By Madina Toure
City Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing) welcomed Chen Guanming, who is known as “the Olympic Rickshaw Rider,” to the steps of Flushing Library last weekend.
Inspired by the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Chen, 60, of the Jiangsu Province in China, started cycling, pushing and pulling his rickshaw around the world as a way of spreaing the Olympic message of international harmony.
He traveled through Asia and Europe in time to arrive at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Supported by dozens of Guanming fans on the library steps at 41-17 Main St., Koo gave Chen a certificate in honor of his dedication and commitment to promoting global peace and unity.
Koo said that in light of incidents of terrorism, financial crisis, hunger and disease, Chen has seen more than most will and that his travels brings about hope and encouragement.
“Mr. Chen is truly an inspiration to young and old, and I’m very gratified that so many residents of Flushing came out to support him and encourage his spirit,” Koo said.
Chen will be staying by the library steps through this week. His next destination is Washington, D.C. The 109th Precinct, the Queens Library and the offices of Mayor Bill de Blasio and Councilwoman Margaret Chin (D- Manhattan) helped organize Chen’s safe arrival.
After his trek from Beijing to the 2012 London Olympic Games, Chen has continued through Canada and now the United States. He expects to arrive in Rio de Janeiro in time for the 2016 Olympic Games. To date, he has traveled through 24 nations and has logged more than 105,630 miles.
As Koo translated, Guanming said that he left China six years ago and has visited countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Germany, France, England and Switzerland.
“He wants to spread the message of Olympic spirit,” Koo said on his behalf. “He wants the whole world to have peace and he wants to spread the importance of conservation.”
David Su, the former president of the Council of Chinese American Associations, praised Guanming and his accomplishments.
“We’re proud of him because he’s promoting the green, the peace,” Su said.
Fans of Chen created a Facebook page for him, which currently has 1,364 likes. His sponsorship partners are Bryan James & Co. Ltd., a London-based specialist insurance brokerage firm, who helped him arrange a trans-Atlantic crossing so that he could take his rickshaw through North America and South America, and FirstFound, search engine consultants and Bryan James’ web-design partners.
Reach reporter Madina Toure by e-mail at mtour
