The country's biker culture is revving up, as can be seen in the growth of Harley-Davidson Owners Groups. Jimmy Nesbitt and Deng Zhangyu report.

A group of men sip tea outside the Harley-Davidson dealership in northeastern Beijing on a recent weekday afternoon. They're wearing dark sunglasses, form-fitting black T-shirts and shiny boots. Swap the tea for Jack Daniels, and they'd look just as rough and rugged as their Western counterparts.

A biking culture that has long been synonymous with the open roads of North America is gaining popularity in China. When the Beijing Harley-Davidson dealership opened in 2006, there were only around 10 members of the local Harley Owners Group - aka, HOG. Today, there are more than 1,000.

"Cars are transportation tools," says Cui Yingqi, who began riding Harley motorcycles in 2008.

"But Harley bikes are men's toys."

Cui, 40, is president of the HOG Beijing chapter. The official riding group of Harley-Davidson has more than 1,400 chapters worldwide, including 12 in China.

Most riders in the Beijing chapter are men ages 30 to 50.

"The majority are business owners," says Cui, who is the CEO of a construction company in Beijing.

"There are also officials, lawyers, teachers ... people from almost every field."

The group gets together once a week, with rides ranging from 300 to 1,000 kilometers. Twice a year, they take long-distance trips to places as far away as the Tibet autonomous region, more than 3,500 km to the west.

People on the street often stop Cui to get a close look at his motorcycle. Unlike in the US, "it's rare for them to see Harleys", Cui says.

"They'll ask us to take a photo with them. Every time we ride in the city, we become an attraction."

In conversations with Chinese bikers, the story of how they fell in love with this quintessentially American brand often begins with Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1991 movie, Terminator 2. In the film, which was wildly popular in China, the action star plays a cyborg whose vehicle of choice is a Harley-Davidson Fatboy.

Cui recalls seeing the movie and thinking: "I want one."

"Schwarzenegger looked very cool when he rode a Harley in that movie, which gave me an introduction to the bikes," he recalls.

The Harley-Davidson dealership in Beijing was the first in China, and 14 more have since opened.

A spokeswoman for Harley-Davidson China declined to say how many HOG members there are nationwide, but Shi Zhaoxin, president of the HOG Tianjin Chapter, put the number at more than 8,000 and says it's increasing every year.

Shi, who is in his 40s, rode smaller Japanese models in college and then gave up biking until last year, when he bought his first Harley, a Heritage Softail Classic 110th anniversary edition.

Harley-Davidson "reawoke my passion for biking", he says.

"It's a kind of lifestyle."

Owning a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in China is expensive. The bikes at the Beijing dealership range from 100,000 to 600,000 yuan ($16,290 to $97,740). The bikes cost more in China than in the US - where they are made - because of import duties.

Also, there are many places in China where motorcycles are banned. According to Forbes magazine, more than 200 cities have restrictions on motorcycles, which are aimed at curbing traffic and preventing thefts associated with riders.

"The traffic is really bad (in the cities). Our bikes are loud, and we don't want people to think of us as being noisy and annoying," says Cui, the Beijing HOG chapter president.

Despite those barriers, "our sales goal has risen significantly every year", says Joanne Kao, managing director of Harley-Davidson China. Kao declines to disclose sales figures for China but says in an e-mail interview: "We feel very optimistic about Harley-Davidson's development in China."

Di Hongtao, who is charge of safety for the Beijing HOG chapter, is also optimistic about the motorcycle company's future in China. The 46-year-old has been a fan of the bikes since he was 13, when one of his uncles returning to China from a business trip in the US gave him a Harley-Davidson jacket and leather boots as a gift.

"My friends had never seen those kinds of clothes, and they envied me. I felt proud and cool. Then I kept looking for that kind of stuff in China."

Di also is a fan of the Terminator movie, and says he "loves the loud sound" of the large bikes and the way they "show a man's masculinity".

For Shi, the Tianjin HOG chapter president, riding a Harley isn't just an expression of his masculinity. It's now a family affair. He recently bought a new Harley after giving his old one to his 16-year-old daughter, Shi Ruman.

He says the leisurely experience of cruising down a highway on a Harley offers a balance to the long hours many Chinese put in at work.

"Life is not just about making money," says Shi, chairman and CEO of China's National General Kennel Club.

"It's also about enjoying yourself."

Contact the writers at jimmy@chinadaily.com.cn and dengzhangyu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 10/01/2014 page10)