote an email to them. Really annoyed, I just closed everything, and I gave up.

Directly after, I helped my roommate to wash his clothes. It’s a really clever system since you need to scan it (in WeChat), and then it’s working just fine. You pay for the time.

I got myself a delicious drink and joined the others. Surprisingly, there were more people than the people I used to. Overall we were 13 people in this session. We headed, finally, to the karaoke and paid for one hour and one private room 20元. It was a good-having experience, but with 13 people, it’s just too much. Notably, we were many Africans who preferred to hear black music, which I’m not into. Maybe we’ll repeat it with fewer people.

I also add a photo of Chinese toilets. By the way, one horrible thing I experienced is that many people smoke. It even goes so far that people smoke in areas with signs that say “No smoking”. Horrible.

On the way back home, I face timed with Charlotte, and then we had dinner. Unexpectedly, I’ve got a message saying that my Mobike account was approved. It worked! Finally, I can ride Mobikes! (Even if I don’t know which way worked in the end.)

I go running now. 明天见!