Are curved aluminum forks safe? This is an entry-level road bike made by "Upland", a Chinese company.



That fork is aluminum. You usually only see steel (and sometimes carbon) forks curved like that.

The only reason you would have a curved fork is so that it can absorb shock from the road... but doesn't aluminum fatigue when flexed like that?

I'm contemplating getting this bike, because it's cheaper than a trek 1.1 (for example), while having better components.

The fork is a concern. I don't mind having a stiff ride (which you generally get from AL forks), but I don't want to take any chance of it snapping due to excessive work-hardening.

Any opinions?
It depends on how the fork is engineered for safety. While its plausible that the curved shape does add to some shock absorption, that is determined by the width and construction of the fork tubing. You could design a fork which was reliable and curved in aluminum or carbon or whatever, but the engineering wouldn't be the same as a steel fork. Whether the fork on that bike has been designed appropriately or not, is a different matter than if its possible. 

You usually see it only on steel now, but older aluminum bikes have had that style (even mountain bikes), especially from Cannondale:


Jamis's Quest Comp Femme (and other bikes in the Quest line) currently uses that style too, for a carbon composite fork:


That being said, poor quality (and dangerous) aluminum forks have been made (the Viscount Aerospace pointed out by Brian Drummond in the comments is one example).

As for whether or not to get the bike, its sounds like you're not all that confident in their engineering, and to me that would be a definite no on buying the bike. I'd rather spend a few more dollars on a bike than on a broken face. If the Trek 1.1 is out of your price range, either find something used and nice or look at other manufacturers you can trust (if you go to brands which are well reputed, but not Trek/Giant/Specialized, you can likely save a decent bit).