Before he even came to Beijing in 2001 as the German ambassador to China, Joachim Broudré-Gröger visited Guangzhou in the 1970s. At that time, what impressed him the most were the crowds of bicycles running down the streets of Guangzhou.

Decades later, bicycles of different colors have reappeared on the streets of Chinese cities, as the sharing economy has boomed.

"The change of a culture is also a changing color. So it's colorful, society must be colorful," Broudré-Gröger said in an interview with CGTN. Compared to the past, what has changed is not only the color of the bikes, but also people's mindsets – in Berlin and in Beijing alike.