NYU Moped Gang

Suntory “Please buy me” the moped thought to herself as she noticed 3 foreign boys struggling to bargain in Mandarin with a local merchant. Minutes of haggling seemed like hours as the shop owner refused to budge. An exasperated sigh could be heard as the merchant handed over the keys for 2,350 yuan, the equivalent of roughly $350. Each of the three boys bought a moped that day. There are now 16 students from NYU's study abroad program in Shanghai that have mopeds. Victor rode away from the shop with his two friends. It was the first time he had ever been on a moped. A Shanghai street wasn't exactly the safest place to start. Pedestrians struggle with hundreds of mopeds and bicycles on a busy street on any given day. “Suntory” he thought to himself as he looked down at the silver and blue paint covering cheap plastic. Suntory joined Aurora and The Red Baron in Jin Du Yuan's garage that night. It was her first night in a new home. Night darkened as she wondered why Victor locked her back wheel. “Have I done something wrong?” she asked the other mopeds. Jin Du Yuan's security guard could be heard scoffing under his breath each time a student would ride by on a moped. The average salary in Shanghai hovers around 5,000 yuan a month, or roughly $700. A college student spending half the average salary on a toy was absurd to the security guard. It clearly showed the socio-economic contrast between native workers in Shanghai and students from America's New York University. Victor rode Suntory to school every morning with the other students that had mopeds. He couldn't help but think the lot of them looked like an awkward non-violent gang in training. Still he kept th e plastic wrap around the lights and new leather seat. “When it falls off it falls off” he would answer when his friends asked. Spring in Shanghai came with a heavy rain season. A particularly slick night brought Victor and Suntory's first accident. A slight turn on a wet sewer cover ended with Victor, a friend, and Suntory skidding across a busy Shanghai street. It has now rained for 14 straight days. Suntory has been locked up along with the other mopeds for many days now.