A new host of sparkling gold shared bikes that began appearing on the streets in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen and Xi'an on Thursday has triggered heated online discussion.

Unlike the colors of publicly shared bikes from other major players in the fiercely competitive industry, the bikes from Coolqi are completely gold with navy blue on the handles, seat and wheels.

Coolqi, a Beijing-based technology company that produced the bikes, said the color was intended to catch the eyes of the public.