Students trade steps for discounts at Zhejiang university restaurant

A student at Zhejiang Gongshang University presents the number of daily steps recorded in WeChat at an on-campus restaurant to get a discount on their bill on Wednesday, March 13, 2019. [Photo: IC]

Students at a college in Zhejiang Province can enjoy discounts at an on-campus restaurant based on the number of daily steps recorded in their pedometer on WeChat, according to People's Daily.

Students queue up to order dishes at a restaurant at Zhejiang Gongshang University on Wednesday, March 13, 2019. [Photo: IC]

The steps-based discounting, which will be in place until April 10, was introduced by Zhejiang Gongshang University as a way to encourage students to be more physically active. Students who walk up to 10,000 steps in a day can get 10 percent taken off their bill. This rises to 15 percent off for 10-20,000 steps, and 45 percent off for more than 40,000 steps.

The step count has to come from the pedometer in WeChat, and the discount is only available at a hotpot restaurant on campus.

Staff at a restaurant at Zhejiang Gongshang University prepare dishes for students on Wednesday, March 13, 2019. [Photo: IC]

The idea behind the discounts is to encourage students to add more exercise into their daily lives at college, said the restaurant's manager Zhang Liqin. "And the first quarter of the year is a slack season; the promotion has encouraged many students to dine in."

Students at Zhejiang Gongshang University enjoy their meals at an on-campus restaurant on Wednesday, March 13, 2019. [Photo: IC]

Zhang said that the largest number of steps recorded by a student so far was 50,000.